If you want a dog, go to a shelter. If you want a pure-bred puppy, find a reputable breeder.
Never go to a pet store. Repeat: Never go to a pet store. Although I can't say for sure, it's a safe bet that virtually all pet-store puppies are the products of puppy mills.
That's why I wish more U.S. cities would do what the town of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., appears ready to do - institute a ban on the sale of dogs and cats by pet stores.
The city's planning commission is going to review an ordinance today that would prevent stores from selling cats and dogs. It's South Lake Tahoe's attempt to combat puppy mills and high-volume breeding facilities that the Humane Society of the United States considers inhumane.
Originally, city officials discussed a ban on the sale of dogs bred in puppy mills. But because the city council realized such a ban couldn't be enforced, it pursued a ban on the retail sale of dogs and cats.
The report says: "A prohibition will also encourage local pet consumers to adopt dogs and cats from shelters, thereby saving animals' lives and reducing the cost to the public of sheltering animals."
There are so many dogs and cats that need loving homes, it's surprising that anyone would purchase a puppy from a pet store. But it happens.
Maybe if more cities took the kind of action that South Lake Tahoe seems prepared to take, we'd finally see the end to puppies being bred in horrendous circumstances.
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