Saying No to the Puppy Mill

We came -this- close to unwittingly purchasing a pup from a mill-type operation. You know - those folks who breed their bitches over and over, who have multiple litters available at the same time (sometimes from various breeds), who obviously raise pups for profit and don't really give a rat's ass about where they end up as long as the cash comes in. Sounds awful, yes? But it really is too easy for the uneducated buyer to fall into the trap, and the puppy millers really are clever about sounding legit and luring you in with beautiful photos and glowing testimonials. Here's how that almost happened to us:

My partner and I had just gotten word from our landlady that we could have a dog as long as it met building requirements and was 25 lbs or less. So we giddily started our search, and after days of internet research and debate, decided the Italian Greyhound would be a good fit for us with its low-to-no-shed coat, people-loving personality and drop-dead gorgeous form. Punching "Italian+Greyhound+Puppy" into Google brought up a long list of available cuties from sites like puppyfind.com and dogs ranged from $200 to over $1K, sometimes with shipping built into the cost. Weeks of cruising puppy porn in this manner led us to a pup listed as "Timmy" from a kennel (name pictured above) in MO.

His dark coat, tuxedo-white chest and sweet eyes tugged at our heartstrings and we put down the nonrefundable $100 deposit, blind to the obvious red flags. These, in retrospect, were:

• How the site had ELEVEN breeds listed, each with available pups at the time; lots of "created" breeds like peekaboos, cockapoos and labradoodles were specialties.
• The kennel was USDA licensed (mark of a mass-producer).
  
• Dogs were registered under the ACA and not the AKC. (The breeder told us in an e-mail that they "preferred the ACA" when we requested AKC papers.)
• One could purchase the dog with a credit card and put the reservation fee down with PayPal without so much as e-mailing the breeder beforehand:
• The breeder had zero questions for us outside the "shall we ship him via ground or air?" inquiry.
• Questions about the pup's parents and their histories were answered with one-liners like "oh, they're healthy" instead of anything revealing.

E-mail correspondence with the breeder made us uncomfortable, and increasingly so as we continued to research the breed and started reading up on puppy mills. So even as she sent us adorable pix to mark Timmy's growth (at our request), we decided to walk away, $100 deposit be damned. What helped us do this? Among other things:

• Joining breed-specific message boards and reading the sub-topics extensively. Thank you Iggy Planet and IG Post. Reading threads in which newbies were ripped a new one for buying pups from pet stores and mills were a true eye-opener.
  
• Reading through the IGCA website and finding the contact info. of local breeders. Sending out inquiries led us to ethical folks like Vikki of dfollyigs.com who answered questions in-depth and helped us find the first-rate Fresno breeder who brought the right dog into our lives.

But that's another tale for another blog entry. :)