Not long ago, several photographs of a puppy named Isabella arrived at The HSUS. She was malnourished; her ribs and backbone were clearly visible. She looked like a dog who could have been rescued from an abuse or neglect situation.

But she was not. She is a purebred Great Dane who was purchased over the Internet.

Her seller promised a "show potential" purebred puppy complete with registration papers, a health certificate, a vaccination report and a two-year genetic health guarantee. The breeder even claimed this malnourished dog would arrive "pre-spoiled" and ready to start life with her new family.

Imagine the shock when Isabella's buyer, expecting to find a healthy, happy puppy awaiting her at the airport, instead opened the travel crate to find the young dog weak, dehydrated and vomiting. They took Isabella directly to a vet, where she tested positive for parasites and Parvovirus.

In the end, Isabella didn't survive.

Buyer Beware

As a puppy mill caseworker for The HSUS, I see stories like Isabella's cross my desk every day. Puppy mills are no longer just a smattering of run-down farms. Today's puppy mills constitute a multi-million-dollar industry that dupes puppy buyers with flashy websites, false promises, empty "guarantees" and smooth-talking salespeople.

Pet store and Internet buyers are assured again and again that they are getting a healthy puppy from a "responsible breeder."In fact,buyers end up supporting a puppy mill, where parent dogs are crowded into cages stacked on top of one another for their entire lives and puppies are often rife with disease.

We are working to shut down puppy mills through legislative efforts and raids on the worst offenders. But educated consumers hold the power to put an end to the industry. As long as the public continues to buy puppies from pet stores, over the Internet or from any breeder they have not carefully screened and met with in person, the laws of supply and demand will apply-and a new puppy mill will spring up whenever an old one is shut down.

Peak Season for Puppy Sales

The holiday season is fast approaching, and with it, the peak season for puppy sales. Now is the time to spread the word about the prevalence of puppy mills, and ask dog lovers to put them out of business.

Please join us Nov.25 to Dec. 2 for Puppy Mill Action Week. We'll have a week of action against puppy mills during the start of the puppy shopping season. We need dog lovers to help spread the word far and wide: don't put cruelty on your shopping list! Together, dog lovers can stop the trade and preventthe suffering of dogs like Isabella.

Kathleen Summers is the Puppy Mills Program Assistant in the Companion Animals section of The HSUS.

Table Mountain Animal Center has many wonderful homeless adoptable pets. We have lots of cats and kittens,exotic birds,iguana's,rabbits hamsters,snakes and gerbils who are all looking for new families. Please consider adopting your next pet, rather than buying from a breeder or pet-store,you will save a life and gain a best friend!

Visit us online at www.tmac4pets.org or better yet, come by and visit us.
We are located at 4105 Youngfield Service Road. Right off I-70 and Youngfield Street Exit. 303 278-7575

Hours

Mon to Fri 11am to 7pm

Sat and Sun 10 am to 6pm

Adoptions stop 1 hour before closing so please come early!