Wouldn't it be great to see a commercial warning the public about puppymills?

Question

Most people have no clue about puppy mills and where the puppies in the pet store come from. Public awareness for this issue needs to be tackled head on. I think there is no better way than to have a nation-wide commercial warning consumers to not purchase their puppies from pet stores (including PetLand). And NOT just on Animal Planet. There needs to be one on say NBC or some other major channel.

I went to the ASPCA and HSUS websites. I didn't see anyplace I could send a comment or suggestion, but I believe if these two organizations work together on this, and perhaps with the help of some others (stoppuppymills.org, etc..) they can get this done!

What do you think?
What are some ways to bring this to their attention?(I already myspace'd ASPCA lol)

Answer 1

The rpoblem with a lot of animal welfare organisations is that the information they have is only available to those already interested in such things.



The more you can get the word out to people you know about these sorts of things, the better. It would be great if one of these orgs could do an ad about puppy mills but I'm afraid most people are too careless to even consider where the dog or cat from the local pet store comes from.

Answer 2

That would be a great idea. It would also be great if the employees at the pet stores admit where the pups came from when asked. Most are trained to say, "a local breeder" or just, "a reputable breeder".



There is very little information out there about puppy mills unless you know to look for it. There are some excellent websites out there with very detailed stories and info about mills but a person would have to already know mills are out there and to look these sites up.



I am volunteer with www.nppmwatch.com North Penn Puppy Mill Watch. I have this link as a part of my signature with emails. There are lots of ways to spread the information, we just have to be creative and positive in teaching people how much harm they are doing by supporting puppy mills.



You seem very passionate about animals and want to stop one of the most common form of animal cruelty - puppy mills. I wish you well and hope you continue researching and getting ideas from websites on how to properly educate your friends and family.

Answer 3

Be careful what you wish for.



There is no legal definition of a puppy mill. Let me repeat, there is no legal definition of a puppy mill. Because of this, pushing commercials and legislation to end puppy mills is a dangerous sport. There are many hobby and sport breeders who keep many dogs, care for all of them well are scared to death by PETA and HUSA's pushing of "puppy mill" legislation because of this.



What you have to realize is that PETA and HUSA view pet ownership as a type of slavery. They don't want ANYONE having pets at all. They've gotten backing and financing from people by tugging on their heart strings and presenting this "puppy mill" picture and making everyone believe that every commercial breeder is a "puppy mill" where dogs are abused and mistreated.



This couldn't be further from the truth. Most commercial breeders have staff, onsite, caring for the dogs and pups 24/7. Which is actually more care than your average hobby and/or sport breeder can provide in most cases. You see it's not profitable to breed sick pups that are grossly deformed and have health problems that would have them dying off before they could get to a puppy store.



That's not to say that every commercial breeder is good. That's no more true than saying every hobby and/or sport breeder is good. You have good and bad on both sides.



Most states already have animal cruelty laws that would/should put the so called "puppy mills" out of business. But the problem is that these laws are not enforced. USDA has an entire section that's supposed to inspect commercial breeders and often times, it's just not being done. This is not a problem with the laws that are on the books, this is not a problem with people being unaware. It's a problem with the department in USDA either not being funded enough, having enough people working for them, or not caring to inspect and enforce the laws that are already on the books.



But make no mistake - backing PETA at all, is inviting them to push laws that will make your rights as a pet owner go away. These laws will shut down hobby and sport breeders making it more difficult to find well bred dogs from reputable breeders.



So please, before you go making any more posts like this one, get out, see the legislation PETA and HUSA is trying to pass and ask yourself just how that legislation will help abused dogs. Because most of it will not. What it will do is basically shut down the very people you think you'd be helping by getting the "puppy mills" closed down.



Educate yourself!

Answer 4

I think it would be great to see a commercial warning people about BYB and Puppymills alike. To explain that even though a dog comes from a 'nice family' that is clean and both parents on the property says nothing about the health of the puppies or the quality of the breed you are getting. I find it had to believe that in this day and age the majority of people don't know about Puppy mills though, especially after Oprah did her special on them. People just think they're 'saving' the dogs from the pet store and justify it by that, instead of realizing that no matter their intentions they're still supporting the greedy puppy producers.

Answer 5

I think a commercial would be a great idea, but what I think would be even better is an expose on a show like 20/20. Then they could really dig into the problem, far more than a 30 second commercial could do. When a controversial story/topic is shown on one of these very high profile, highly watched news programs, it is usually picked up and discusses on other shows, like morning talk shows and other news outlets. Maybe a campaign to write to one (or all) of these types shows that there is a need for such information would work?

Answer 6

Yes, and in the UK too. However, in these days of easy litigation, how could this be done without running the real risk of being sued by the Puppy Mills!! ?



And however much you try to educate people, there will always be those who won't listen - get up one morning and think let's go get a puppy, and march off to their nearest Pet Shop etc. Look at some of the questions around here!!!

Answer 7

i believe that people need to be told more about puppy mills. i work for a humane society and we try too tell people about what they are and how they can help by not getting a puppy from them. our family has had experience wit this as well. when i was young my family got a little shih tzu and it turned out to have so many health problems!



working in the shelter i have seen some of the things that show just how bad puppy mills are. we had a beautiful newfie that was brought in to us by a breeder just because she had too much white on her chest which ment that he could not breed her. i wish that i would have been there when she was brought in because i would have smacked the breeder for being so stupid!

Answer 8

It sounds good & is a good idea. But like so many other things what can we do as individuals to inform people.



Like, I have suggested that there be temperament testing preformed on all dogs that show aggression. Don't wait for an accident, get the dangerous ones off our streets & out of our neighborhoods. But what can I do to help this get started. I have already talked to Animal Control & they don't want the responsibility.



There are thousand of things that we think would work but how do we get it done or even started?

Answer 9

It would be great to be able to make people more aware, but it isn't going to happen. The only time puppy mills get publicity is when they make the local news as being shut down. Everybody talks about it for about three days then you never hear about it again. Poor pups :(

Answer 10

National TV spots cost a lot of money which is why I suspect the non-profits you mention have not been able to what you suggest. They also have to be careful not to call out specific pet stores or chains by name and to be careful what they say bout them - it can expose them to costly legal action (much as I hate Petland). So they do the best they can with the resources they have to get the word out.

Answer 11

I completely agree! I have to admit that before I adopted my first puppy I had never even heard of puppy mills. If people are not aware that this is happening nothing is going to happen to correct the situation. Great question!

Answer 12

Yes, that would be great. Unfortunately there are still ignorant people who will still go out and by dogs from these people, pet stores, ect.. but i guess any bit of info to the public certainly would not be a bad thing.

Answer 13

I think this is a great idea ! Maybe you could put a video together somehow and show the ASPCA and see if they are willing to advertise something like it or maybe you could show an advertising company



Good Luck =)



Abby x

Answer 14

You mean like the commercials that warn people not to smoke, not to drink and drive, not to have unprotected sex, etc. The ones that people totally ignore. You can run commercials all you want, it won't stop the ignorant masses.

Answer 15

Hmmm...the last thing we need is to involve the likes of the H$U$ or ASPCA.



And belive me, they are already well aware of the issue. They would simply rather spend their money promoting themselves and sponsoring legislation to take away our pets.

Answer 16

I think I remember seeing one once - but I think it was an ASPCA thing on animal planet.

Answer 17

you could do a fund raiser a make a commercial yourself.churches and car lots do it all the time.go for it.bill boards are also an opption for you to consider.GOOD LUCK!

Answer 18

Here in Indianpolis we do have commercials warning people about puppymills. I think that it is great that they do this finally

Answer 19

IT WOULD BE A GREAT IDEA...why don't you put one on YOU TUBE.



unfortunately some legitmate breeders would be affected too.



good luck