"How much is that doggy in the window?"

Yikes, what have we got here? You see a small, happy puppy in a pet store window. Thinking, "Oh, how cute!", you walk into the store to take a gander at the puppy and the rest of the litter.

The most unasked question in the consumer industry does not seem important at the time-

"Where did these puppies come from?" The answer may surprise you.

Not all puppies come from responsible breeders. Take a small peak into the worst of human nature, of greed.

An old barn house, maybe a make-shift kennel. Hundreds of cages lined with dogs in rows and rows, stacked and crowded. The smell rises up and hangs in the air, clings to the floor, the ceiling, the dogs. Maybe some of the dogs have skin conditions, untreated- there are too many of them to afford the treatment. They're not getting attention either, just sitting in those cages all day long, stepping in their own waste. Pups are separated all too early from their mothers. But those pups will become the most sought after purebred pets at your local pet store.

Puppy mills. This is what over breeding can come to. Lots of cages holding dogs who are kept in less-than-stellar living conditions, the brood moms (females) bred over and over, no time to heal and recuperate- barely mature themselves.

Next time you're looking for a new dog, don't go for the little fuzzball in the pet store window, or a backyard breeder. Do your research and know what kind of business you're supporting. Most importantly, raise awareness for the cruel reality of dog breeding gone wrong.

-iNTune

"To say nothing, to do nothing, stops nothing" ~ Roni McCall