Consider rescuing a dog from a shelter

Recently I have become aware of pet stores still opening in Monmouth County even when others have closed their doors for good.

How can pet stores continue to open in this area in light of all the recent publicity that puppy mills have been given? Hasn't anyone seen Oprah? Her show recognized that despite their claims, most dogs sold in pet stores are from puppy mills.

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, recognizes this as well. They have launched a major campaign to educate the public about purchasing from pet stores.

"Puppies Aren't Products" was created to expose the connection between puppy mills and pet stores and to encourage adoption. In less than one year they have closed or converted five pet stores to adoption centers. (These stores still profit from the sales of supplies, but adopt out their dogs from rescues.)

IDA (In Defense of Animals) launched a campaign in the northwestern United States to educate the public about a chain that got their puppies from mills but claimed otherwise. The chain subsequently went bankrupt.

Pet stores have been closing all over the country. Can't we get on board in this area?

Puppy mills are cruel, filthy, mass-breeding operations that exist because unsuspecting people fall for that cute doggie in the window at pet stores. But times are changing. More people are choosing to adopt rather than buy from breeders and pet stores.

Despite their claims, dogs from pet stores typically come from puppy mills where "breeding" dogs suffer horrendous conditions without any "life" other than to continually reproduce. They never leave their cages, they live in their own waste, and are impregnated continuously to produce puppies until they are too old or sick, and then they are destroyed. They are never held or loved.

Because of the lack of care at puppy mills, sick and genetically defective puppies are produced. The public is misled to believe they are receiving quality puppies from "breeders," when in fact they are very unhealthy due to the conditions under which they were bred.

Many puppies die en route to the pet stores. Others barely make the trip, and pet stores falsely claim they are healthy. People's hearts are broken when their "healthy" puppies become very ill.

There is a fine line between breeders and puppy mills. Puppy mills love to call themselves breeders and some breeders have no regard for their dogs, viewing them as merely profit makers. Those who still choose to take home a dog from a breeder should visit the breeder and see how the breeding dogs are treated.

There are so many dogs that need homes, including puppies, at specific breed rescues and shelters. Please do not perpetuate the cycle of abuse. Two to three million healthy, loving, adoptable dogs are put to sleep each year in shelters simply because there are not enough homes for them.

Debbie Efron

Manalapan