What's the real cost of a pet store puppy? It's high to start with, and it keeps going up.
-Pet store puppies cost lots of money, and it's totally unjustified. Good breeders invest in their dogs and in the breed--pet store breeders never do.
-Pet store puppies cost the breed in credibility--if a pet store-bred dog bites a human or ends up unhealthy, the breed is blamed; the bad breeder goes unpunished.
-Pet store puppies cost in health care. With no health testing behind them and poor care as newborns, the chance of congenital problems is very high.
-Pet store puppies cost in heartbreak. If a pet store puppy doesn't work out in your home, or the costs to care for it are too high for you to bear, there's no recourse for that dog. Any responsible breeder insists that you return a puppy; pet stores will never take a dog back. The dog ends up at a shelter or euthanized.
Why do I use the "No Pet Shop Puppies" symbol?
1) There are no well-bred purebred puppies in pet shops. Not a single good breeder would ever sell a puppy to a broker or pet shop. Most, if not all, national breed clubs forbid any breeder from selling to pet shops.
2) Pet shop puppies have non-health-tested, non-shown parents. If you think this is trivial, just wait until your pet shop puppy turns out to be dysplastic or epileptic. Good breeders will stand behind their dogs-pet shops only have to promise that the puppy won't die for seven days.
3) Pet shops do not educate owners. A husky puppy may be just about the worst fit for your family, doomed to a wasted life because you'll never be able to meet his needs, but the pet store doesn't care. Show your credit card number, and the dog is yours.
4) Pet shops support puppy mills. Ask where the puppy came from-the answer, ninety percent of the time, is a "responsible local breeder." Ask to see paperwork--it's almost certain to show "Hunte Corporation." Hunte is a puppy broker, buying entire litters and bulk lots of puppies from puppy mills (many maintain terrible conditions, but even if they're clean it's still a puppy mill).
There are exactly two ways to obtain a puppy or dog: adopt from a qualified shelter or rescue and buy from a responsible breeder who health-tests, is involved in dogsport, and who (in most breeds) raises the litter in the house. Anything else is putting money in the pockets of commercial breeders and is asking for trouble with the dog for the rest of its life. Do the right thing.
