Well-Known Secret Behind Pet Stores

Please join me in welcoming a guest blog post by Dayton Uttinger who informs us about the new law being discussed in the New Jersey Legislature.  If enacted, it will prevent pet stores from buying animals from “mills”, only from rescue and adoption shelters.

Thank you, Dayton, for your article. – Julie

The Well-Known Secret Behind Pet Stores

By: Dayton Uttinger

Happy puppyThere are few things that excite a household more than bringing home a new puppy.  Everyone crowds around the new addition to the family. Some are eager for attention, others withdraw into the arms of whoever’s carrying them, but they are all small and fragile, no matter how large they’re destined to grow later.  However, depending on the dog’s origin, dangerous health problems can develop with time, especially if it came from a puppy mill.

Puppy mills have long been the bane of animal rights advocates.  Although 62% of American households own at least one dog, and we all tend to treat them like family, we don’t always investigate where they’re coming from.  We figure that we’ll be giving our pet all the love that they deserve, so really, we’re rescuing an animal from a puppy mill when we buy from a chain store, right? Continue reading