HomeMy WebLinkAboutKathryn Higa 8.13.211
Danielle Marshall
From:Kathryn Higa <khiga@2020fusion.com>
Sent:Friday, August 13, 2021 6:22 PM
To:Danielle Marshall
Subject:Puppy Mill Puppies
It's been quite literally decades since I've even thought about looking at a puppy in a pet store. My deep and growing
disdain for them began with the adoption/rescue from the Peninsula Human Society in Northern California of a puppy so
infested with parasites and so under nourished, she was earmarked for euthanasia. Several thousand dollars in
veterinary bills later, she was able to live a long and healthy life.
I then adopted another puppy mill rescue who had both microvascular deformities resulting in liver and kidney shunts so
severe he only lived to age 6 following more than $15,000 in surgeries, life on a special and very restrictive diet and
blindness brought on by the same microvascular disease that was the direct result of the mass breeding practices of
puppy mills.
I've now adopted my third puppy mill rescue through a pet sanctuary that rehabilitates often seriously abused,
malnourished animals, this one from Washington. He's an 8-year-old shetland sheepdog who clearly has spent his entire
life in cages, is afraid to sit out in the open and was "debarked" to mitigate noise complaints along with all the other
dogs at the illegal breeding facility. He weights 20 pounds now -- a healthy, normal weight. He weighed 12 pounds
when he was found dumped at the shelter gates with severe sepsis and had 19 teeth removed among other efforts to
save his life. It'll probably be several months, perhaps even years to teach him to trust people and believe how much we
love him. He's finally stopped urinating everywhere when we pick up a leash, or accidentally shut a door too loudly.
Without distribution channels like pet stores and, frankly, peer-to-peer marketplaces like Craigslist to facilitate the sale
of puppies to ignorant and unsuspecting (well, usually) buyers, such breeders might find business less lucrative.
Where I think measures that focus exclusively on retailers falls short is in the failure to curtail back yard breeders from
continuing to thrive. Although the notion among many detractors of pet stores seems to be that mill puppies are largely
out of state. While many of the well known mills are indeed out of state, many stores seem to coach sales staff to
emphasize that pets are "sourced" locally from "small breeders." Judging from the vast number of real (versus scam)
listings on peer-to-peer platforms, it seems that's possible given the lack of statutory restrictions or enforcement of
existing restrictions on unlicensed breeders. Perhaps measures should be taken not only to ban pet store sales, but
requiring them to disclose their sources to facilitate more rigorous policing of the mills themselves.
Thank you for your efforts to at least move things in the right direction. Meanwhile, for my part, most of my fur babies
are rescues and those that are not are from highly reputable breeders whose breeding practices I've sometimes
observed and researched for years. When I buy a dog from such a breeder, it's to support their efforts to maintain high
standards that ensure the health of their dogs.
A hui ho,
Kathryn
p.s. That's Hawaiian for go with god -- or in secular parlance, may the force be with you.
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