Tuesday, August 15, 2006

60 Puppies Die In Massachusetts Trailer Fire

According to the Boston Herald, sixty puppies being transported to pet stores were killed by smoke and fumes when the ventilation system in their trailer shorted and caught fire.

The truck belonged to the Hunte Corporation, one of the U.S.'s largest puppy brokers. Hunte buys puppies from backyard breeders and puppy mills and sells them on to pet shops. They have a very glossy website, which hides the true nature of the puppy broker business quite successfully.

The company released a statement stating that they were 'puppy lovers too' and that they 'could not have imagined such a loss'. I'm sure they don't mean the dollars lost; that would just be too cynical... wouldn't it?

The Doggerel Party reminds readers that when you buy a puppy from a pet store you are buying a dog that was quite likely born, raised, transported and first socialised in a small crate among a hundred or so others. You are buying a puppy of dubious ancestry, with no genetic background and usually no registration paperwork. And you are supporting an industry that farms dogs, just as sheep, cattle and pigs are farmed, supporting people who are motivated solely by the money they can make from breeding dogs.

Couldn't imagine such a loss? Don't want to imagine such a loss? Then don't treat dogs like a bulk commodity and throw a hundred of them into a semi-trailer in the first place.

Want a dog? Go to a responsible local breeder who is dedicated to the welfare of their animals and whose motivation is the love and improvement of their breed. A good place to start is the Canadian Kennel Club or the American Kennel Club. Or go to your local shelter and adopt a rescue. But don't support the puppy mill industry. Please.