Friday, June 12, 2009

Puppy Factories or Puppy Mills, Call Themselves Breeders

Many Malaysians, don't register the word 'mill' as 'factory. So in my communication, I have been using the words 'Puppy Factory'. It's rampant here in Malaysia. If you bought your dog from a pet shop, there's an extremely high chance that you've supported the Puppy Factory business.

I am not blaming you or trying to cause hurt. You probably didn't know better. However, what I'm trying to do here is create an awareness. To share knowledge with the public, and I hope you do the same... I don't hope for you to cry, or get angry, or emotional in anyway. What I do hope for, is that you open your mind to knowledge, and after this, do more research of your own... to discover what has been kept from you, your friends and relatives for so many years...
.
.
.

. Part 1
.Oprah's Sophie. 13 years of love
.
.
.

.Part 2
.In USA, they shoot old broken down machines (read old dogs). In Malaysia, because we don't carry guns, Malaysians can't shoot dogs that are too old to breed (read churn out puppies for sale). So, what is normally practised in Malaysia is:
  1. Throw puppy into monsoon drain. Cheras monsoon: an old, semi-blind Shih Tzu was found, wrapped in a cloth and dumped into roadside monsoon.
  2. Release dog onto roadside. Klang: Aging dobermann found wondering aimlessly & disoriented by it's surroundings, believed to be dumped by puppy factory for being too old to breed. The Dobermann was covered by genetically caused skin disease, common in dogs that suffer from in-breeding (read incest, father mate with daughter, mother mate with grandson, cousins & siblings mating each other etc)
  3. Release dog just outside factory's gate. Somewhere in Selangor: Aged Labrador retriever was thrown out of a home based puppy factory. The dog had no where to go and loitered at the front gate, sometimes howling & whining to go back inside. Every few hours or so, it's owners would come out and try to scare the dog away.
  4. Bury alive. In the northern region, where there's a lot of land space, deep holes are dug, and old dogs, sick or deformed puppies are buried alive.
  5. Sold for meat to illegal exotic-animal restaurants. These restaurants are illegal, as they sell dishes of exotic and endangered species. They support illegal animal trade, poaches etc. They are wanted by the government, Jabatan Perhilitan, and international organizations. If you know of any of these places, make a report to CITES, PETA, WWF (international) and Animal Asia. You can google their websites.
  6. Dumped at the doors of local shelters. They are, usually dumped and not handed over, because these people want to remain anonymous. The fact that they want to remain that way, shows that they know that what they're doing is questionable.
.
.
.

.Part 3
.In dog fur language,
Matt-ed fur = tangled up fur...
Felt-ed fur = fur that is soo badly tangled, it usually covers a portion of the body, and is tangled right down to the skin
.

Some long coated dogs from puppy factories are never groomed. So their fur is so badly felted, that the dogs have difficulty turning their heads, because the fur would pull, and that would hurt. The felt also makes it difficult for the dogs to move their limbs. As time goes on, early stage arthritis sets in. Mats and felts also cover their anus and privates. forming like a 'mesh' and trapping poop against their anus. Or, keeping urine against the skin around their 'privates'. This leads to severe skin problems, as well as swelling of the anal area.

Responsible breeders however, take good care of their dogs. Most in Malaysia have nice rooms for their dogs. Responsible/good breeders are usually breed specific. Meaning they only focus on 1 or 2 types of breeds. Versus having many many different type of trend breeds. They are concern of where the puppies are going to go, what their life is going to be like, not just as a pup, but their concerns stretch till the puppy's old age. Their dogs are happy, calm, very very healthy and contented. More on this topic on another post.
.
.
.

.Part 4
.
.
.
.

.Part 5
.In Malaysia, the euthanasia (in other words, killing by drug overdose from an injection) process works pretty much the same way. Difference here, is that the dogs are not 'put-down' one by one but in groups, there's no freezer, instead of 'body bags' we use black garbage bags, and it's the garbage collector who collects the dogs.
.
.
.

.Part 6
.Low cost kembiri (Malay for spay/neuter)... Not for pure bred dogs:
http://www.spca.org.my/v51/klinikkembiri_fees.php
.
.
.

.Part 7
.VISIT the breeder. Ask to see where the dogs are kept. Responsible breeders will gladly welcome you in. Irresponsible breeders a.k.a. puppy mill a.k.a. puppy factory will not allow you near them, or ask questions of where the puppy came from. They just want you to pay and go.
.
.
.

.Part8
.
.
.
.

6 comments:

  1. Thank you for the information Joanne! Need to educate more Malaysians. Just like me, i didn't know about this at all when i got my dog few years ago from a pet shop. we love her to bits, but nontheless, she has very bad skin problems till now. Wished my loved furry kid hadn't need to go through this ordeal.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is very very sad, most Malaysians haven't a clue since none of the puppy mills/factories here have been documented. They also disguise themselves as breeders. To make things worse, these mills/factories have the support of pet shops. Pet shops support these factories because they provide quick, easy, almost no demand, minimal paperwork products. At a very low cost, I must add... Which means higher profits for the pet shops.

    Responsible and ethical breeders, would usually want to know
    1) which home the puppy is going to
    2) what the home is like
    3) who are the owners
    4) sometimes also what are the owners' occupation
    5) Some breeders also want to have the address and contact details of the new owners.

    You see, information like these, would give the breeder an idea of the lifestyle and care that the dog would have.

    May I know what breed your lil girl is? And have you confirmed that her skin problems are cause by puppy factory in-breeding? How do you manage it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now that i have experienced, i finally understand how this pet business works.

    Here in the UK, we were once looking for a shih tsu pup. So at the breeder's home (individual breeder), he asked us many questions about our background, our profession, our knowledge to have dogs. (which we were prepared because my partner & i did alot of online research to get ourselves prepared for a new family member for many months).

    Then he came to ask what type of property we live, we frankly said - apartment.

    Man replied: i am afraid that i cannot give you my dog as i am concern about the level of activity he can have at your place.

    Despite his honesty, we respect his decision because all of us wants only the best for our furry kids. :) He wasn't even marketing his dogs for profiteering purpose, which is amazing.

    My family dog back in Msia is a shih tsu. We have taken her to various vets, on average she is still going to the vet every 5-6 weeks to get medication. She develops rashes very easily, and scratches herself till it bleeds sometimes. We kept her very hygienic, and turns on the fan/ aircond for her just in case it was the heat. We never keep her hair too long as concern. We even started to take her to dog spas as suggested that it will improve her bad skin.

    I think some of it is genetic & we are still looking for cures for her. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. For geneticly caused bad skin, try changing their diet. They could be allergic to the wheat or corn in kibbles. Some owners have found that when they stop feeding chicken or beef, the skin problems go away. Some dogs are on pure vegetable diet, and some on fish diet, some are on pure fresh foods diet, some on home cooked diet. You will have to do trial and error to find out what works.

    Aside from wheat and corn, preservatives, or chicken, or beef, or white meat, or red meat, could cause the allergy. Different dogs will react differently.

    Google BARF. Read about it, try it out, and see if it helps your dogs skin.

    Hope this helps.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's very trouble-free to find out any matter on web as compared to textbooks, as I found this post at this website.

    Here is my page what is a graduate certificate

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have read so many content about the blogger lovers however
    this post is actually a good post, keep it up.

    Here is my blog: best way to lose weight fast

    ReplyDelete