Unfortunately many people do even when they suspect that their breeder is really a puppy farmer. How many people can resist a little puppy once they've seen it and held it? Not many of us particularly as many will justify going ahead with purchase ascthy are 'rescuing' the puppy. If only we could eradicate puppy farms/mills
Puppy mills are illegal in Oregon. Missouri seems to have a high percentage of puppy mills in the US. Most reputable pet stores in the US, including our large chains, Petco and Petsmart, do not sell dogs or cats.
When I was looking for a pup the Internet was the first place I went to. I wanted a pup that would be ready to come home with us close to 8 weeks old at the beginning of the summer holidays. It was a mind field as I wasn't sure at what I was looking at or what questions to ask. It was a steep learning curve and very nearly got a puppy that would not have a pedigree as it was mums third litter. Little bells began to ring after I visited the pups. A friend introduced us to Homer's breeder and it felt a lot better.
We shopped the internet for our last two dogs, but we were looking for breeders, who raised and trained gun dogs. and had dogs with hunting or field trial certificates as well as health clearances. Here it is common to place a deposit on a pup, before they are born, or shortly after to get in line for choosing a pup. We did not see the pups in person until the the breeder brought two of them to Portland so we could make our selection, but we had seen videos of them as well as a lot of pictures of the sire and dam.
There is a lot of media now about people who used a sperm donor for their child and have now learned some very disturbing things about him and that his profile was not true. It seems the company manipulated his details, and he may have too. Pretty scary stuff out there, on line and in person. https://news.vice.com/article/lawsu...ius-donor-was-actually-a-schizophrenic-ex-con
