Why I Hate People (and why they often deserve it)
by MelissaFebruary 23rd, 2005 11:16 pm
I watched a very disturbing piece on Fox Philadelphia tonight. Their investigative reporter, Jeff Cole, did another expose on the Peach Bottom, Lancaster County dog breeder (and I use that term very loosely), Puppy Love Kennels.
Fox spoke with selected individuals who bought puppies from these people in the recent past. A sweet, yellow lab puppy, named Morgan, developed pneumonia shortly after she arrived at her new home. She underwent about $2000 of medical treatment, but in the end, did not survive. The owner was given a refund of the $550 that he paid for the puppy, due to legislation known as the Puppy Lemon Law, but he was shit out of luck, where the vet bills were concerned.
A Pomeranian puppy, named Cooper, developed an upper respiratory infection shortly after being purchased. In addition to the cold, he had ringworm, ear mites, and possible brain damage. He also developed pneumonia. This time, the owner of the kennel, took the dog back so that it could recuperate. When the owner called the check on the dog, she was told that the puppy was staying with a friend. The money paid for the puppy was again refunded, but the assumption is that this puppy also died.
According to this article in Lancaster Online, the PA Department of Agriculture is investigating the place, but as the date of the article, no citations had been issued and no definite wrongdoing had been established. The PA Attorney General’s office has also been called on to investigate.
This situation and the countless others similar to it break my friggen heart. I look at the beautiful faces of my dog and two cats, all rescued from somewhere, and I just don’t understand how anyone, knowing what we now know about pet overpopulation and the massive numbers of unwanted pets that are euthanized every day, could purchase a purebred dog or cat, particularly as a family pet. There are so many shelters that are worthy of support. My oldest cat, Teddy, came from the Rescue League of Pittsburgh. My dog, Zack, came from West Jersey Animal Shelter in Pennsauken. My other cat, Boo Boo, came to me as a kitten when a co-worker’s cat had more kittens than they could handle.
A great place to search for available shelter animals is here. I’ve got no hidden agenda in posting this, I’m just an animal lover who hates seeing defenseless creatures mistreated in the name of profit or status.
Thanks for listening.
February 24th, 2005 at 1:49 pm
Great post.
Petfinder is a great site (my fiance and I adopted both of our daschunds from rescues we found through them), but it’s inspiring and depressing at the same time.
The reason i say that Petfinder can be depressing is because it’s heartbreaking to read the little “bios” of some of the dogs and see what they had to go through before they were rescued. It’s awful and it’s the main reason i believe that we need harsh penalties for animal neglect and abuse.
About two months ago, Stu Bykofsky (who might be an idiot but his commitment to animals is sincere and passionate) listed some of the reasons given to the Philadelphia Animal Shelter for why people turned over their pets and some of them were mind-boggling, such as “got new furniture”, “new boyfriend allergic”, and all sorts of other shit.
I don’t know what’s worse, that someone would give up their pet for such stupid reasons, or that they’re so stupid that they’d give those reasons like there’s nothing wrong with it.