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Don’t Buy a Dog!
Puppy Mills are Evil; Don’t Support Them
I recently read this post about Amish puppy mills. It made me sick. One Amish “dog farmer” sold 1,293 puppies last year, according to the article. The farmers usually get around $230 for the puppies. I did a back of the envelope calculation to see how they make a profit doing that.
It cost me over $1200 a year to take care of my last dog, Annie, a 65 pound collie. That didn’t include the medications I gave her to manage her arthritis and other issues.
Given that the average litter size for a collie is 8, how are these Amish making money from dog breeding? If I had sold Annie’s pups for $250, I’d have been left with $800, but that doesn’t take into account potential complications that might require a vet’s visit, the costs associated with caring for puppies, etc.
Of course, dogs can be bred more than once a year — but, again, if you care about the health of the mother dog, you won’t breed her as often as you can. And if you follow the AKC guidelines, there are many things you need to do to ensure her health that cost money, including getting preliminary vet care.
Just doing the math — the only way these Amish breeders are making money is by treating their dogs like crap.
