Online shopping has become an amazing convenience for Americans.  From electronics to books to even groceries, almost everything can be purchased online and shipped directly to your home.  But with something so accessible and convenient comes a very evil practice:  selling animals online.

You can find them all over the internet.  Individuals creating websites that project a family atmosphere of only a few happy dogs in a loving home that just happen to get pregnant on a regular basis and are creating designer breed puppies.  And with just a few clicks, maybe even through paypal, you can have one of their precious puppies shipped to you anywhere in the continental United States.  So what is wrong with this you ask?

No reputable breeder will ship their puppies off to whoever will pay the exorbitant fee.  I don’t care what their website says or what cute, happy pictures they post of their “family dogs”.  If they are selling their dogs online and willing to ship a living creature to perfect strangers, they are a puppy mill or backyard breeder.  It’s just that simple.  And want to see what it actually looks like at these facilities?  Check out this rather standard puppy mill in Minnesota.  I urge you to watch the entire video.  While they were shut down from selling their puppies to pet stores, they can still sell online.

Another issue besides the obvious mistreatment of the animals is that backyard breeders and puppy mills are notorious for not vaccinating their puppies (or providing basic veterinary care for the puppies and parents).  So that super expensive puppy you just bought and had shipped to you?  He probably will have worms, kennel cough, parvo and/or even distemper.  And these breeders do not care about genetic issues when they breed, they are focused on appearance alone, so you have just purchased an animal that will most likely suffer from at least one serious genetic defect.

So PLEASE do not buy an animal online and encourage all your friends and family to ADOPT, not shop.