We recently read this great article about Oliver. Oliver was being sold in a pet shop when he got ill. Since the pet shop wouldn’t sell a sick dog, it was either have him euthanized or find someone who was willing to take him home and pay his vet bills. Check out Oliver’s story at http://upforpups.org/2010/09/pet-shop-tale/.
The chance of a pet who is purchased from a pet store becoming sick is all too common. This is mostly due to pet stores getting their pets from irresponsible breeders. Irresponsible breeders do not care about or do not have enough knowledge about health issues. And as such, they may be breeding dogs with genetic diseases and deformities. Or they may be inadvertently spreading diseases due to improper care.
Because an irresponsible dog breeder does not take the time or spend the money needed to make sure their dogs are healthy, they can sell dogs at a good price. This is perfect for a pet shop which needs to make money. A pet shop can’t afford to buy expensive high-quality dogs, so they usually end up getting them from these irresponsible breeders.
This practice does not apply just to dogs. This applies to cats, snakes, lizards, birds, and more. So before you purchase a pet, be sure that you research the source. Be willing to spend a little extra money on a dog who you know came from a responsible breeder.
American Dog Blog 