Gertie Is Dying Of Pneumonia In Pet Store. Then Rescuers Discover The Store’s Horrible Secret

Sometimes when you purchase a puppy from a pet store, you are perpetuating a horrible existence for thousands of breeding stock animals in puppy mills across the country.

You may think your one purchase won’t make a difference, but it will.

So long as people indiscriminately breed puppies for profit, every single purchase will prompt them to breed another litter.

Breeding puppies for profit means you cut corners whenever possible. This means mother dog doesn’t get any prenatal care.

Also, puppies, if they arrive safely and make it through being nursed by a malnourished mother, rarely receive adequate vaccinations.

To say nothing of being raised in a filthy, unsafe and unhealthy environment.

Tragically, the majority of pups end up with either genetic diseases or environmental illnesses that shorten what oftentimes is a very pain-filled life.

A little dog named Gertie was found during a pet shop investigation in New York City, where puppies were being sold for profit.

When The Humane Society of the United States found her, she was sadly in very poor condition.

Gertie had a very bad cough that the pet store described as “typical.”

But the veterinarian that examined her said that she was actually suffering from very severe untreated pneumonia.

Thankfully, after receiving treatment and excellent care for a while, Gertie was declared healthy enough to go to a permanent home where she has thrived while getting great care.

Gertie got lucky. Hundreds of other puppies (and other small animals) aren’t so lucky.

They either die before they reach the pet shop or soon after they arrive, or they get sick after the stress of going to yet another place to live, costing their new owners huge vet bills.

After the investigation that gave Gertie her lucky break, that pet shop was closed down for having  multiple Animal Welfare Act violations.

Those terrible violations included:

Having sick and injured dogs not treated by a vet, underweight dogs, puppies with their feet falling through the wire floors, puppies with severe eye deformities being sold as “healthy”, and piles of feces and food contaminated by mold and insects.

It would be nice to think that this is an unusual occurrence. But unfortunately, it’s not.

Even if it’s still legal in your state, never purchase a puppy from a pet store. Either adopt a needy dog from a shelter or rescue group or from a reputable breeder.

A reputable breeder will be breeding to a standard and can give you proper certifications showing what genetic health testing has been done on the parents and grandparents.

Remember little Gertie who almost lost her life because she had the bad luck to have been born in an American puppy mill.

Please be part of the solution, not the problem!

Source: The Animal Rescue Site