I'm so diappointed in this article. I love reading people magazine, but please look at the big picture when you write something. This is horrible and unfair to those poor animals. Please do your research on puppy mills, and you will see how horrible this is.
I do not want to see an article that is making running a puppy mill for profit seem like a good thing maybe he should go out and try and place pound puppies. That would be worth reading..
People Magazine should instead do a story about all of the wonderful rescue people who give so much of their time and money to save the lives of dogs bought from puppy mills then given to kill shelters.A great number of dogs in shelters and rescues are purebreds that someone initially wanted, then dumped.
People Magazine this article should never have been published. You are supporting cruelty to animal. You should print the truth about Puppy Mills now. You own it to your reads since you printed this article.
I am thoroughly disgusted by Timothy Hampson. He is nothing more than a puppy broker. He does nothing to ensure that these puppies he helps to sell are going to good loving homes. How many of his puppies have ended up in shelters or in rescue? How many of his puppies have been sold to someone posing as that loving home, but in reality purchasing for medical research? Or worse yet, how many the puppies Timothy has sold have been neglected or abused? I'm sure he couldn't tell you, or care, because he made his money and that's where his responsibility ends. He is perpetuating puppy mills, and the growing problem of over crowded shelters and rescues. Breeding, raising and selling dogs is not something to be taken lightly. It is a major responsibility from womb to tomb. There is no money to be made when you are doing it properly. After vet bills, health clearances, and general care costs are taken in to consideration, any responsible breeder will tell you they loose money.
Timothy is no one that anyone should look up to or be proud of.
Just outragious, I can't believe this kid and his parents are allowing this puppymill operation to go on. And shame on People magazine for advertising this abuse of animals. I had considered People magaine to be have higher standards, guess I was wrong. It would be right to publish a counter to the puppymill advertisment.
I am absolutely APPALED that a reputable magazine would run such a story being fully aware of the horrible animal overpopulation. With MILLIONS of healthy, adoptable animals being euthanized each year, We need LESS breeding and MORE adopting homeless animals that wait patiently in the shelters for someone to take them home. Shame on the mother, son, and People for running an article that exploits irresonsible breeding.
Do a real article on puppymills. The helpless "mothers" who have had their jaws broken, so they won't kill off their current litter. It's not a nice sigh to see a mother trying to eat her mixed sawdust food with a broken jaw! And it's happening.
My God. I can't believe that People Magazine would endorse such a crazy idea. Don't you know how out of control and inhumane the Puppy Mill Business is. I know first hand. I rescue Boston Terriers and our dogs come to us from these mills sick, and unwanted. My group is overrun with dogs who need our help and there is not enough volunteers to help out. Allowing this teenager to do his work only makes the problem worse in my home state of Ohio. That is exactly what this teenaget is doing. Promoting and enabling the Puppy Mills that we are trying to shut down continue to exist. Wake up and do your research on puppy mills. I can promist you that I will never buy another one of your magazines ever again if you spread the word about this teenager who has no business doing what he does.
I was appalled when I saw the article on entrepeneurs - he's a puppy mill. What's to be proud of? What doesn't People Magazine not understand about puppy mills.
Maybe he should turn his attention to the rescue groups that have to take in the dogs he sells. But, oh, there's no money in it - it's a losing proposition...
Maybe People should turn their attention to the puppy mill problems and rescue groups of pure bred dogs.
You blew it-People!!!
I just recently rescued a dog from a home whose teenage daughter thought she was getting a teacup chihuahua. When it grew too big he was no longer wanted. I understand this has become a fad with teenagers. Shame on you to be promoting such disregard for animals.
Now WHY??? would you want to run an article that encourages irresponsible pet breeding and selling? Have you ever visited the shelters where these poor animals bought on "impulse" eventually end up? This is so very irresponsible of you and I would have expected much better from a magazine of your stature!!!!
Dogs and cats are a large responsibility. Purchasing via the internet does not guarentee a good life for most of them. A good breeder doesn't breed for the money.
I applaud this teens attempts at being a responsible entrepreneur, BUT he needs to understand the big picture - in this case that his "business" venture supports the horrifying world of puppy mills and the endless abuse of those dogs whose sole purpose it is to be breeding machines and live out their lives in small cages with little or no human contact and what could barely be considered "care" by any standards.
This doesn't even touch upon the fact that rescue groups around the world are taking in unwanted dogs in record numbers, while the puppy millers grow rich and turn their heads to the consequences.
I would encourage Timothy to truly investigate the industry he is supporting. If he is as talented an entrepreneur, and as driven as he seems, he will no doubt succeed at any number of ventures that he puts his mind to. Hopefully his conscience will guide him to a more humane enterprise.
People Magazine should be ashamed of this story, it is just as bad as a puppy mill story. Actually People should do a story on all of the wonderful rescue groups that are out there.
Selling animals as if they were CDs or magazines is disgusting and cruel. This kid and his Mom are not good role models.
Print the other side of puppy mills so your readers will be informed as to the horrors of these places. It is people making money off the pain and suffering of animals - plain and simple. What next - selling infants?
As responsible breeders and members of a purebred dog club in Northern California, we're very disappointed that People Magazine would glorify the practices of a teenage puppy peddler as an example to be looked up to! Our club puts a great deal of time and money every year into financial support of rescue efforts that, more often than not, are the result of some backyard breeder's or puppy mill's unscrupulous breeding and sales practices. The last thing we need is another person who thinks that producing dogs is an easy way to make money. Shame on People, the young man involved in the article, and his mother for not having more sense about what they've got themselves into!!
As I People Subscriber for over 20 years, I was appalled when I saw that kid getting kudos. There are far too many homeless dogs euthanized every year to be showcasing this young man as a entrepenuer... Get Real, People...
These stories are so sad. It truely brings a tear to my eyes and heaviness in my heart that people can be so cruel and uncaring for these truely innocent creatures. If I could take all the puppies and bring them home, I would do it in a second. No puppy is as lucky to be chosen by my wife and me to live with us. They are our children, and truely hit the jackpot to be loved by us.
Reputable breeders have homes lined up for their puppies before they are born. What this young man has become is a 'Puppy Broker', in the horrible world of 'Puppy Mills' and selling of human life.
If People were to do research on Puppy Mills and see what the lives are like of the breeder dogs that stay at these mills, they would shocked.
People Magazine should do research on the state of companion animal homelessness in this country, and do a story on a Rescue Organization. One that will probably be rescuing one of Timothy Hampson's puppies one of these days.
I think that the puppymill business is wrong. and it really is promoting animal abuse. I have 2 rescue pugs that were from puppymills and they are both blind and one of them is deaf. It is inbreeding and greed that cause these poor dogs their problems. Please stop this type of business and help keep the dogs safe.
With all the shelters at the breaking point and pets being abandoned constantly...this is beyond explanation. Pure greed is the reason, and the animals will suffer. How can this mother allow her son to profit from the misery of helpless animals? One day she will reap what she has sown here...and it won't be pretty.
Please let us show you what these 'entrepreneurs' leave as a legacy...pain, hurt, and abandoned/abused animals with nowhere to go. :(
please be responsible and let real dog people tell you what teh REAL dog world is like...
Pets are not livestock. Are you aware that puppymills treat their breeding stock the same as cows, pigs, etc. The big difference is that these poor animals are kept in wire crates 24-7. Their feet have never touched grass. They don't know what it is to be held and loved, they are simply kept in their cages and bred each and every time they come in season until they are so sick they die. There is no thought given to health checks to prevent geneticly passed diseases and physical problems. Why do that for livestock? The pups are taken from their mothers at 4 or 5 weeks of age so that they can be shipped to pet stores where they can be sold for highly inflated prices, often more than a quality dog from a dedicated breeder that breeds to the standard for that breed. People Magazine owes the public not only an apology for promoting the sale of puppymill pups but also a good in depth article explaining why dogs should never be bought from mills or pet stores, let alone on the internet.
Come on People Magazine! Where is your perspective? A young kid making a buck from the sale and distribution of a puppy mill? What kind of talent is that? He should be prosectued for his disgusting commercialization of animals. What about all the young adults who volunteer in animal shelters or take care of all dogs--they're more of a Teen Titan than this unemotional loser.
This is very saddening to see a kid doing this... a puppymiller in the making at age 16.Shame on his parents! Let them help all the 110 small breed dogs the SPCA just pulled from a puppymiller in Kauffman County, TX called Pedigrees Plus. What's the difference here? He's sending the WRONG message to people about making money by breeding animals. I'm ashamed that People Magazine would have anything to do with this! I'm glad I never spent a dime on your stupid magazine and I never WILL!
I find the whole concept of selling puppies in bulk disgusting. Why in the world People Magazine would glorify this young man's enterprise is beyond me.
People Magazine is inching ever closer to tabloid level. Why not celebrate the teens out there who rescue animals, not the ones who deal in irresponsible breeding for profit?
I have been involved in breed rescue for about ten years. I take in and rehome about forty Bichons a year. 10 million dogs and cats are euthanized each year. This is the type of "breeder" who creates problems for these animals.
Puppy mills should be criminalized. Anyone who runs one for profit only should also be held for criminal acts. It is inhumane, cruel, disgusting, whether the breeding is with 'Tea-cups" or Great Danes.The kid has no idea what he's getting into other than he knows he has a "goldmine" in breeding puppies for profit. His mother should be ashamed but I believe she's got stars in her eyes from the article. People magazine, I'll lambast you as well for printing the article. "Teen Titans", hmmph..Write an article with some benefit to it. Write an article exposing puppymills foir what they really are and how they fill shelters all over the country...plus, in-breeding-diseases-no papering-no professional care-no knowledge of the animals-no proper veterinary care..The list goes on and on. Get rid of all of 'em. Have you people no shame? Let me ask you this? what is the difference between puppy mills and people who use kids to make matrials in other countries? Nothing, they're both in it for the money. That's where I put mill owners im my book!
This is illustrative of our society's demise, doing "anything for a buck". Shame on this kid's mother and for People Magazine for publicizing such a clear absence of values.
A reputable breeder who cares about their animals would never sell their dogs over the internet!
Commercialization is everywhere, at what cost? Get this puppy mill out of the media.
Equal time demanded for the rescue groups and getting rid of puppymills.
I have rescued a puppy mill dog and the neglect and abuse he has suffered is disgusting.
"A
society can be measured by the way it treats it's animals." Ghandi
This is very disappointing that this "story" was even printed. The fact that this is supporting the horrific and inhumane puppy mill industry sickens me to no end. Your magazine will now be boycotted until another story is printed, why not show the abuse that really goes on in these mills??? Why not support and highlight animal rescue groups or individuals that are not "merchants" making money off of innocent animals.
Your article glorifying an unlicensed start-up puppy mill that has admittedly shipped less than healthy puppies is a disservice to conscientous dog breeders everywhere.
Another slime bucket that wants to make a buck on something that he does not care about. I doubt that he has the best interest of the dog in mind, only the buck.
Shame on People for allowing that boys story to be in there. I have been a People subscriber for years and I have never been so outraged by an article. STUPID PEOPLE!!!!!!!!
Please write an article on animal shelters and animal rescue groups in hopes of raising awareness of all of the homeless animals that need homes. This awareness will be needed in the days ahead when Timothy's dogs start giving birth.
More than 50,000 kittens and puppies are born each day in the United States alone. The only kind word or gentle touch many of them ever receive is from the technician who must end their lives because there simply aren't enough homes–or even cages–for them all.
Between six and eight million dogs and cats enter animal shelters across the United States each year. Of these, approximately three or four million are euthanized. Most are young, healthy, and friendly. Many–about 25 percent of dogs who enter shelters–are purebred. Yet puppy mills and breeders continue to churn out animal after animal like tools on an assembly line.
The Woe Behind That Doggie in the Window
Nearly nine out of every 10 puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills–breeding kennels that raise dogs in cramped, crude, filthy conditions. According to Dr. Donald Allen, a veterinarian who worked on Dateline NBC's "Puppies For Sale" segment about puppy mills in April 2000, "dogs in puppy mills are typically kept in inhumane conditions, tethered to trees or confined to feces-filled wire cages."
Female dogs are bred twice a year and are usually destroyed when they are no longer able to produce puppies. The puppies are taken from their mothers and sold to brokers who transport them to pet stores for resale to oblivious customers. The puppies sometimes travel hundreds of miles in pickup trucks, tractor-trailers, and/or airplanes, often without adequate food, water, ventilation or shelter.
Both the puppies and their mothers routinely suffer from malnutrition, exposure, and a lack of adequate veterinary care. Dr. Allen reports that some puppy mills do not vaccinate the dogs against diseases. Many are sold before they are six weeks old, the federal age limit for interstate puppy sales. Premature weaning may make the puppies more susceptible to diseases, and because the puppies are often inbred, they may possess bad genetic traits or have extremely aggressive
