This is horrible. Puppy mills are one of the reasons there are so many unwanted pets with genetic problems. This "Teen" and the adults are only making more pets that will end up in shelters and rescues.
Puppy mills are run by people who do not care about the animals or the breeds. All they think about is profit. Please print an article that tells the whole, tragic story of these backyard breeders.
Shameless. Are you aware of how puppymills function? Do your research, then ask yourself if you would subject your own pet to such conditions. Nice message to send out to our young people.
I have 2 dogs that were rescued from a puppymill. I can attest to the issues caused by just this kind of greed! People Magazine apparently is just as greedy. I will no longer buy or read the mag and suggest that others do the same! Word of mouth advertising works!!
It's a shame this young man and his parents did not learn responsibility before their greed set in - NO RESPONSIBLE PERSON SELLS PUPPIES TO PEOPLE THEY DO NOT KNOW - but then that's why we have puppy mills isn't it? Shame is these people, they all need to be "spayed/neutered!!!
Please do not encourage young people to continue the ghastly, cruel "business" of puppymills. Timothy Hampson is, knowingly or unknowingly, supporting the inhumane puppymills and this is nothing to publicize.
being a professional groomer of 20 plus years, i see the heartaches pet owners go through when they get puppies from puppy mills....health issues and/or temperment problems galore!
People Magazine should be ashamed for promoting a puppymill type operation! Please use your magazine in a more constructive manner to help shut down puppymills and put puppy brokers out of business!
Animal Planet has realized the problem with puppy mills. They have done several stories on resucues from puppy mills and shutting down puppy mills. Please, follow Animal Planet in educating while entertaining people on what is right and wrong on puppy "purchasing". Thank You
Disgrace! People Magazine should print another article on this one - this time showing the true world of puppy mills. Or they should get boycotted! Also, I suggest that everybody writes a letter to editor and aske them to print them on their comment page.
please research the fallout of irresponsible breeding and remedy the errors made by this promotion. Dogs are live animals not the equivalent of selling t-shirts.
This is really sick. I do dachshund rescue and with so many dogs needing homes, breeders like cuddlypuppy should not be praised, they should be put out of business.
Thisyoung man should NOT be selling dogs over the internet. Many of the "buyers" are people who use the small dogs as bait for fighting dogs or the dogs are used in research and are not ever family pets.
Maybe People Magazine would like to print photos of dogs and puppies who have been euthanized due to them ending up in shelters due to overbreeding. Dogs currently are being bred to die.
It saddens me that People magazine gave a forum not to an entrepreneur but to an individual exploiting helpless puppies. Perhaps, People magazine should do a followup article on what becomes of these hapless pups sold over the Internet. Many of which will be bred by irresponsible owners for the same purpose, many will end up in shelters across the country and many will be euthanized. Is there no one left at People w/ any ethics??
Thanks, People Magazine, for adding to the burden of the upcoming rescue issues for 2005. We can now look forward to trying to find homes for the rejected and neglected Christmas Pups who will be turned in by people who had no idea what they were doing when they bought into your glorification of broker puppymill advertising.
How dumb can your reporters get????? Are you truly that ignorant about where these pups come from???
And for them to be released at 5-7 weeks... not even standard procedure for good breeders..
Shame on you.
It is unfortunate that puppymills are in existance. These random breeders to not breed for temperment but just to generate money for themselves. The puppymillers is why there are so many animals in rescue and shelters needing to be rehomed. If you are not active in rescue do not breed. I am in fostering and adopting Giant Schnauzers in need of rehoming.
As a People subscriber, I was offended that you would promote a puppy "broker" in an article about kids in business. Puppy mills are deplorable even if they are sold by "enterprising kids".
This is hell for dogs. Please develop a story about rescue dogs that are trained as dog helpers and companions. There are millions of stories out there.
I'm sorry, but I'm not impressed by a boy who sells pets over the internet. Please run an article about the damage done by irrespoonsible dog breeding.
How sad that in the year 2004 a magazine as widely distributed as People would still show total ignorance to the plight of these poor puppies and the dastardly, self serving deeds of the mill owners. Shame on you!
I thought puppy mills were bad but to read that there are puppy BROKERS is just sickening. This kid needs to be sent to reform school, not the pages of a national magazine!
please print an article on the down side to breeding pets as a home business - many of the animals end up in terrible conditions. I know I have two that were rescued from a puppy mill and after 9 months of TLC they will finally let me pet them.
People Magazine should have done their homework, seems as if they do it when they are reporting "star" gossip but obviously not for the canines that are unable to speak for themselves. The boy and especially his Mother should take it upon themselves to Volunteer in a shelter for a week....and I will then make the time to read an article in any magazine as to how they felt after that experience!
As a rescuer, and foster person as well, I see the results every single day of animals allowed to reproduce! With MILLIONS of unwanted animals being killed yearly, it's time this country woke up, and opened their eyes to the horrors of puppy mills! Bitches being bred non-stop till they die, or are killed, sitting in feces encrusted cages stacked one on top of another. If the dogs are lucky they'll get some cheap crap dogfood to sustain them till the pups are whipped off and sold to the unwitting, and uneducated buyers. They in turn often end up with huge vet bills due to the well known health problems these millers don't give a damn about! All mighty $$$ is their only drive, giving no consideration to the animals suffering on their property year after year. Greed = Death!
Unbelievable ignorance and a perpetuation of a long-standing problem. I'm astonished People Magazine is so unaware of the consequences of such an "enterprise" as to even consider including it in their article.
People Magazine... shame on you for encouraging this boy to become a puppy-miller. Puppy-millers should serve jail time and be HEAVILY fined! Shame on this boy and his mother, making profit from puppies is not admirable! This boy should worry about furthering his education, not be involved in this deplorable behavior.
To be perfectly blunt, this story makes me want to tear out my eyes and feed them to a large array of baitfish. I question how this is even legal for this kid (and no I am not using the word 'kid' loosely) to get away with supporting puppymills in this way..sure it's innovative in a business sense but breeding to essentially cause pain and a morose environment for both animal and owner. Angers me to see how sick and twisted people can be to make a buck...
I found this article not only disturbing, but very sad! Is this really the type of entrepreneurship PEOPLE magazine feels is worthwhile...what were you thinking? Is everything 'fair game' in the pursuit of the all mighty dollar... even helpless puppies???
You've had an article on someone who sells puppies over the internet with no regard to where they go. For a fair and balanced view, please do an article on Rescue groups who receive many of these poor dogs in their programs do to the irresponsibility of people like this. Some of these dogs we can save and others are executed by shelters who have no room for them.
I find it very disturbing that you would publish an article about what appears to be a puppymill..did you research this article any further than the amount of money this family is making at the expense of careless breeding..now why don't you do an article on "puppymills" and maybe feature the same young man as he should be seen...greedy and uncaring about the animals he is selling!!!
