I assume the young man and the write don't know any better but...providing living animals is NOT the same as providing fans for the elderly. There is no way, without proper screening, to make sure the home is a good one. Think of the DOGS! At least run an article about rescue and puppy mills and EDUCATE some of the public.
A teen entrepreneur is old enough to know better and to behave responsibly. The kid behind "cuddlypuppy.com" is exploiting helpless animals (and unwitting buyers) by participating in an industry based on neglect and greed. Shame on PEOPLE Magazine for honoring his selfishness.
Let's see an article on the ugly truth behind the world of puppy production: puppymills and backyard breeders.
I am astonished that a magazine with the reputaion that People has would publish something so careless and irresponsible. As a responsible breeder and rescuer I can not understand how anyone could condone the cruelty of puppymills let alone promote it. I am truly saddened and I will never read the magazine again. I think People owes the public an apology for such a careless story as well as a feature article detailing the horrors of puppymills.
As someone who has fostered toy dogs rescued from puppy mills and "high volume breeders" I can tell you that you have done horrible damage to a number of dogs by publishing this story. How many other people will follow this lead and get dogs from mills for resale and a quick buck! You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
How totally irresponsible of People Magazine to promote a business of this type. Not much thought went into this article unless People wants the public to belive there is a total lack of Corporate and personal ethics within your company! If that was your purpose, you succeeded.
This young man should be taken on a visit to a few shelters and exposed to the conditions and the euthanizations in store for the cute puppies he is selling. And he should also visit the puppymills from which the puppies come and see the horrors the dams of those puppies endure. If he is unaffected by these experiences, he needs intensive psychiatric help.
Call me cynical but let me guess - one of Tim Hamptom's responses to the outrage at his business will include a reference to his weak and obvious inclusion of petfinder.com, a pet adoption website, on his own website so that he can somehow justify his actions by alluding to their support. What is petfinder.com's personal interest in this anyway; hmmmm. Will we be surprised when we find out Tim donates to petfinder.com so they won't kick up too much of a fuss over his business? Or is it that they simply want to insure they'll be contacted when the new puppies can't be returned to Tim after his one-year genetic guarantee has expired?
This is very sad. Easily 20% of my business is a direct result of poor breeding practices. I work to solve behavior problems in dogs. Making money at breeding dogs apparently outweighs the behavior problems poor breeding causes. Have to wonder why there are 5 million dog bites each year in North America when this is socially acceptible.
I have worked with and for animals for many years, and while working at my animal hospital, saw many adorable puppies die in agony that came from uncaring puppy mills/puppy stores. Even the ones who survived were ill for months, sometimes years. A co-worker of my brother had to put his 3 month mini-Dachshund down yesterday - a pet store puppy. It is such a waste of innocent life.
How incredibly irresponsible and short-sighted your editors were in encouraging such exploitation of mass produced animals all in the name of the almighty buck!
No, we're not some "over-the-top" animal rights fanatics; we simply deal with the results of such "entrepreneurs"
on a daily basis.
Shame on you!!
Now we must wonder, and worry about how many new endeavors such as this the article has sparked.
I shudder to think.
this young man is unknowingly supporting the puppymill trade just as a pet shop does. You have only encouraged other young people to think that this is a good idea. There were just over 100 small dogs rescued in the Dallas, TX area yesterday from a puppy mill. It is always about money by the suffering of animals.Please try to publish another article on the cruelty the puppy mill animals suffer to balance the position.Thank you for your time. Nancy Winton
What were you thinking ? Even Ebay has banned selling dogs on the internet. We can't expect a 16 year old to be responsible, but can hold your editors and reporter accountable.
This is absolutely unforgiveable of the young man, and even more of People Magazine for playing this up. I am the national rescue coordinator for the Affenpinscher Club of America, and I go to the puppy mill auctions in KS, MO, OK and TX. Why don't you go to www.puppymills.com and find out just what these "breeders" and nice people on the internet are doing. The conditions these dogs live in are unbelievable. Unless an article from People comes out apoligizing for this sordid article and giving an opportunity for the truth to be told. I, for one, will never buy your magazine again unless an apology in your magazine is forthcoming.
While we do encourage youth to have goals and ideals, it is our opinion that such a story is reckless journalism. Where was PEOPLE MAGAZINE when funds and stories were NEEDED during the hurricanes down in Florida this year? Instead of printing a story about a puppy miller/broker, why not investigate and print stories of heroism, such as the 410 rescued dogs that had to be shipped from Florida to Colorado so they would not be euthanized. Oh, but THAT would involve a truly creative idea and ethics. We will no longer purchase PEOPLE MAGAZINE.
This may be an enterprising teen but he doesn't know the pain and suffering he is causing. Hopw many cute puppies will die before he and others like him are shut down permanently??? This is another puppymill, pure and simple.
Hopefully this feedback will get back to the young entrepreneur so that he can see what a horrible mistake he's making selling living breathing animals to who knows who with no regard for their future. As Donald would say "You're Fired!"
Puppymills and the breeders who run them are a horror. The dogs are caged, live in filth, have no human contact, suffer from malnutrition, throid disfunction and other disorders but don't receive medical care. The "millers" are strictly in it for the money and treat the dogs as breeding machines -- a uterus and testicles to make money for them. Once in a while an auction is held and rescuers from all over the country come to bid on dogs and take them away from their lives of misery. The breeders use the money to buy more dogs and the cycle continues. The rescued dogs are often so traumatized they cower with fear from noise, lights, and don't know how to interact with humans. Some of the rescuers are so traumatized by what they see they become physically ill, throw up, have nightmares and can't shake the vision of what they saw and smelled. They are unable to live with the guilt of "the ones they left behind." You have done a terrible thing by printing this article and in all fairness must do another article on the horrors of puppymills in order to educate the public NOT to buy dogs from petstores. PLEASE! DO IT! Thank you.
How sad that this young man can only see the dollar sign NOT the welfare of the puppies he sells. Perhaps he should be taken to a centre/ pound to face the reality for all the unwanted dogs once they are no longer cuddly puppies.
I can not believe that you would do a story based on the fact a child is making money off of selling dogs. Have you checked to see where these dogs are coming from and if they are healthy. You are promoting as far as I am concerned an agent for puppy mills. Shame on you!!
How disgusting and certainly not what one would hope to see from "People Magazine." This "teen titan" is doing a huge disservice to dogs and to reputable breeders. Someone needs to educate him and his parents about the tens of thousands of dogs that are euthanized every year in this country. A better endeavor for this "titan," would be to offer education for puppy and dog buyers, rescue those abandoned pets and find good homes for them.
I strongly urge that you allow the other side of the story to be heard!
This is a disgusting display of ignorance on the magazine's part. Maybe the mags staff should spend a day at a rescue shelter to open their eyes to the disgusting operations of puppy mills and backyard breeders.
Promoting puppy mills is degrading to all people who work so hard to help save the millions of homeless animals each year. I can't believe People would publish something like this without thinking about the implications...
Wow, a young teenage boy that doesn't know or care to know a thing about responsibly breeding dogs, caring for dogs, and finding puppies the best homes possible. RESPONSIBLE BREEDERS DO NOT SELL THEIR PUPPIES OVER THE INTERNET! How great for his ego and his future uneducated puppy buyers that he is now being glorified in the public eye of People Magazine. I hope People has a major downfall in sales after printing such garbage! I have contacted the manager at NuVet Vitamin supply and left a message asking about their "contracts" with "breeders." This company should be ashamed of what is on Timothy's website and as "professionals in the animal business" they should be researching any breeder that their product is linked to. How does a vitamin prevent a congenital birth defect in a dog anyway?? Nothing can prevent all of the health problems that we see in overbred and neglected dogs from puppy mills other than strict laws that are strongly enforced to stop this terrible activity. Timothy's operation that he is proudly linked to is more than disheartening. I would encourage all of you to send letters to the editors of People Magazine and an email directly to Timoth at puppies@cuddlypuppy.com
Becky Ellis
Carson City, NV
As a member of a rescue organization I think you need to consider the damage that is being done by irresponsible breeders and brokers. If your not yet aware of this overwhelming problem then you should visit a few shelters, rescue groups or watch these dogs being destroyed because no one wants them when they're no longer "cute." Perhaps you need an education!
As a rescuer, volunteer at a shelter, and high school teacher, it horrific for me to see an article lavishing praise on a teen who is contributing to the ever growing problem of puppy milling, the homeless companion animal population in America, and the callousness of our culture.
Rather than rewarding students, by focusing on those teens who volunteer their time to make the world a better place, your magazine has quite wrongly given an accolate to a young person who has only learned the lesson that greed, at any cost, is what is valued in our culture.
If your magazine would really like to focus on truly remarkable young people, how about doing an article on the young women at my school who recently donated 24 feet (yes, FEET) of their hair to Locks of Love.
I suggest that your magazine do its homework in the future. Praise our young people who make a difference, not those who contribute to the problem.
It makes me sad to read things like this happening in an civilized world. Please use your magazine to write an article about rescues and puppymills. A friend from abroad
Selling animals over the Internet means these animals have to be shippped, which is extremely stressful on the animals. There are more than enough purebred and mixed dogs available locally without having to ship them!
These puppies are bred and kept in horiffic conditions.This is something that should not be allowd to continue.People magazine should be ashamed of it's self.
We spend a great deal of time researching our breeding lines and checking out our potential owners for the good of our dogs, this type of puppy mill advertising puts dogs into the hands of people sensible breeders have already rejected.
Puppies are for life not the supermarket shelves.
With thousands of homeless amimals already on the streets and in shelters, puppymills continue to thrive. A knowledgable piece about the real cost of these breeders would go a long way to reduce animal cruelty and human thoughtlessness.
While I understand a young entrepreneur's wish to find a business where they make money, and fulfill the "American Dream", it's really a shame that this young man either doesnt know anything about puppy mills and what he is perpetuating by selling dogs that come from these puppy mills (and who knows what sort of homes they go to) or he doesnt care in the name of the "big buck".
These are not a "product", these are living, breathing, feeling animals who have the right to expect a good life, and the puppy mills they come from are deplorable. I have seen the result of so many puppy mill dogs and puppies--horrible, inhumane treatment, and poor breeding!
