Damaged dogs plucked from the assembly line

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Go straight to the source
The Humane Society and the ASPCA recommend that families looking for a pet avoid pet stores and go directly to a reputable breeder who keeps dogs in the home, not outdoors in kennel runs. A legitimate breeder will let you see where the dogs are raised and cared for, and it will let you review its veterinary records and references from other buyers.

“Dogs are very social. They want to be with you,” said Linda Isley, who breeds registered schnauzers in Franklin, Ind.

Isley’s schnauzers sleep in a warm bedroom, have plenty of room to run and get abundant human attention. She and her husband, Richard, breed one litter of puppies a year, and they don’t sell them to pet stores.

“In commercial setups, they don’t live that kind of life. It’s kind of like a prison,” Isley said. “A responsible breeder would never sell their puppies to a pet store.”

Better yet, adopt from a shelter, animal welfare groups urge. So do some of the largest pet store chains, notably PetSmart and PETCO, which refuse to sell dogs and cats because they can’t ensure the humane provenance of the animals.

PetSmart donates store space to local animal adoption agencies, which keep all fees, while PETCO operates a companion Web site, Petfinder.com, to help families find dogs and cats to adopt.

Deborah Howard is founder of the Companion Animal Protection Society, a nonprofit group based in Cohasset, Mass., which opposes commercial breeding because of its impact on adult dogs.

“If your dog was kept in a run or kept in a cage day in and day out, didn’t get out, wasn’t socialized, wasn’t allowed into a home, didn’t get to interact with people, would you want your dog in that situation?” she asked. “That’s a commercial livestock condition.”

With Bob Segall of WTHR-TV in Indianapolis and Claudia Hickey of WGBA-TV in Green Bay, Wis. NBC affiliates WCAU of Philadelphia; WLWT of Cincinnati; WNCN of Raleigh, N.C.; WRC of Washington; WSLS of Roanoke, Va.; WTVI of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and WXII of Greensboro, N.C., contributed to this report.

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