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The Dog Game Defined: Puppy Brokers

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Dinglehopper was sold by Hunte Corporation to a Toronto pet store

Dinglehopper was sold by Hunte Corporation to a Toronto pet store

I’m working on a multi part series on definitions of common terms used in ‘the dog game’.

Today’s definition: Puppy Brokers (sometimes colloquially called ‘dog dealers’)

A puppy broker is someone who buys puppies, either individually or entire litters, and then re sells them at a marked up price. For example, a  broker might buy a puppy from a small town Penny Saver for $50, and then re sell it through their website for $350. At the height of demand for European bred French Bulldogs, some brokers were buying puppies in Eastern Europe for as little as $300, and re selling them for as much as $2,500. Being a broker can be a very lucrative business.

Brokers can be huge commercial outfits, like The Hunte Corporation.

Hunte is estimated to supply 80% of North American pet stores with their puppies (85,000 sold in one year alone). Hunte breeds no dogs of their own, but purchases them from primarily mid western commercial dog breeders, Missouri in particular. They then are vetted at their main facility, and shipped out across North America, to stores like PJ’s and Petland. The AKC, by the way, just loves Hunte Corporation. The CBC did a great expose on the pipeline that got a puppy named Dinglehopper from Missouri to Toronto, where he was purchased from PJ’s Pet Store.

 

Brokers can be shady, like the ones who buy up the puppies Hunte and other big commercial brokers don’t want.

These outfits buy ‘second class’ puppies, also known as “B” grade puppies, either directly from the breeders or sometimes through a contact at the big brokers. They then re sell these puppies through penny saver ads, or at flea markets, or from Walmart parking lots. Some of them have a new twist to this – they market their “B” grade puppies as ‘rescues’, charging ‘adoption fees’ higher than they could get at flea market, and with the ‘adopter’ having signed away any expectation of getting a healthy dog.

 

Brokers can be importers who buy foreign litter lots of puppies, mainly from Eastern Europe.

Since whelping costs are MUCH lower there, and puppy prices very low as well, import brokers can purchase an entire litter of puppies and then re sell them at inflated American prices. Some import brokers don’t import the puppies until they have ‘orders’ for them. Many of them have slick looking websites, some of which will make claims about “FCI” puppies being miraculously healthier than North American bred ones.

 

Brokers can be small, and claim to be ‘Finders Services’.

These people claim that they have a secret pipeline to all of the “most exclusive” breeders in North America – breeders that you, Joe Public, couldn’t possibly qualify to purchase a puppy from. Some of them offer all kinds of bells and whistles – they’ll hand carry the puppy to you, they will stay in your home for a week and do puppy ‘nanny’ duty. These places, generally run by just one or two people, will claim that they’re doing buyers a service by pre screening puppies and breeders, so you don’t have to.

Here’s what you need to know – NO reputable breeder will EVER knowingly sell a puppy to a broker of ANY sort.

A good breeder wants to meet you. Scratch that – a good breeder will INSIST on meeting you. They want to make sure you are a good home for the puppies they’ve raised and loved and looked after. They want all of your contact information. They want you to keep in touch, and send photos, and let us know if something goes wrong.

NO good breeder would ever turn a puppy over to strangers, to be sold to strangers. The very idea is repugnant. We need to know that our puppies are safe and loved and being cared for.

There is no ‘secret puppy pipeline’, like the “Finders Services” claim there is. They find puppies primarily by calling ads from the Penny Savers, or looking for local back yard breeders – the only kind of breeders willing or clueless enough to sell to them.

ANYONE can get a great puppy, from the best breeder in the world, if they’re willing to do their homework, and show some patience – and you don’t need a broker to be your middleman.

Richmond BC Bans Pet Store Sales

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The city council of Richmond, British Columbia, decided unanimously to ban the sales of puppies and kittens  through pet stores.

As usual, a few vocal pro-commercial breeding proponents objected strenuously to the proposed legislation, saying that a law banning sales of animals in pet stores would lead to a ban on puppies and kittens being sold by responsible breeders. City council, however, heard well balanced testimony that made the point quite clear that no responsible breeder ever sells to pet stores, and that pet store stock comes almost universally from puppy mills and high volume “puppy farms”.

From the Vancouver Sun:

“The City of Richmond showed such leadership being the first in Canada,” said Lorie Chortyk, general manager of community relations for the B.C. SPCA. “We’re really hoping that this is something other municipalities will see as the progressive way to go.”

Councillors voted unanimously for the amendment, initially proposed by Coun. Ken Johnston last year, after hearing from more than a dozen delegations. It will be brought to council for preliminary approval on Oct. 12, followed by public consultation.

Pet-store owners would be given until next spring to sell or remove all dogs.

Chortyk said the decision will help prevent the breeding of puppies in puppy mills, where they are subject to cruel and inhumane conditions.

“Pet stores will always tell you that they only deal with reputable breeders and family-run breeders, but our experience has been just the opposite,” Chortyk said. “Pet Habitat, for instance … get their dogs from the Hunte Corporation, which is a massive puppy broker in the U.S.”

Read more:

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Richmond+makes+landmark+move+against+puppy+mills/3628403/story.html#ixzz11ar15Npo

Your AKC Registration Dollars at Work

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Since Sean and I are thinking about opening a pet supply store, we’ve subscribed to all the trade publications we can find.

One of them, Pet Age, seems to carry advertising that leans pretty heavily towards pet stores that also sell puppies. There are frequently ads in Pet Age from the big mid western puppy sellers like Hunte Corporation., and Hunte Corp. has booths at all the trade shows this magazine and its parent company, Backer, promotes.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the June issue of Pet Age and found a FULL page ad from the American Kennel Club – an ad touting the fact that “nine out of ten puppy buyers prefer their puppies to have AKC papers”. The gist of the ad is that store owners should skip the ConCK and APRI registered puppies, and sell only ‘authentic’ AKC registered puppies in their pet stores. That AKC puppies somehow carry more consumer appeal, due to their conception as being a ‘superior’ product. An appeal, I should add, that’s based on the public’s perception of the AKC as being the arbiter of good breeding practices.

At a time when everyone is decrying the allegiance between AKC and Hunte, and AKC and Petland, and when people are insisting that AKC take a firmer stand against the sales of puppies in pet stores, what does AKC do? They spend registration dollars touting AKC registered puppies as great money making products to sell in pet stores. They get in bed with the very groups that they should be opposing, and they tarnish the very reputation that they claim their paperwork conveys. What’s truly ironic is that the ad touts the fact that the AKC is “Not for Profit”. I suppose that’s true, if you put aside how much money they pour into salaries, real estate and perks. I understand the theory that NGOs have to pay decent salaries to attract decently skilled people, but after a certain point it becomes a vicious cycle – you have to make more so that you can pay more to get people who can make more… (repeat endlessly). It’s similar to the statistics about the HSUS — they are, in effect, nothing more now than a vicious cycle of fund raising to make money to pay for more fund raising, with the barest minimum actually going to anything concrete.

The AKC, of course, excuses their behavior by claiming that all of these registrations are needed – are necessary! – for them to be able to continue to run dog shows. On their own website, they state that they’d have to raise fees to a ‘staggering’ $20 per entry to be able to make up for declining registrations. Is this true? Possibly. I believe, as do many others, that they could trim this number down through selling their prime New York City real estate and a few other belt tightening measures. And if that isn’t enough? Then raise entry fees. Ask your average exhibitor which they would prefer – higher entry fees, and an AKC that refuses to allow puppies sold through pet stores to be AKC registered, or the current artificially subsidized entry fees. I’m pretty sure I know how that vote would turn out.

Every single time AKC does something like this, it makes it harder and harder for me to believe their line about being the ‘purebred’s champion’, and to believe their PR about how they’re all about sportsmanship and breed preservation. Clearly, the only thing that matters any more to the AKC is making more and more bucks off of registrations, no matter where those registered puppies end up being sold. With this as their mantra, someone tell me – what REALLY is the difference any more between AKC and America’s Pet Registry or any other registry for that matter?

When you start touting your services to the very people your organization is supposed to oppose, haven’t you lost the entire “We’re better than those other guys” moral high ground?

 

Pet Store Hate Mail…

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Oh, goody. We’ve got some pet store hate mail to share with you today, which always makes for fun reading. I should actually clarify here that the mail came in response to this post that I made over on the French Bulldog experts blog.

I don’t know if the person who wrote it is affiliated with the Pet Store mentioned in the blog. I assume not, but since they didn’t sign their mail other than with a first name, I can’t say for sure.

I’ll give you the entire email first, then break it down bit by bit afterwards.

Firstly I am writing to ask WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE???? You dont know anything about my pet store or probably any pet store anyplace. Mine is as very up scale a place as you will ever find. My puppies and kittens are all clean and healthy and friendly. We are a GREAT PLACE for people to get their new pets from!!!

So what if some people want to use a credit card to buy a dog???? Big deal!!! Do you think only rich people should get to buy a dog???? Money isnt everything you know.

You don’t know where we get our puppies from. For you information we only ever get ours from real LIVE caring breeders. Yes caring sell to us, imagine that!!! We look in the papers and find people who have had a litter and let them know we can find such good homes for them. They are grateful to us!!! And the puppy buyers are too. Other times we have agents who find us puppies from great breeders. All our puppies and kittens are loved!!

If a puppy we sell gets sick we take it back. How many breeders do that huh?? We will even partly pay vet bills or even sometimes just give them a new puppy. You don’t even get that when you buy a car, but we do it because it’s the RIGHT THING to do. We have a vet look at all our animals and he says no breeders can care for them as good as we do.

So you need to get off your high horse and stop thinking that all you breeders are sooooo special and better than pet stores. We are as good as you and better. And people who get a puppy here come back again and again to us. I would say you need to APOLOGIZE but you likely dont even know what that means. Well God bless anyways or are you not even a Christian huh???

Whew. She sure told me, didn’t she? I need to take a moment here and recover from the total shaming she gave me, and then I can move on.

Firstly I am writing to ask WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE????

I think I’m Carol “Just-Gravestock-dammit-stop-calling me-Taylor-it’s been almost ten years now”, and that I breed French Bulldogs under the prefix “Bullmarket”. I also waste my time running far, far too many French Bulldog information sites, because I need to get a life. Oh, and I’m a capricorn, my favorite color is black, my favorite drink is two pots of coffee per day and I’m not a fan of pet stores, BYBs, or stupid people in general.

You dont know anything about my pet store or probably any pet store anyplace

Well, you didn’t sign your full name, or the name of your pet store, so who’s fault is that? If you’re so proud of it, why not share it? As well, I feel I’ve done a good bit of research into the retail pet industry, but again, if yours is so outside the norm, share its name and address with us. I bet one or two of my readers will be happy to stop by for a visit (and a bout of covert photography).

Mine is as very up scale a place as you will ever find. My puppies and kittens are all clean and healthy and friendly.

My Grandmother always said “Pretty is as pretty does”. Clean does not equal ethical. Also, it takes a truly sick baby animal to not be cute, or to not beg for attention.

So what if some people want to use a credit card to buy a dog???? Big deal!!!

Do you want to know why it’s a big deal? It’s a big deal because people should not view their purchase of a living being the same way they purchase a sweater. If you can’t afford the puppy, you’ll be unlikely to afford its on going care, either. No one claimed pet ownership wasn’t a luxury, especially ownership of breeds prone to esoteric diseases and conditions even when bred to the best of a breeder’s ability.

Money isnt everything you know.

Yes, I’m sure you’re one of those non profit charity pet stores. Give me a break.

You don’t know where we get our puppies from.

Yes I do – the same place every other pet store does.

For you information we only ever get ours from real LIVE caring breeders.

As opposed to what, dead caring breeders?

We look in the papers and find people who have had a litter and let them know we can find such good homes for them.

Oh. My. GOD. Did you just admit to trolling the papers for BYB litters, then re selling them? And you think you should be praised for that?

They are grateful to us!!!

Of course they are, because they bred their pet without any idea at all what to do with the puppies, and now they’re getting older, and eating, and pooping non stop, and now they need shots and… that breeder is thinking “Who cares who the pet store sells them to, because my wife/spouse/parents are going to throw a fit if I don’t get them out the door soon, and the kids who kept telling how they’d do all the work are no where to be found, so good riddance”.

Other times we have agents who find us puppies from great breeders.

Umm, those agents? They’re called brokers. They’re the middle men between you and the puppy mills, and the big outfits like Hunte Corporation. This makes you different from other pet stores how?

If a puppy we sell gets sick we take it back. How many breeders do that huh??

Every single good breeder I know. That’s sort of the line in the sand between ‘good’ and ‘bad’.

We will even partly pay vet bills or even sometimes just give them a new puppy.

“Partly”? “Sometimes”? Let me guess – the only way they get a refund is if they ‘return’ the puppy to you so you can ‘euthanize’ it. That’s called the death card insurance policy – the odds that someone will return a sick puppy they’re emotionally invested in weighed out against the risk of refunding their money. I bet you don’t have to pay out very often, do you?
You don’t even get that when you buy a car, but we do it because it’s the RIGHT THING to do.

You do it because most states require it by law. Also, dogs – living beings. Cars – hunks of metal. Not a good analogy.

We have a vet look at all our animals and he says no breeders can care for them as good as we do.

Have your vet breathe on a mirror. Does it fog over? No? That’s proof your vet has no soul, a common trait among the living dead. He sold his soul when he came to work for you. I’d pity him, but really zombies just sort of freak me out.

So you need to get off your high horse and stop thinking that all you breeders are sooooo special and better than pet stores.

I like my high horse. It’s comfortable, and the view from up here is great. Plus, I don’t think all breeders are so special, but I do, however, think all pet stores are the debbil.

people who get a puppy here come back again and again to us.

Of course they do, because they are the type of Paris Hilton esque nitwits who change their pets like the rest of us change our socks. They buy a cute puppy, get sick of the not so cute adult, dump it, then buy another cute puppy. Stupid people are a pet store’s best friends.

I would say you need to APOLOGIZE but you likely dont even know what that means.

No, I do apologize. I apologize to every puppy hauled cross country in a truck to be sold by you. I apologize to every sick kitten sitting in your display window and shivering with FLV. I apologize to every well meaning person who ‘rescues’ a puppy from you, only to have it break their heart when it dies.

Who do you apologize to?

Well God bless anyways or are you not even a Christian huh???

Why? Why do they always, always have to throw in the God part? Do they think it’s some sort of animal cruelty get out of jail free card?

Am I a Christian? Not if being a Christian means that I have a special dispensation to commit acts of animal cruelty. Not if being a Christian means cloaking myself in God every time someone questions my very dubious morals. Not if you’re one.

Somehow, I have the feeling that Jesus would be saying the same thing – “If that’s what they’re calling themselves, I’m getting a name change”.

So, Mr. Pet Store owner, if you have any more to share, please do so. And, like I said, share the name and address of your store with us, too. Come on – prove me wrong. It would be a relief, actually.