Designer Dogs: An Exposé. Madeline Bernstein

      Chapter 3

      Where Babies Come From:

      Poorly Bred versus Purely Bred

      Horses are cheaper than oats.

      —Anonymous

      Designer dogs are abandoned, turned into shelters, becoming sick, and dying at an alarming rate. The reason lies in the designer dog recipe.

      Designer dogs can come from responsible breeders, but more often they’re from puppy mills, backyard breeders (amateur breeders who often breed substandard dogs for fun or extra income), or hobbyists (who are like backyard breeders, but usually breed on a smaller scale and specialize in one breed). These suppliers exist all over the world and the dogs are sold domestically and internationally. The dogs sometimes travel twenty hours, halfway around the world, to get to their destination. Conditions are often squalid and infections spread between the puppies, further destabilizing their health and immune systems. It is a traumatic experience that can cause physical and mental health issues, or compound existing ones.

      The internet offers quick and easy ways to find and buy designer dogs. The simplicity of this often leads to impulse-driven, whim acquisitions. And because the purchases are sight unseen, you can’t be certain what you are actually buying and from whom. Often the dog you think you’re buying, which you selected because of a cute photo or video, is not the dog that arrives at the door. Though existing laws protect these pets, there is frequently a lack of resources, officers, and the will to enforce them.

      Some breeders and puppy mills are licensed; some are not. Some are registered with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); some are not. To be licensed and registered, a breeder needs to fill out a form, pay a fee, and agree to submit to inspections for compliance with minimum standards of care. Some breeders operate in places of business; others operate in homes. Proof of registration with the USDA or meeting an individual state’s registration requirements doesn’t guarantee compliance with federal, state, humane, husbandry, and retail laws.

      After the 2016 presidential election, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) scrubbed much of the section of its website related to animal welfare. An “Editor’s Note” on the website reads, “APHIS is implementing actions to remove documents it posts on APHIS’ website involving the Horse Protection Act (HPA) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).”

      On August 18, 2017, in response to a public outcry and threats of legal challenges, it reinstated the public search tool that provides access to AWA compliance records and some information regarding license and compliance issues, however, it’s clear that the records are incomplete by the site’s own admission that it will “continue to review records and determine which information is appropriate for reposting.” Instead of transparently sharing all violation information known to it, the agency requires that the person seeking information file a request, stating, “Those seeking information from APHIS regarding inspection reports not currently posted to the website, regulatory correspondence, and enforcement-related matters may submit Freedom of Information Act requests for that information.” This information is important for the public to be able to conduct even a minimal background check on the supplier of an animal being considered for purchase, and for those of us in law enforcement who use the information to inform state violations, assess patterns of mistreatment, and propose legislation. As of this writing, responses to information requests are slow, often ignored, and may be heavily redacted. New lawsuits have been filed to address these issues. The fact that this information is not readily available is reprehensible.

      The Farmer in the Mill

      After the Second World War, two things occurred that greatly affected the pet industry. The first was the post-war boom that ignited the rise of the middle class and the sudden presence of disposable income to spend on items like pets. The second was the changes in agriculture in the West and Midwest. New technology developed sophisticated agricultural machines and irrigation systems, and these, coupled with better pesticides, improved crops and crop yields, but there were also great challenges. Industrialization and urbanization caused many field hands to seek work in cities, and there were several years of severe drought during the 1950s. In response, cash-strapped farmers sought to produce new crops that would be immune to these challenges. The farmers began to “farm” puppies as an alternative cash crop. The farms became known as “puppy farms.”

      The farmers had no understanding of the dog-breeding industry and yet they jumped into business. To keep costs down, they stuffed dogs into wire chicken coops, crates, junked appliances, and car seats, and tied others to poles and tree trunks. To increase volume, wire cages were stacked high, one on top of the other, so that pee and poop seeped downward, to the cages beneath. The dogs bred and lived in their own waste and that of other dogs, and were subjected to extreme heat and cold. They were barely fed or medically tended to. Siblings were bred with siblings, parents, and any other dog that could be found. A single puppy farm could have hundreds or thousands of dogs imprisoned at any one time. The dogs were always ill, dirty, malnourished, and living in misery. Babies were often born deformed. Ones considered “unsuitable” (unlikely to sell or breed well) were quickly killed. These conditions continue today.

      Capitalizing on post-war disposable income, dogs were offered for commercial sale. The first pet stores opened and puppies were put in store windows to lure customers. As is the case today, consumers wanted the breeds they saw in film, on television, and in the hands of matinee idols. For example, after the release of the film Lassie Come Home in 1943, the popularity of the collie increased by 60 percent during the next decade. The release of the movie The Shaggy Dog, in 1959, did the same for Old English sheepdogs, and this scenario played out countless times over the following decades.3

      To satisfy demand, breeders quickly farmed and transported dogs. And dogs, legally property, became the new cash crop. Overhead costs were kept low in the “manufacturing process,” and profits soared. It was a win-win for farmers and retailers, and consumers had easy access to whatever dog breed was in vogue.

      In 1953, Patti Page recorded the song “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” complete with barking sounds. The song, written by Bob Merrill and released by Mercury Records, hit Number 1 on both Billboard and Cashbox charts in 1953. Its single sold two million copies. Its chorus is unforgettable:

      How much is that doggie in the window?

      The one with the waggly tail

      How much is that doggie in the window?

      I do hope that doggie’s for sale

      This song celebrated the pure joy of a cute, loyal dog who protects his owner and provides companionship. It became the symbol of the premise that the pet store dog was the best thing in the world and that everyone should have one. Owning a dog from a pet shop was also thought of as a status symbol. In 1997, the song was adapted into a children’s book, How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?, retold and illustrated by Iza Trapani, in which a little boy tries to save his entire allowance and chore money in order to purchase a “doggie in the window.” Again, the iconic song encouraged and romanticized the purchase of a pet shop dog rather than the adoption of a shelter dog.

      “Cheap to produce, expensive to buy” was the song the farmers were singing.

      Over the years, the song “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” organically morphed into the anthem of activists who were decrying the dark side of puppy mills and who begged people to adopt from crowded shelters rather than buy from puppy mills. At issue for them was the inhumanity of the pet industry and the fact that healthy dogs were being euthanized for reasons related to time, space, and a lack of families to adopt them.

      The anti–puppy-mill sentiment that became associated with the song upset Patti Page so much that in 2009 she recorded a new version of the song titled “Do You See That Doggie in the Shelter?” Its lyrics