[TrishB]

Actually - most big chains of petstores do not use BYB's. They use puppy mills. BYB's can't produce enough puppies on demand like a puppy mill can. A pet store gets an order for a Cream Female Chow Chow puppy 8 weeks of age. A BYB cannot provide that. Puppy Mills can.

Puppy mills have bitches in wire cages, stacked on top of themselves - never socialized, walked, exercised, played with or loved. They just get bred time and time again. Whelping in these conditions - a life of torture until they cannot produce. They are then typically shot because they're no longer useful, and buried.

Every puppy that is purchased from a pet store or from a broker encourages that industry to continue producing puppies. Please don't condemn another bitch to this life. Go to a dog show or an obedience club or join a breed club / national club as well - meet a COE breeder and get the right puppy, the right way.