If you have ever been to a puppy mill, you will understand the horrors these dogs live through. The dogs that go up for auction WILL be sold. SOMEONE will be making money off of the sale. It doesn't matter if we are there or not. Prices are not pushed higher because of the presence of a rescue. Other bidders (just like ourselves and the other rescues that attend) usually have a set spending limit and will bid accordingly. The only difference is where that animal will go once it is sold.
If a rescue wins the bid, that dog is free of the system from that day on. Not only are you rescuing that one dog, but all 67,000 puppies it (and it's puppies) could have produced in the next five years (figures come from the HSUS website for possible births in five years).
If another puppy mill wins the bid, the seller is still making money, but that dog stays in the puppy-mill cycle. Most of these dogs should never have been bred in the first place. Many have deformities that are passed down to the puppies. Chances are these dogs will breed until they die or can't produce puppies anymore.
Doesn't it make more sense to get a few out of the cycle now? Imagine how much shelters and rescues spend on the cost involved in caring for and placing the unwanted puppies produced if another puppy mill gets them?
We've heard a lot of people say that these millers are just selling their old stock to buy new dogs. WRONG. Most of the dogs at these sell-out auctions are less than four years old! Many are between six and twenty-four months old.
Buying dogs at these auctions is the only way to get them out of the cycle humanely, legally, and with the least amount of profit for those selling.
