Actively Resisting Cruelty!

DON'T BUY PUPPIES FROM A PET SHOP!
Pet shops buy puppies from puppy mills to try to make as much profit as possible. To further profits, the dogs at the puppy mills are used until they can no longer breed or give birth to more litters, they are given inadequate amounts of food, water and care, they are kept in small wire cages for their whole lives, and they suffer health issues such as rotting teeth and ulcers in their eyes. Many puppies that come from puppy mills have health problems or genetic disorders because of the poor conditions.
Every time you buy a puppy from a pet store, you are most likely supporting the puppy mill that dog came from and therefore supporting the abuse and exploitation of thousands of dogs.
Patti, Claire, and I greatly dislike puppy mills. To protest, we borrowed Claire's neighbor's dog (whom was adopted from a shelter), put a sign on him that said "Adopt a puppy," and walked around Claire's neighborhood informing people of the puppy mills and the better alternative of adopting from a shelter.
I have very strong feelings on this subject partly because I have a dog and I love him very much. I feel that dogs are like babies in the sense that, in the human world, they are helpless and need our support to survive. Therefore, when humans take away the right for a dog to live comfortably, i feel that that is as bad as treating a baby poorly. No one would lock up a baby in a wire cage for the rest of his or her life, would they? if anyone did do that, the person would be locked up in jail. Why shouldn't dogs be held on the same pedestal? They are as helpless as human babies. Just because an animal's life is "less significant" than a human's life does not give people the right to openly abuse animals. I understand that, if in a life or death situation, the human comes first. But when there is the luxury of treating both existences equally, what would prevent you from doing that?
I don't know of many pet stores around here that sell puppies (if you know one, tell me please:]) but next time i plan to go to one of those stores and inform the customers about puppy mills if they plan to buy a puppy. I want to be able to make a real difference.