tailwagging":39sz16nh said:
ChickiesnBunnies":39sz16nh said:
Puppy breeder and puppy mill is totally different and not offensive if you breed ethically. Ony people who should be offended to that phrase are the ones who pop out animals left and right with no regard for health and housing.
I have no idea where peta is or what they are doing other than they are all insane and want no one to have pets of any kind. Other than that, I don't keep up with any group or News of any kind.
NO ANY breeder who understands the ARs would be offended. would you like to be called a Bunny mill? because you breed more then two does a year? and sell the offspring or god forbid ate them or sold the to a *gasp* pet store who may sell them for *sob* snake food!!! what horrific spin can be put on rabbit breeding/breeders!
all this bit about PM BYB EB is a bunch of labels put on breeders by ARs.
As soon as we understand that there are only two kinds of breeders. substandard and over standard.
There are good large breeders and bad small ones. Bad fancy house breeders and good poor caring ones.
PM is the N word for dog breeders.
Okay I can kinda see both sides. I agree, there are two kinds of breeders...substandard and overstandard.
I also agree that most sub-standard "breeders" are puppy mills.
The words have a certain connotation, of sad, unhealthy animals in squalid conditions, breeding over and over and over and never being vetted or rested, basically being bred til they die. The horrors of a true puppy mill are...well...horrible. They are certainly substandard conditions.
It has little to do with actual numbers, however facilities with terrible conditions often have about a million animals, hence why some people see numbers and conditions to be synonymous. Which of course they aren't but that's neither here nor there.
I don't have a problem labeling horrible "breeders" who care nothing for their dogs and breed them to death for profit as "puppy mills." I also wouldn't consider a large commercial breeder who keeps healthy dogs in good conditions to be a puppy mill no matter how many dogs they sell. Do I think large commercial breeders have the quality that hobby breeders do? Probably not. Do I think they are puppy mills? No.
Likewise, if a person keeps a tonne of rabbits in good condition in clean housing and feeds them well and breeds responsibly, I don't care how many rabbits they have. Standard or overstandard breeders are fine. Substandard facilities that churn out babies with no thought to health or quality, where the rabbits live in squalor, yeah that's substandard and it's a "bunny mill."
And to clarify, a puppy mill or rabbit mill (or kitty mill or whatever mill) doesn't need to be a commercial facility, private owners can be just as guilty.
Just my two cents on this one; having seen dogs bought from breeding facilities AND dogs from puppy mills, I can tell you there is a world of difference. YMMV.
