Information on working terriers, dogs, natural history, hunting, and the environment, with occasional political commentary as I see fit. This web log is associated with the Terrierman.com web site.
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Start Your Own Puppy Mill!
Start your own puppy pill!
That was, more-or-less, the get-rich-quick tip and instructionsprovided by Popular Science back in June of 1935.
And how did you sell your stock? Why from a roadside stand, of course!
Back in the day, in rural America, that's the way it was done. In defense of my family, all the kinfolk wanted fiesty rat terriers for the homes and farms. We had two bitches and a male. Twice a year they had pups and the call went out. Puppies for sale or trade to keep the mice from the house, the rats from the barn and strangers from the door. They must have been good ones cause they went as far as Smethport Pennsylvania, Lake Charles Lousiana and one to somewhere in California. Of course, some of them died in pursuit of a boar coon, got et by coyotes and one or two got run over. The fifties were tough on dogs but they were all loved and cried over when they met their end. But there were no cages, no pet stores and no one would have dared put their pups in a pound. So I guess (my) society was such where good dogs were appreciated as much or more as a good horse, a good milk cow or a brand new Ford.
I decided I wanted to raise Chinchillas when I was 11. Spent $11.99 and I was supposed to get a book, a male and a female.
I didn't tell my parents. What were they gonna do once they got there and realized how much money I could make (and I was an EXTREMELY responsible child). I checked the mail, it was one of my chores... but nothing ever came.
I was far more worried that the little fella's starved to death than if they simply ripped me off. It was only 3 weeks allowance or so, and they were so CUTE!
It was about five or six years later I learned why they raised them. I thought people bought them for pets (they were just becoming popular - even then I had an eye for pet trends). When I realized what I had almost done, I was horrified. I was grateful that the little fuzzballs didn't show up - in fact, part of me hoped they HAD died in transit. Otherwise, their life had no chance but to do be one of solitude and pumping out babies, one after another. Once that was over, she would be skinned, in the most barbaric ways possible.
Back then you could truly plead innocence - at least when you started. Ignorance was wide spread because the story wasn't being told the way it is now. The FULL story.
But even then, a roadside cornstand for puppies? Yikes.
How about the great little book (cough, cough) entitled "Dollars in Dogs" by Leon F. Whitney, the great man loved by the AKC and Adolph Hitler, who was head of the American Eugenic society and a popular author of dog literature? Dollars in Dogs was published in 1971? In it we are told, under a caption. "Wire bottom pens are a valuable asset to any breeding Kennel. They keep the puppies clean and are excellent for display purposes." Lots more about Leon F Whitney on this blog ;)
4 comments:
Back in the day, in rural America, that's the way it was done. In defense of my family, all the kinfolk wanted fiesty rat terriers for the homes and farms. We had two bitches and a male. Twice a year they had pups and the call went out. Puppies for sale or trade to keep the mice from the house, the rats from the barn and strangers from the door. They must have been good ones cause they went as far as Smethport Pennsylvania, Lake Charles Lousiana and one to somewhere in California. Of course, some of them died in pursuit of a boar coon, got et by coyotes and one or two got run over. The fifties were tough on dogs but they were all loved and cried over when they met their end. But there were no cages, no pet stores and no one would have dared put their pups in a pound. So I guess (my) society was such where good dogs were appreciated as much or more as a good horse, a good milk cow or a brand new Ford.
Those truely were the days.
Debi and the TX JRTs
I decided I wanted to raise Chinchillas when I was 11. Spent $11.99 and I was supposed to get a book, a male and a female.
I didn't tell my parents. What were they gonna do once they got there and realized how much money I could make (and I was an EXTREMELY responsible child). I checked the mail, it was one of my chores... but nothing ever came.
I was far more worried that the little fella's starved to death than if they simply ripped me off. It was only 3 weeks allowance or so, and they were so CUTE!
It was about five or six years later I learned why they raised them. I thought people bought them for pets (they were just becoming popular - even then I had an eye for pet trends). When I realized what I had almost done, I was horrified. I was grateful that the little fuzzballs didn't show up - in fact, part of me hoped they HAD died in transit. Otherwise, their life had no chance but to do be one of solitude and pumping out babies, one after another. Once that was over, she would be skinned, in the most barbaric ways possible.
Back then you could truly plead innocence - at least when you started. Ignorance was wide spread because the story wasn't being told the way it is now. The FULL story.
But even then, a roadside cornstand for puppies? Yikes.
:OP
Someone has actually published a recent book on how to support yourself this way.
I won't mention the author or title or provide a link because I refuse to grant them the least iota of respectability or publicity.
How about the great little book (cough, cough) entitled "Dollars in Dogs" by Leon F. Whitney, the great man loved by the AKC and Adolph Hitler, who was head of the American Eugenic society and a popular author of dog literature? Dollars in Dogs was published in 1971? In it we are told, under a caption. "Wire bottom pens are a valuable asset to any breeding Kennel. They keep the puppies clean and are excellent for display purposes." Lots more about Leon F Whitney on this blog ;)
P
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