I didn't know that about the Amish . I know that there are a lot of BYB around here , they always have ads in the papers selling 'family raised' litters at exorbitant amounts and people looking for dogs think those amounts are the norm and pay them. The few people I know who bought a 'family raised ' pup didn't go to a shelter because of a variety of reasons . What I heard was :Â the pets there have something wrong with them ( physically or mentally ) and so their owners didn't want them anymore, or that buying a puppy the way they did doesn't require a home check. Another one is that they don't want the pup to be spayed or neutered right away. ( litters are so cute ... I know that with cats some people think that it's actually better for the female to have a litter first before spaying ).
I think as long as people are willing to pay huge amounts for a dog , or are willing to buy from a pet store where they are not submitted to a home check ,or simply don't know exactly what these unscrupulous breeding facilities looks like , there will always be folks who make their money by recklessly breeding and selling pups.
It seems to me the best way to go about it is educating people. Maybe get some talk shows to cover the problem , maybe have links on sites about pets that show where most of these pups come from and the potential health problems that can occur.
A final note , don't know how much this has to do with puppy mills but I think there is a connection . Most of the people around my town who have dogs have them in the back yard at all times. The dogs don't get walked, aren't part of the family, they are like part of the image , two car garage, two kids, big screen TV , dog ...you get my drift, right? So if they feel that way about a dog, then how on earth does one educate these people?  They don't even care about their own dog.
Do you guys think this may be part of the problem? That dogs simply aren't seen as anything more than a fashion statement by most people?Â