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Pure bred puppies sold at pet stores usually come from pet brokers, not directly from puppy mills. However brokers are often just the middlemen between mills and stores. The largest pet broker in the United States is the Hunte Corporation.
Located in Goodman, Missouri, they have a 100,000 square foot facility to house the puppies that are being moved to pet stores. When you have as large a facility as that - your business is a numbers game.
Brokers like the Hunte Corporation buy entire litters of puppies, clean them up, grade them, give them their vaccinations, and then sell them wholesale to pet stores. They are in fact a distribution business.
Hunte Corporation employs over 300 people and was founded in 1991 by Andrew Hunte. On their corporate website, Hunte claims that they believe in placing puppy's needs first. They promise to:
* Ensure that every incoming and outgoing puppy is examined by staff veterinarians
* Verify that all vaccinations are up to date
* Maintain a puppy-friendly environment throughout our facilities
* Show love and affection to each puppy every day
* Ensure that every one of them is comfortable and clean
* Professionally bathe and groom them prior to delivery
* Transport them in special climate-controlled, air-cushioned vehicles
* Make sure every guest that passes through our facility is a happy, healthy puppy.
Although Hunte has been cited several times for the quality - or lack thereof - of their facilities and care, they also have many very powerful supporters.
In 2001, Hunte received a $900,000 guaranteed rural development loan from The Unites States Department of Agriculture (the organization that enforces the Animal Welfare Act regulations).
Furthermore, over the last three years the United States Department of Agriculture has loaned the company more than $4 million for expansion and upgrades (according to Sherry Morse publishing on Buzzle).
Hunte has also been involved in several high profile protests about its operations including efforts to shutdown PetLand stores in Ohio, who buy puppies from Hunte.
In 2005, the organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), sent a protest letter to Missouri Governor Matt Blunt calling on him to reconsider his support for a massive new puppy-distribution center run by the Hunte Corporation in Goodman, MO. PETA points out that Hunte has been cited on more than one occasion for violations of the minimal space and enclosure provisions of the federal Animal Welfare Act. And, in 2006, a tractor-trailer carrying 60 puppies from Hunte caught fire and burned, killing all of the puppies.
So, is Hunte part of the solution or part of the problem? Hunte does have decent housing and provides veterinary care for the brief time the puppies are housed in their facility. Hunte does transport puppies in cooled and fairly comfortable trailers. Hunte will test and certify animals as healthy. But, Hunte has no control over the living conditions and socialization of puppies before they get to their facility.
Hunte is in the business of moving puppies from breeders to stores - as many as possible - draw your own conclusions.
It can be argued that if Hunte Corporation did not exist, another company would step up and take their place. And, maybe better the devil you know, some people think.
The bottom line is that the only way to stop puppy mills is to impact their bottom line beginning at the retail source of puppy mill puppies - the pet store. |