Puppy mills...

I hate puppy mills. My fiancee and I are looking for a puppy, since we're starting to be at that age, and we're interested in black or yellow labs. We've both had labs before (I had a yellow male, she had a chocolate female) and we love their demeanor. Kids will be coming in a few years, so we want to make sure we get something that will fit well with them. Anywho...Meg got a line on some chocolates and blacks out in Lebanon, PA, which is about 100 miles from where we live. The price was right, and everything seemed kosher, so we took a ride out on Friday. Well, we found out that it was most definitely a puppy mill. The female had been bred four times, they had many, many adult dogs there, and there were dogs of many different breeds. These people were not in it to improve the breeds or sell quality dogs, just to sell dogs in quantity and make money.

Needless to say, we walked the hell out of there. Now that I think about it, with gas as expensive as it is, it was about 220 miles, all told, out there and back. At 25 MPG, and $3/gallon, it cost me nearly $25 to get out and back, not to mention the $3 toll across the bridge, the NJ Turnpike, and the PA Turnpike tolls. I should have charged him...

Then, Meg found out about a chocolate that was being sold in Browns Mills, NJ, which is basically Fort Dix. We drove the 25 miles there, just to watch someone pull away with the last puppy. Today, we're going to drive about 40 miles south to check out some yellow labs. These might be a good fit for us, but we'll see. With our luck, they might get washed away by hurricane Corona 5 minutes before we get there. I'll definitely post some pictures of the lucky little boy that we decide on.

With all that said, anyone who is thinking of purchasing a dog from Swatara Creek Kennels, in Lebanon, PA, please send me an email at g od sp unk32 @ g mai l. co m. I'll give you the lowdown on these people. I searched and searched, but couldn't find anything about them. Hopefully you'll find this post!