oh my... my mind is rambling and i hope i can say everything i am thinking, doody. i agree with you completely, and i always say that if i had my own house i would have so many pets you couldn't count. and all would come from the animal shelter. Two out of the three beagles I have owned have had epilepsy, including my dear Lucy who is now 14 and has been seizure free for a few years now. I am afraid since we are leaving Saturday to NY that the animal kennel I found may not treat them nicely, but I have no choice since the 5star place has been booked since last February . So they will get no human contact for 10 days and i will worry to no end about them. Ok back on topic...

I have actually never heard of pet mills before and didnt know that the pets in pet stores came from breeding factories! I somehow was under the illusion that most breeders were family owned and inhumane but that was all i knew. Thanks for all that info now. I will never buy a pet from a store when so many are being killed each day at the animal shelter. Which also ticks me off... I found a kitten last month under a dumpster and called the animal shelter and they said they do not pick up strays and I would have to pay someone from another company to get it. I tried my darnest and ended up getting an infected scratch from it- so i gave up. I called tons of numbers, pet stores, vets and no body cares to pick up strays because they are too busy breeding purebred puppies.

Which also reminds me... this sounds very familiar to me. With animal rights for the production of food. I know this is a touchy subject since most of us eat meat and poultry but you would not want to know or even believe the conditions the cows and chickens in US factories go through. I have seen films also Doody that are too gruesome to post or links to pictures too nasty. I read Fast Food Nation for a class which is turning into a movie soon, but I recommend it also. Cows eating other ground up hamburger, dirty conditions, cages too small, terrible terrible conditions. And why do they get away with it? Because they have strong political persuasion.

Well enough of what ticks me off. I was vegitarian for a long time and many times but unfortunately we are carnivores and well.. i dont have enough willpower for it, but i completely agree that the conditions for these animals should be better. i am there with you doody.