Hi my name is Jeremy

I could have been yours! You could have bought me in a pet store. You would have paid between $650.00 and $1,000.00 for me depending on which city I ended up in. For your money, you would have received:

1. A sweet, cuddly, bouncy little Pekinese puppy.

2. My registration papers listing which puppy mill I came from.

3. A Certificate of Pedigree with dogs that are listed by names that
they are never called by.

4. If you were lucky, a 30 day guarantee of health.

5. A broken heart.

You see, I am going to die soon. Yes, I am sweet, cuddly, and bouncy. You would have fallen in love with me in no time at all. But even though I seem to be full of life, I am carrying the legacy that the puppy millers gave me when they uncaringly bred my parents. They only saw the chance to breed two dogs and make money from the offspring. They didn't care that the parents each had heart problems. They didn't care that they would be passed to me and that a family would buy me not knowing about the problems. They didn't care that my owners would spend very large amounts of money to find out what was wrong with me, only to find out that my heart couldn't be healed. And they certainly didn't care that I would die very young and rip the hearts out of my new owners.

I have a very rare disorder called PULMONIC STENOSIS. This condition occurs when there is a `bottleneck* within the right ventricle of the heart. The narrowing may occur in the valves, below the valves or in the body of the ventricle. In dogs the most common condition is that of the valves. It is stated to be hereditary in certain breeds of dog. There is a heart murmur and a `thrill* may be felt (heard) in the chest area over the heart. Surgery is possible, but the results are unpredictable.

I am a very lucky puppy. I was rescued from the puppy mill and I will stay with my foster mom who loves me very much until it is time for her to help me reach the Rainbow Bridge. Even though my life will be short, I am getting so much love and attention that I am very, very happy. I won't be allowed to suffer. I wish I could say the same for my parents. They suffer every day in the puppy mill. They suffer from the cold and the heat. They suffer from hunger and they suffer from pain from untreated medical problems. They will be forced to live in a small wire cage and produce puppy after puppy with health issues until they finally die. There are hundreds of thousands of other dogs in the puppy mills just like them.

But you can make a difference. You can make sure that you never buy a puppy from a pet store. You can tell everyone you know not to buy a puppy from a pet store. If no one buys those pups, then there will be no market for puppy mill puppies and the puppy mills will be forced out of business. Please do this for me. The next time you see a sweet, cuddly, bouncy little puppy in the pet store window, just remember me and my story and don't be tempted to buy that dog. There are thousands of other lives depending on you.