Frequently Asked Questions

Where do your animals come from?

            Our animals come from local and many other states. We take in animals in transition, from shelters and rescues, as well as “at risk” animals that may become commercial or private breeding stock and potentially producing more unwanted animals in the future.

     One of our primary goals is to reduce the number of companion animals being produced with genetic defects. However, if the history of an animal is not “well known” or the potential of it becoming the breeding stock of careless breeders strictly breeding for profit then it should be removed from the breeding cycle as well.

     Although we do at times rescue direct from breeders most of the animals we get have already left the breeder for the commercial market. Many times we are working with second and third handlers (middlemen).

    Many of these animals are overbuys by the middleman who didn’t get them all sold. Please understand these middlemen book their animals from the time they are 1-2 weeks old. So they have hundreds of animals coming in each week. What they don’t sell to pet shops, retailers, distributors, etc., gets sent back to the holding facility to be sold back to breeders or the highest bidder. Mean while their sales people are selling this week’s fresh batch, and the vicious cycle goes on.

    We have found a way to intercept these animals before they go up for sale to the highest bidder preventing them from becoming more caged breeding stock producing more unwanted animals. We need your help to remove these animals from the breeding cycles.

Are your puppies from puppy mills?

            The phrase “puppy mill” is a derogatory remark defined by industry critics and promoted by media as anyone who raises puppies for profit. You would be hard pressed to find a purebred animal anywhere that wasn’t raised for profit.

     Very few animals come to us without a price. Few animals are given to us by brokers, back yard breeders, show breeders, commercial kennels even shelters and rescues. If they weren’t breeding for profit wouldn’t they give there offspring away? If we are going to rescue them we have to pay for them.

     Our definition of a “puppy mill” is the production of puppies without regard to their overall care including health, breeding practices, environment and socialization. Rather than dramatizing the issue we’ll just say the kind portrayed on TV. Thankfully, few puppies are raised in the devastating conditions portrayed on TV.

     Although there are some that are still raised in those conditions. We have seen those conditions. Most of these types of kennels are shut down shortly. For the most part, our puppies originated from breeders all over the U.S. Many of these breeders are inspected kennels and licensed by state and/or federal government agencies.

     The regulation requirements may be minimal. However, these agencies do regulate the care and conditions in which the puppies are raised. Many of these commercial breeders have very clean well run kennels, a few do not and are shut down by government agencies.

     Some of our puppies come from small private breeders which are well meaning people. However, many times, despite popular belief, these small private breeders present the most problems with genetic defects, because of there lack of knowledge in lines of breeding.

     Because of economics we are not usually able to visit the kennels where they are raised, what we do know is that these puppies many times are being offered for sale to the highest bidder or to brokers or auction barn’s where they are sold back to breeders as breeding stock.

     These are the puppies we try to intercept. Most of these puppies make great pets but, are not the quality breeding stock that will improve the breed standards. You can help reduce the over population of unwanted pets by adopting your pet from America’s Animal Society.

Do they come with a guarantee?

            Unlike retailers that have a huge profit margin on there puppies we only have a small margin in which to offset our operating cost and are currently operating at break even or a loss. Because of our small markup on these animals we are not usually able to guarantee them other than what is detailed in the adoption agreement. See adoption agreement for any guarantee.

Are your puppies registered?

     Many of our puppies do come with registration papers for your peace of mind in knowing that your puppy is purebred.

Are your puppies healthy?

      Our puppies are checked consistently by our on staff veterinarian. Any health issues are addressed immediately. Any significant health issue is noted on a vet check list available for your review.

Do your puppies have shots?

     All puppies are kept current on vaccines and parasite control as recommended by our staff veterinarian.

Why do you rescue mostly puppies instead of older unwanted dogs?

     Although our long term goal is remove as many “at risk” companion animals from the breeding cycles as possible we don’t currently have the capacity to house any significant number of adult dogs.

     Also, most adult dogs in shelters and rescues are not the potential breeding stock to be purposely bred by breeders. Our mission is prevention of these unwanted dogs. We accomplish this by taking puppies out of the breeding cycles while they are still young and easily placed.

     If the puppies are adopted by someone who doesn’t fulfill their obligation to the animal, or is lost and becomes unwanted and on the street in the future, at least they won’t produce more puppies (unwanted or potential breeding stock) continuing the vicious cycle.

I thought you were a rescue. Why are the prices so high?

     We are currently working on a program that would enable breeders to donate some of there puppies to rescues and receive value other than cash for their puppies.

     The cost of this value would be a fraction of the cost to pay for these puppies in order to rescue yet of greater value to the breeder. The puppies we rescue have value as pets and/or for breeding purposes. The breeders and middlemen don’t just give them away unless they have very severe defects or illness, even then many times they will euthanize them rather than give them away.

     These puppies are usually purebred and are not older unwanted dogs, which is what we are preventing. We have to pay for these puppies to get them away from the breeders or middlemen and prevent them from going back to the breeding cycles. Many times it is more costly to rescue a puppy than purchase one. Why? Most people purchase puppies locally.

     We go all over the country, intercepting puppies from potentially becoming careless breeding stock. The cost of rescue many times is actually greater than the adoption fee. However, our adoption fees are still low when compared to competitive prices and even direct from breeders. You can feel good about knowing you saved your little friend from living in a cage his entire life! Please Help!

How do you arrive at the price of your puppies?

      We are constantly striving to lower the adoption fees. We can only do this through contributions to offset the operating costs. As of October, 2004 we are just starting to accept contributions. Please help if you can!  We currently are operating at breakeven or less and recovering our costs from adoption fees.

Pricing = Cost of recovery + veterinary care + miscellaneous care, grooming, boarding, fostering etc. + overhead.

Why should I adopt from America's Animal Society rather than purchase from a pet shop?

            Many puppies purchased from breeders, pet shops and retailers are purchased with breeding options. Purchasing from one of these only spurs the market, encourages the merchant and does nothing to relieve the over breeding of unwanted pets. By adopting from America's Animal Society you help reduce the ongoing epidemic of producing unwanted pets.

 Why are you supporting puppy mills?

     We are currently working on a program that would enable breeders to donate some of there breeding dogs as well as puppies to rescues and receive value other than cash for their puppies. We can’t reveal what this value is until the program is complete and approved by our board and regulators.

     What we can tell you is the cost of this value would be a fraction of the cost to pay for these puppies in order to rescue them, yet of much, much greater value to the breeder.  What’s more important is this value given to them would only further our mission and the mission of many other rescues. We are taking animals out of the breeding cycles. How can one interpret this as supporting puppy mills?