The Chain of Resale: where that pet store bunny came from

BREEDERS
There are several different types of breeders:

Hobby Breeders: People who breed litters responsibly; raise animals with plenty of environmental and human contact; run small, clean facilities; and care that each and every animal is placed in the best home possible. They almost never sell animals to pet stores, although some reptile hobby breeders sell animals to wholesalers.

Backyard Breeders: A pet owner whose pet is either bred by accident or bred on a small scale to supply local pet stores.

Wholesale Breeders (AKA Pet Mills): Places where animals are repeatedly bred and the breeder always has babies to sell to pet stores. Females are usually bred over and over until their bodies give and they die. Animals are sometimes taken from their mothers before they are developmentally ready. The animals may or may not be healthy and the facilities may or may not be clean. Wholesale breeders either sell their animals directly to pet stores or use a broker.

Breeder shipping standards also vary widely. The larger breeders (pet mills) usually have their own trucks and ship animals directly to pet stores. Smaller commercial breeders usually sell their animals to wholesaler companies that pick the animals up in delivery trucks. Sometimes animals are shipped for days at a time without food, water, air conditioning, or heating.

WHOLESALERS
Wholesalers are people or companies that stock pet stores with supplies and animals. They sell the usual pet store animals such as mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, birds, turtles, snakes, lizards, etc. and supplies such as dog food and kitty litter. While some wholesalers breed their own animals, most purchase animals from breeders or exporters.

The animals that survive the transport from the exporters or breeders – and many don't – are placed in huge warehouses with all kinds of other species. They are USUALLY fed and watered, then loaded up again for delivery to pet stores, many times out of state. Any animals left over sit and wait in the warehouse.
Pet stores place orders with a wholesaler once a week, or once a month, and a route brings the animals to the pet stores on an agreed upon date, via delivery truck, and the animals are paid for at that time. Losses during transit are large (20 to 30 percent), and the dead animals at time of unloading are not paid for.
Pet stores purchase animals from wholesalers at very low costs. Most wholesalers only offer livestock because pet stores won't order dry goods, where most of their profit comes from, without them. So if large amounts of animals die, there's no great loss in profit and, therefore, no incentive to improve shipping and husbandry techniques.

Wholesaler facilities are usually without public access. Customers are not allowed to visit. Most store employees – including managers – have no clue where the animals come from when a wholesaler delivery van pulls up and they get their crates of animals.

PET STORES
The animals that make it to the store alive are usually very stressed, hungry, dehydrated, and in dire need of veterinary attention. When most pet stores receive a sick animal they place it in a backroom to either recover on its own or die.

STOP THE CHAIN
When looking for a pet obtain rescued or abandoned animals from a local shelter or rescue group and boycott stores that sell live animals. If you must have a purebred animal buy from a small, responsible, established breeder. And always spay or neuter your pet.

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