Family learns the hard way that online puppy purchases can lead to heartbreak

South Florida’s WPTV has a special report on one family’s heartbreaking experience with a puppy bought online:

Mark Stettner had no idea how Thanksgiving Day 2008 would change his life. His daughter, then a college sophomore, returned to their Allentown, Pa., home with the news that she had a dog - and it wasn't permitted in her campus housing. "That's when I inherited Max - and the problems," says Stettner, an Angie's List member.

Stettner's daughter bought Max, who was advertised as a purebred toy poodle, for $1,347 from an online pet broker called Breedersdirect.com. "Thanksgiving weekend he had some stomach problems, and was initially diagnosed with colitis," Stettner says. "But Max didn't get really sick until the following July."

The fact is, reputable breeders would never sell their dogs through the Internet without meeting the potential owner. Almost all dogs sold on the internet sight unseen are puppy mill puppies, and these websites use many dirty tricks to reassure unsuspecting buyers.

Not shopping at pet stores that sell puppies also means not shopping at websites that sell puppies. Have you taken the pledge to not support the puppy mill industry?