In Victorian occasions, rat catchers can be hired to capture the rats that infested buildings and houses; oftentimes, they’d separate out the extra attractive genetic mutations, breed these, and promote them again to the more aristocratic houses as novelty pets Times haven’t modified much.
Not necessarily. Not all pet shops will buy their rats from suppliers like this, although the big chains in all probability do. I imagine Petsmart and Petco each purchase their rats from Rainbow Exotics, an organization now infamous due to PETA (in case you’re curious, this is the hyperlink : not for the squeamish. I do not hold PETA to be a reliable source, so I won’t touch upon something seen right here, however view at your discretion).
Truly accountable breeders don’t promote their puppies to pet stores, they wish to meet their puppy consumers in individual and don’t sell their puppies to the primary person who shows up with cash in hand. Most breed membership’s Code of Ethics state that their breeders refuse to sell their canines to pet sellers or every other industrial sources of distribution.
Commercial breeders in all states who promote wholesale to pet stores are required to be regulated by the USDA. Some states (resembling Missouri and Pennsylvania) additionally require a state kennel license and state inspections. This doesn’t imply that puppies from Missouri or Pennsylvania are healthier. In reality, these states have two of the worst concentrations of pet mills in the United States.