Product dog

They’re members of the family, but that furry, tail-wagging, soulful-eyed dog by your side is also a business. Yes, man’s best friend is a product that is produced, packaged, distributed, marketed and sold just like any other commodity. In her new book The Dog Merchants, Kim Kavin reveals the big business of dogs. And the business of dogs is a very big business indeed.

From small hobby breeders to the glittering world of the Westminster Dog Show, Kavin travels around the country and investigates Product Dog. At a “family-friendly” dog auction in Missouri, breeders liquidating stock sell to the highest bidder. At the Hunte Corporation, a sort of middleman between breeders and retail pet stores, hundreds of puppies await distribution. And at a large commercial breeder dozens of dogs in outside pens resemble livestock. These businesses, even though they are professionally and responsibly operated, may horrify dog lovers, yet ironically they owe their very existence to consumer demand.