You can't get much cuter than Yorkshire Terrier puppies. When they are only eight weeks old, they are a heart-stopping blend of elegance and scruffiness. Since the breed is so small and their exercise needs are practically nothing, you can find Yorkies for sale in pet stores, classifieds, dog magazines and Internet ads. And they are one of the dogs toted about by skinny celebrity stars, making them very fashionable.

But most Yorkies for sale come from inhumane puppy mills. Because of their small size and the demand for them, they are one of the more popular breeds found in these horrible places. Puppy mills are factory farms for dogs, which aren't given proper veterinary treatment, kept in stacked wire crates and are immediately shot, electrocuted or drowned when their short lives are used up in puppy making, which takes up a lot of energy. Those Yorkshire Terrier puppies don't sound quite so cute now, do they?

Another place you want to avoid any Yorkies for sale notices is on the Internet. These are the places that advertise Yorkshire Terrier puppies available every day of the year, don't want you to visit their kennel and don't ask you any questions except your method of payment. They will also ship the very fragile Yorkshire Terrier puppies anywhere in the country. These ads are for puppy mills that couldn't care les about the quality of dog they breed or how ill it is.

Also, you have no guarantee that your Yorkie puppy is a purebred. There are just not enough law officers and American Kennel Club officials around to check on the authenticity of every pedigree. These puppy mills know nothing about Yorkshire Terrier puppy care, or for the adult dogs, either. These dogs never see a vet ? the owner does all of the vet work, whether they are competent or not. The parents are abused, stressed, sickly and often closely related.

Although technically animal shelters and dog rescue places don't have Yorkies for sale, they do require anyone adopting a dog to pay an adoption fee. So, in the minds of some people, that means they have Yorkies for sale. The adoption fee is a few hundred dollars, usually less for an adult. The adoption fee not only helps keep the animal rescue center going, it discourages people who would adopt Yorkies for cruel purposes like medical research or as training bait for dog fighting.

In conclusion, if you want to find happy, healthy Yorkies for sale, then you are best off skipping all pet stores and all Internet ads. Go to American Kennel Club or state licensed dog breeders and to animal shelters. There are also rescue places just for Yorkshire Terriers. Those you can find on the Internet, from your vet, from your local animal shelter or from going to dog shows. From these sources, Yorkshire Terrier puppy care matters more than money.