The National Animal Interest Alliance, a group that supports responsible animal and pet welfare, issued an audio release warning people about buying purebred dogs from Mexico.

This made me wonder if there is an increase in the number of Americans buying foreign-bred puppies. If there is, why?

Is it because prices are cheaper? Well, I'm not convinced prices are cheaper. These dogs are not purchased in Mexico, rather they are shipped to the United States, and sold through a variety of outlets, anywhere from newspapers, to pet shops, to online classifieds.

I tend to believe it's the result of so many federal and state laws that make it difficult for American breeders to do business.

At the heart of the issue are puppy mills. Instead of government spending money to bust the puppy millers, they instead resort to cheaper solutions, by enacting "budget neutral" laws that make it difficult for breeders to operate a business.

The problem with this is that puppy mills don't abide by laws. However, ethical breeders do, and it's making it difficult for them to stay in business, and has reduced the supply of purebred puppies in America. Hence, these laws have created a growing dog breeding industry in Mexico.

The end result of these laws is that there are still more puppies being bred throughout the world than ever before, but they are being bred more sickly.

If our government spends more time and money busting the puppy mills, instead of enacting more restrictive laws, then there won't be a demand for foreign-born puppies. Let the ethical breeders flourish in America, and we won't have to worry about disease stricken Mexican puppies.