Pets are big business. Americans will spend $5.4 billion this year to acquire and care for what some pet sellers like to call "the only love money can buy." And the watchword in that vast marketplace should be "let the buyer -- and animal -- beware." "Buy a purebred dog or cat today for, say, $200," writes the author, "and you're likely to spend another $4,000 on it in the next twelve years. ... And the chances are growing every day that you'll wind up with a dog that has a crippling genetic disease, a sour disposition, and fake papers, or a cat less healthy than its barnyard relative." At one time or another consumers and animals alike will be victimized by The Pet Profiteers, avaricious entrepreneurs in the highly profitable pet-related industries: the puppy mills, haphazard breeders that produce huge numbers of animals at random and then ship them out like so many crates of lettuce with hardly a care given to the animals' welfare, health, or, if they are not sold when they are still "cute" little things, their ultimate end; the veterinarians, some of whom profit because their patients can't talk; the $2-billion-a-year pet food business, in which nutrition is often a casualty of hype; the frivolous accessories shops; the boarders, some of whom think a two-by-four pen in an adequate temporary home for a dog; the adoption agencies and humane societies, their noble efforts marred by some shortsighted functionaries; the cemeteries -- would you believe a $3,600 gravestone for a dog? In The Pet Profiteers Lee Edwards Benning, a successful breeder and author, pulls no punches, but balances her harsh criticism with constructive advice. There are useful appendixes comparing purebred dog and cat prices in pet shops with those of private breeders, and a dog breed popularity chart. Each chapter concludes with specific recommendations as to how to avoid the pitfalls she describes. The author writes out of heartfelt concern and compassion. She never dodges the problem of dealing with the animal overpopulation, but feels the most humane course in the long run is strictly supervised breeding and the re-education of a large number of prospective pet owners. The book's ample photographs poignantly demonstrate what The Pet Profiteers can do if we let them.