Mittelwest German Shepherds review: Unethical breeding of dogs with genetic health risks

We purchased a puppy from Mittelwest and our vet pointed out to us at his first visit a couple months later that he only had one testicle. This is called unilateral cryptorchidism, where one testicle fails to descend. This means the undescended testicle is up in the belly somewhere and surgery is needed to get it out because there is a high risk of emergency surgery being needed later since it could twist and cause severe pain. Undescended testicles are also have a substantially higher risk of cancer. Our vet explained that this is a hereditary condition, and we should notify the breeder because not only can it be passed to male dogs, but the females can also carry the gene. She said that dogs with this genetic defect should absolutely not be bred. We were shocked when we notified Mittelwest and the response was that they did not really have concern and planned to continue to breed the parents and would not notify anyone who may plan to breed a dog from the litter that they may have a potentially affected dog. We were not planning to breed but the surgery will cost $2,000 and there is more risk to it than standard neutering with longer recovery. This breeder charges top dollar and yet continues to breed and sell dogs with known genetic risks. I strongly suspect they knew this about out dog at the time they sold him to us, but I can't know that for sure. Most vets call this unethical and bad practice. Shame, shame!