What is a Puppy Mill?
A puppy mill is an inhumane, high-volume dog breeding facility that ignores the needs of the puppies and the parent dogs in order to maximize profit. Puppy are facilities that cut corners in veterinary care and quality of life, forcing dogs to live in high confinement situations with little-to-no human interaction. Dogs in puppy mills exist solely to produce puppies and they live terrible lives, most never seeing grass or the light of day.
The purpose of puppy mills is for dogs to be bred and distributed to pet stores and online retailers for sale, and to maximize profit.
Like puppy mills, backyard breeders are also driven by profits. Backyard Breeders may appear to be the “nice neighbor next door”. However, continuously breeding animals for years to produce litters for a profit jeopardizes the animals’ welfare, even if the family does treat the animals like pets.
A breeding female dog should only have about 3-4 litters max in her lifetime, with proper recovery time in between. A good breeder will spread out the litters over the course of a female's optimal breeding years to keep the mother and her puppies healthy. Unfortunately, this is not the case with Puppy Mills and Backyard Breeders.
It is estimated that there are more than 10,000 puppy mills in the United States. Dogs trapped in puppy mills live in terrible conditions, stacked up in cages, sick, neglected, and unsocialized. Dogs often have dented paws due to standing on wire kennels their whole lives. The conditions in these mills are so unsanitary that the dogs are often covered in their own urine and feces, and often have internal parasites. Puppies from puppy mills can be born with serious birth defects due to inbreeding. Dogs are crammed together in a cage, standing on top of their dead siblings, not knowing what they did to deserve such a horrible life.
A mother dog in a puppy mill will spend her entire life in a cage, and be kept pregnant almost constantly, with little to no recovery time in between litters. Mother dogs are bound to “rape stands” and forced to have litter after litter against her will. She is then killed or left to die when she is no longer good for breeding.
Mother dogs in puppy mills jaws are often collapsed from years of laying on her side
Is her suffering worth your cute new puppy?
Are Puppy Mills Legal?
Puppy mills are legal in the United States and regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Animal Welfare Act. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is currently the only written law that regulates and protects animals involved in breeding facilities. Puppy mills operate based on the minimum standards set forth by the Animal Welfare Act.
The standards implemented by the AWA are only standards for survival, and do not take into account the emotional state or quality of life of the animal involved. These standards are vague and lack detail, allowing for several loopholes and cut corners in animal care and underlying acts of animal cruelty. There is also currently no law that regulates the amount of litters a breeding female dog can have, allowing for constant underlying acts of animal abuse from breeders. USDA inspectors can look at a facility with hundreds of dogs piled up in small cages, desperate for human attention, and note no violations because the AWA does nothing to address boredom, emotional well-being or quality of life of the dogs. Concern for dogs’ emotions and quality of life is not written into the regulations of the AWA, and therefore is not something the USDA enforces.
Only large-scale commercial facilities that breed dogs for resale are required to be licensed and inspected by the USDA. Those that sell directly to the public face-to-face (such as backyard breeders), are not required to adhere to the Animal Welfare Act, or to any federal humane care standards. Inspections of USDA licensed facilities are only subject to inspection if there has been a report of violation or suspicious activity, meaning inspections are not routine. Even if inspections were routine, there are not nearly enough inspectors to cover all breeding facilities across the country. Inspection records obtained by the HSUS show that many USDA-licensed breeders get away with repeated violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
The life of a dog trapped in a puppy mill. A victim of sexual slavery and betrayed by humans.
You can help- Always ask to meet the mother dog before purchasing that puppy!
ADOPT, DON’T SHOP !
Each year, approximately 700,000 shelter dogs are euthanized. With this staggering number, there is simply no reason for dogs to be bred and and sold for the pet shop/online trade. Without these pet stores, online retailers, and consumers- the financial incentive for puppy mills would disappear, the suffering of puppy mills dogs would end, and more shelter dogs would get adopted out.
No matter what breed, size, or age dog you’d like- you can find one in a shelter or rescue. Breed specific rescue organizations exist for almost every breed, and purebred dogs with great personalities fill shelters and rescues. Many of these dogs are in shelters because of their owner’s personal situations—not because the dog is bad. There are many unique, mixed breed dogs with great personalities and temperaments as well.
From being on a list to die to being in a loving home, you can create the best moment in a dog’s life…..
Online Puppy Mills
The internet makes it far too easy for puppy mills to continue to exist.
Responsible breeders do not ship their puppies sight unseen. It is so important to think about the parent dogs when “ordering a puppy online”. A puppy is not an object that can be mass produced in a factory. Mother dogs need proper time to recover in between litters, and should only have about 4 litters in their entire life, producing no more than one litter every 18 months to 2 years.
Fancy websites are used to hide cruel puppy mill practices with photos of happy puppies and phrases like “free shipping in the US”. These click and ship sites are responsible for the misery of thousands of dogs trapped in puppy mills.
Never buy a puppy online, sight unseen
Breeder Red- Flags
If you have your heart set on purchasing a puppy from a breeder, please make sure you do your research ! Below are some red-flags that show your your breeder operates a puppy-mill:
Being registered by the AKC means nothing more than the puppy’s parents both had papers. Many registered dogs are sold in puppy mills. Don’t be fooled by “papers.” The only way you can be sure that a puppy came from a reputable source is to see where it came from yourself.
Does the online breeder want to meet you somewhere to deliver your puppy?
You are not allowed to meet the breeding parents or view the home or facility, and there is no photos of the breeding parents online. Responsible breeders want to show you the parent dogs, because they are proud of them and they have nothing to hide.
#ShowMeTheMommy : Never buy a puppy without meeting the mother dog. Photos are not enough and can be used to deceive buyers. Make sure she is happy and healthy, and living in a good home.
Is the online breeder selling puppies through a website where other online breeders also list puppies for sale? These are known as puppy broker websites.
Is the online breeder willing to sell and ship a puppy to you without meeting you in person?
Does the online breeder have a constant flow of litters being born?
Does the online breeder offer many different breeds of puppies for sale?
Is the online breeder more concerned about the money and payment arrangements?
Is the online breeder selling puppies younger than 8 weeks old?
Is the online breeder asking for payment via a credit card, cash or an online service such as Paypal or pre-paid gift card?
Is the online breeder offering to ship the dog overnight or via ground transport? If so, ask about the route the puppy will take to get to you. Often they are picked up at the breeder’s facility by a trucking company, trucked to a puppy distribution center where they are warehoused with little care. Shipping to the final destination could be hours or even days. Dogs often get sick or have severe anxiety. Do not do this to the puppy.