Inside a Puppy Mill

Many of you have probably heard that you should never buy a puppy from a pet shop because it is very likely that it came from a puppy mill. The same is true about buying a puppy online or off Craigslist. When you think about it, this really shouldn't come as a surprise. Would a person who cares even a little bit about their puppies sell them to a stranger or pet shop, knowing full well that the pet shop will hand them over to anybody who will pay the sticker price? No way! And let the buyer beware: Dogs from puppy mills usually come with health problems (which may not be evident at the time of the sale) due to the substandard conditions they have lived in since birth.

One of the problems with puppy mills is that they are businesses in which animals are the commodity. Like all other businesses, the objective is to make money. In order to keep the profit margin as high as possible, the mill owners must keep the costs down. This is done by putting as little money into the dogs as possible. They receive low quality food, little (if any) veterinary care, inadequate housing, and often filthy conditions, all of which contribute to health issues.

Puppies from puppy mills will often be genetically inferior because quality pups are not the priority-- profit is. If you are set on a specific breed, you should buy directly from a reputable breeder (or better yet, contact a breed-specific rescue organization). A reputable breeder will let you come to their property and see not only the puppies but the puppies' mother (and the father, if it is on site). The breeder will be proud of their dogs and the conditions in which they are raised. If you are denied your request to see the puppies with their mother in the facility in which they were raised, the smartest thing you can do is turn around and walk away. Here is a tip that I consider to be common sense: A reputable breeder doesn't have a lot of breeding females. Who can provide clean food and water and a clean living environment to all those dogs and their puppies? Who has the time to socialize all the puppies so they will be used to interacting with people? The more dogs at the facility, the less attention each one will get and needs will go unmet.

The female breeding stock in puppy mills have a very sad existence. They are bred every heat cycle and have litter after litter until their bodies wear out. When they can no longer produce puppies (i.e. profit), they are no longer useful and many are killed. When you buy a puppy from a pet shop, the internet, or Craigslist, you are most likely keeping a puppy mill in business and condemning these breeder dogs to a life of misery.

By working together to spread the word about the origins of most puppies in pet shops and those available to buy online, I believe that in time we can put an end to the puppy mill industry.



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