What Are Puppy Mills And What's So Terrible About Them?
 
  We define a puppy mill as any commercial enterprise which breeds dogs in significant numbers for profit.

Puppy mills are not inherently illegal so some people don't see any problem with them. Our objection to puppy mills stems from the fact that their operators use the dogs as nothing more than income producing machines. As a result, any provision for the comfort and well-being of the dogs shows up as an expense in the accounting ledger and must be kept to an absolute minimum. We believe that our best friends deserve better.

  
  The conditions in many puppy mills are unspeakable. Dogs are kept in tiny wire cages twenty-four hours a day, often left unprotected from the winter cold and summer heat. Cages are many times stacked one on top of another, exposing dogs in the lower levels to the excrement of those above. Females are kept in a state of perpetual pregnancy until they are no longer able to bear young. Dogs that have outlived their usefulness represent nothing but a nonproductive expense as far as the operators are concerned, so they are frequently killed.

Leaving aside the inhumane conditions in which the "breeding stock" is kept, there is the issue of the puppies themselves. Maximization of profit allows for no screening of genetic problems and veterinary care is minimal. As a result, the puppies from mills frequently have health and/or behavioral problems that may not show up for some time.

  
 
How To Recognize A Puppy Mill
 
  Many people are probably unaware that the adorable puppy staring through the window of the local pet store almost certainly came from a puppy mill. Such stores want "product" in volume at the lowest possible price and this is exactly what puppy mills are in business to provide.  
  At a more direct level, you may be dealing with a puppy mill if:
  • More than two dog breeds are advertised for sale.

  • The mother is not present with the puppies and/or the breeder is reluctant to let you see the mother.

  • The breeder wants to meet you somewhere other than his or her establishment.
  
 
Common Misconceptions
 
 
  1. My puppy is AKC registered so it couldn't have come from such a place.

    The truth is that the AKC is only concerned with keeping track of dog lineage and does not have any control over the conditions in which dogs are bred. AKC registration does not, in any way, guarantee that a puppy didn't come from a mill.


  2. I bought my puppy from a nationally known pet store chain. Surely they would only deal with reputable breeders.

    If anything, a large chain store is more likely to have procured their puppies from a mill. A small business becomes a big business by paying close attention to expenses and a large chain needs dogs in large volume.


  3. I bought my puppy from a nice family who makes their living working their own small farm. I saw the puppies playing in an idyllic setting.

    You may in fact be dealing with a reputable breeder but this description is in no way a guarantee of that. Many puppy mills (particularly here in Lancaster County, PA) are operated on small scale farms whose owners have decided to supplement their farm income by breeding puppies under truly terrible conditions.


  4. I want to buy this pet store puppy to rescue it from its puppy mill past. After all, the puppy has already been born so it's not as if I'm putting money into the breeder's pocket now.

    This is a noble sentiment, but the fact is that you are helping the breeder by putting money into the system that supports him or her. Your transaction has given the puppy supply chain exactly what it wanted and the breeder will now immediately "make" another puppy to replace the one you just bought.