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Puppy mills are nothing new. These mass dog-breeding operations have been around for decades. They continue to thrive because they prey on unwitting consumers who are smitten by too-cute-for-words puppies in pet store windows and on fancy websites. But behind the friendly facade of the local pet shop, the pastoral scenes on a "breeder's" website, or the neighborhood newspaper ad, there often lies a puppy mill. These canine breeding facilities house dogs in shockingly poor conditions.Life is particularly bad for "breeding stock," dogs who live their entire lives in cages and are continually bred for years, without human companionship and with little hope of ever becoming part of a family. These dogs receive little or no veterinary care and never see a bed, a treat or a toy. After their fertility wanes, breeding animals are commonly killed, abandoned or sold to another mill. The annual result of all this breeding is hundreds of thousands of puppies, many with behavior and/or health problems.What you need to know about Puppy Mills: Q: What Are Puppy Mills? A: Pet shops buy their puppies from brokers. These brokers get their animals from puppy mills. A puppy mill is a commercial breeding kennel that mass-produces dogs in usually cramped, crude, filthy conditions for resale. The constant confinement and a lack of adequate veterinary care and socialization often result in animals who are unhealthy and difficult to socialize.Q: How Do Puppy Mills Operate? A: Puppy mills operate like a business, except instead of car parts or shampoo, the "goods" produced are puppies to be sold to consumers. This dog business is much like any other business in that there are three basic operating principals; the increase of goods, the decrease of costs, and the maximization of profits. In puppy mills dogs are bred for quantity, not quality. As direct result, breeders, brokers, and pet stores ensure maximum profits by not spending money for proper food, housing, or veterinary care.Q: Where Do Puppy Mill Dogs Live? A: To save money on the cost of housing dogs,puppy mill kennels can consist of anything from small cages made of wood and wire mesh to tractor-trailer cabs or simple tethers attached to trees. Because of this make-shift housing, mothers and puppies often suffer from year-round exposure to temperature extremes.Q: How Many Litters Can A Mother Dog Produce? A: Female dogs are constantly bred and are often destroyed when they are no longer able to produce puppies. Because of this continuous breeding, mothers and their litters often suffer from malnutrition, chronic stress, and exhaustion. To save on costs, the mothers rarely receive proper, if any veterinary care.Q: I got a puppy from the pet store, but she's really sick, what happened? A: Much like livestock, puppies are taken from their mothers at a young age and sold to brokers who pack them into crates for transport and resale to pet stores. Both sick and healthy puppies are packed into pickup trucks, tractor trailers, and/or airplanes. Puppies who are shipped like commodities from mill to broker, from broker to pet store can travel hundreds of miles often without adequate food, water, ventilation, or shelter. By the time the puppy has reached the pet store, they have survived the unsanitary conditionsat puppy mills and the grueling transport to the pet stores, they have rarely received the kind of loving human contact that is necessary for them to become suitable companions.Q: Why are so many of these pet store dogs ending up in animal shelters? A: Due to inbreeding and over-breeding, unmonitored genetic defects and personality disorders, often passed on from generation to generation, are common. Pet shop customers can end up with very high veterinary bills. Often these sick, unsociable, or maladjusted dogs are abandoned within weeks or months of their adoption by frustrated buyers—furthering the companion animal overpopulation crisis.Q: What happens to all of those breeds of dogs I see in the movies? A: Some people impulsively obtain purebred dogs, even though they may not be ready for the commitment that animal companions require. Movies, TV shows, and commercials have caused a jump in the popularity of certain breeds, yet very few potential dog caretakers take the time to investigate the traits and needs of the breed that they are considering. Dog breeders see this as an opportunity for a profit. When there is a surge in demand for a particular breed, puppy mills try to meet that demand, but when Jack Russell te rriers don't turn out to be just like Frasier's "Eddie" or St. Bernards don't act just like "Beethoven," rescue groups and animal shelters become flooded with these breeds.Q: Doesn't the AKC (American Kennel Club) help consumers purchase good dogs? A: The AKC, which opposes mandatory spay/neuter programs for purebred dogs, receives millions of dollars from breeders who pay AKC registration fees. Buyers may be swayed by talk of "papers" and "AKC registration," but these papers cannot ensure good temperament or good health.Q: Ask yourself - do we adopt our children from commercial child-breeding facilities?A: The answer and the decision is yours, but is it all that different to adopt dogs from puppy mills or get cats from catteries rather than going through an adoption facility?Q: What Can I Do To Help? A: Save A Life. Every year, animal shelters destroy millions of dogs -- including purebreds and puppies -- and cats. PLEASE adopt a companion animal from your local shelter, humane society, rescue organization or veterinarian. You can also find animals to adopt at www.petfinder.com, www.pet-ark.com and www.pets911.com********************************************* ************************************************************ ** What you can do - Educate yourself. Visit stoppuppymills.org and learn more about the harsh conditions of these animals. On this site you can find videos, pictures, information, donation page, survivor stories, and campaign gear. Another web site that is full of information is www.nopuppymills.com. There are many websites that offer information and ways to help. ************************************************************ *****************************************Thank you for looking at my site. I hope you got enough information to help you learn about puppy mills, and to persuade you to not buy from online sellers, puppy mills, pet stores. Before you buy an animal, always visit where you are getting them from. Always know the conditions the animals have lived in, and ALWAYS keep in mind there are animal shelters. Good loving dogs that would love to have you give them a loving home. Thank you for visiting.
