TACF Articles

Puppy mills have become a significant problem for both of those who love animals and for legitimate puppy breeders throughout the United States. Puppy mills are basically facilities that seek to be “puppy factories,” where puppies are simply “cranked out” almost as if on an assembly line using just a few mothers and studs to produce many, many puppies. As you might imagine, this is no way to live. Dogs who are breeders in puppy mills often live deplorably, and the puppies themselves are often housed in overcrowded cages, with not enough water or food, and inadequate veterinary care and grooming.

Even worse, humans come in to little to no contact with these dogs, and many puppies die because of the conditions. And while it’s true that if puppies do survive the puppy mill environment to be sold to a loving owner, their lives improve, dogs who are simply used as breeders are stuck in heinous conditions for the rest of their breeding lives, until they can breed no more. And it doesn’t get better after that, usually; once their breeding days are over, these dogs are either killed or sold to other facilities where their lives are still as deplorable as ever. Therefore, when you buy from a puppy mill, you buy from a puppy factory where conditions are horrid and even abusive.

Any animal lover would think these conditions are horrible, of course, and most people buy puppies from puppy mills because they aren’t aware of the horrid conditions therein. Nonetheless, it happens far more often than you might think, and prospective owners looking for a “good deal” may look the other way and purchase a puppy from a puppy mill, thus keeping these deplorable facilities in business. Literally hundreds of thousands of puppies are “manufactured” in this way, and sold at generally lower prices than legitimate breeders can charge (with their humane and therefore more expensive practices); this means that puppy mills are unfairly competitive with legitimate breeders simply based on price. Depending on where you purchase your dog, you may actually have a “puppy mill” puppy in your own house, too.

Puppy mill puppies get sold to the public in a number of different ways. Many pet shops, in fact, purchase their puppies through puppy mills. Therefore, when you walk into a pet shop, there’s a good chance that the adorable puppy you’re taking a look at started its life in a puppy mill. Still other puppy mill sales occur on the Internet, or through breeder sites online.

Be careful, though, because a lot of times, these ads don’t say that puppies are from puppy mills. Instead, they’ll say that the dogs themselves were raised on farms or with a family. Oftentimes, you can’t prove that a puppy has been raised from a puppy mill, and many of these ads do very well at fooling families who wish to do everything to avoid purchasing a puppy from a puppy mill.

Everybody can do their part to stop puppy mills. Legislation is always in circulation that seeks to put laws in place that would end puppy mills, but the line between legitimate breeding operations with lots of dogs and actual puppy mills has been blurred. Many legitimate breeders are wrongly accused, and many puppy mills slip through the cracks.

Those who want to do their part in putting puppy mills to a stop can do so in several ways. First off, don’t buy dogs (or cats, for that matter) from a pet store.

However, if you want to, you can do your part in stopping puppy mills’ operation. How? First of all, don’t buy your next pet from a pet store. If you want a precious puppy or a cute kitten, there are many legitimate shelters and rescue agencies with pets for adoption, and these pets really need homes. (Yes, you can even get a puppy or kitten if you want to bring a tiny baby home.) In addition, you’ll pay a fraction of the cost you would from a puppy mill, and you will legitimately be giving an animal that might otherwise be euthanized a very good home and a chance at life. And don’t buy dogs or cats online or through newspaper ads, because these are often avenues for puppy mills, too.

Puppy mills are an animal lover’s worst nightmare. No dog deserves to live in such conditions, but the issue can never end if these businesses continue to profit from their cruel endeavors.