Stop Puppy Mills

A puppy mill is a mass breeding facility that produces puppies for sale.

The costs of rescuing, treating and caring for rescued puppy mill puppies and dogs often run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, dollars that come from contributions, donations and our taxes. And far too often, after these dogs are finally healthy and cared for, they are returned to their abusers, back to the life of suffering and torture they were rescued from due to the leniency of the laws.

Approximately 500,000 puppies are ‘produced’ each year from the country’s puppy mills. Right now there are at least 4000-5000 puppy mills in this country. About half the puppies die due to cruel substandard conditions. Even then, the ‘business’ is so lucrative that the losses are just considered ‘part of doing business,’ and they continue. They ‘trash’ (picture up top) their losses and rake in the bucks.

Puppy mill kennels generally consist of small, outdoor wood and wire cages or crates. The animals are cramped into these filthy cages.

Many of the dogs suffer from malnutrition and exposure, usually remaining outside year round, enduring both freezing temperatures in the winter and intense heat in the summer.

Almost as bad as the animal victims are the human victims; the people who buy the puppies either from a pet store, a newspaper ad, an internet ad or right from the puppy millers themselves. So many of these puppies are sick, disease ridden and their tiny bodies are usually dehydrated, malnourished not to mention genetic defects and other problems. People who buy these puppies often wound up spending thousands of dollars trying to fix their new canine companion that they have already grown attached to, only to have them die or live short, painful lives.

Ethical breeders will not sell their puppies to just anyone. They care about what happens to the puppies after they go to their new homes. They provide health guarantees and many will have a contract that if things do not work out, the dog is to be returned to the breeder. Ethical breeders have standards and morals and care about the breed, not just lining their pockets on the misery of living creatures.

A puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs. Unlike responsible breeders, who place the utmost importance on producing the healthiest puppies possible, breeding at puppy mills is performed without consideration of genetic quality. This results in generations of dogs with unchecked hereditary defects.

Puppy mill puppies are typically sold to pet shops—usually through a broker, or middleman—and marketed as young as eight weeks of age. The lineage records of puppy mill dogs are often falsified.

The bane of existence for dogs, a life of neglect, abuse, torture and suffering, and when they have outlived their usefulness, an often brutal ending! Disease, malnutrition, dehydration, sickness and death flourish in cramped filthy cages, freezing in the winter, scorching in the summer.

Females bred and over-bred from their first heat cycle through every subsequent one until their bodies are so used up and broken down that death is a welcome release for them. They never know a kind word or a gentle touch.

What You Can Do To Stop Puppy Mills

• Sign the Stop Puppy Mills Pledge Go to the Humane Society Website Link I have provided you here and Sign the Pledge Stop Puppy Mills
• Adopt from an animal shelter or rescue group; never buy from a pet store. Remember that 25% of shelter animals are purebreds
• Do not shop at stores that sell animals
• Volunteer at your local animal shelter or rescue group
• Ask your elected officials to outlaw puppy mills. Urge them to demand that the USDA enforce the Animal Welfare Act. For your senators’ and representatives’ contact information, visit Vote Smart
• Write letters to the editors of your local newspapers about the horrors of the puppy mill industry and its connection with pet stores
• Distribute brochures about puppy mills and pet overpopulation outside of pet shops
• Ask shopping mall managers not to renew the lease of the pet store on their property
• Report pet store abuses to whomever is responsible for enforcing anti-cruelty laws in your town. Write a detailed statement of the abuses and take photographs, if possible
• Educate others about the cruelties of puppy mills and the importance of adopting from shelters

As consumers, we have the power to stop the cruel cycle of animal abuse perpetuated by puppy mills.

Because most puppy mills are not illegal, the Humane Society needs help from the public to put an end to the consumer demand for their "product." You can help The HSUS put a stop to puppy mills by getting your next dog from either: an animal shelter or pet rescue group, or a well-screened, responsible breeder.

HSUS MySpace Page | Stop Puppy Mills Website

Rescued puppy mill dog suffering from a severe case of untreated mange and a ruptured eye.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Ghandi

The hind leg of this "brood bitch" was eaten off by another dog in a puppy mill. She lay for two days without medical attention -- even though the puppy miller was aware of her condition and died in a hospital shortly after being rescued.

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