Many people think that outlawing puppy mills is the way to stop them, but this will only push them further underground, leading to more suffering. If you really want to stop puppy mills there is only one way to do it.

What is a Puppy Mill?

A puppy mill is a place where puppies are bred for the pet store market. They range from being a back yard breeder type operation, with only one or two breeding dogs, or extend into the characteristic “mill” where ten, or more, dogs are kept in tiny cages without human attention, fed cheap dog food, lack medical care, or companionship, bred over and over until they can no longer breed – and their necks are broken. 

The puppies are often weaned young, and have health concerns - although many of these will not be apparent until later in life, or are often neglected totally by owners who are unaware the dog even has a health concern.

Puppy mills originated as a way for rural people to make extra income by breeding puppies for the pet store industry.

It is worth noting that pet stores deny buying from puppy mills, most stores now buy from puppy brokers who buy from the mills. In the USA it is estimated that 4000 puppy mills supply stores with as many as half a million puppies a year. In the United States a puppy mill is anyone who sells more than 50 pups a year. It is worth noting that a reputable breeder may only produce one litter per year (4-12 pups), leaving a wide margin in between what is a puppy mill, and what is not.

photo source

Why do Pet Stores Buy from Puppy Mills?

The goal of any store is to make a profit. Profit is made by buying low and selling high. Puppy mills are the only place that will sell puppies cheaply to a pet store.  Sometimes pet stores do not buy directly from the mills, often pet stores buy puppies through brokers, this way they can still tell the public the did not buy from a mill.

Reputable breeders invest money into their pups and as they have buyers lined up before breeding they never have excess puppies. As well, reputable breeders insist on screening buyers, and would not need to hide anonymously behind a pet store.

Animal shelters, and pet rescues, would never adopt a pet to a pet store (or anyone else who was going to “sell” it). *Worth noting some shelters have adoption events at stores that do not sell puppies but the shelter is in charge of adopting the pet out.

Some back yard breeders may sell a puppy to a pet store only if they cannot sell it themselves, this represents only about 5% of the puppies sold in pet stores every year.

As such the only remaining option, and the one of choice, is for a store to get the puppies from puppy mills (often via the puppy broker) where they are raised cheaply enough that the store can make a profit.

Is it Just Pet Stores?

NO – Many puppy mills will sell directly to the public. The public might even see the dogs in horrid condition, and out of sympathy to “rescue” a puppy they ignorantly buy it, thus rewarding the mill for breeding this way.

Anyone who is not a reputable breeder (they would have taken the parents to shows to prove their worth as breeding animals and be able to prove it, as well as have had the parents tested for genetic conditions), or who is not a pet rescue facility (they would be a charity - not for profit), should be held suspect of being a puppy mill. It is a fine line between being a back yard breeder (they would only have 1-4 adult dogs) and a puppy mill.

How to Stop Puppy Mills

Currently, in the United States there are laws in regards to the standards of care at most puppy mills, and number of females, that a puppy mill can have. These laws are weak, and hard to enforce as most puppy mills remain private and secluded. As well these laws do little to stop many of the short cuts taken by puppy mill breeders – such as feeding minimal amounts of food, breeding the same female over and over, and paying no attention to genetic health, or mental health.

The best way to stop puppy mills is to enact laws against the sale of puppies in stores, online, and in newspapers. A few places, such as Australia, and Richmond, BC, have taken more drastic steps to really stop the problem of puppy mills, but undoubtedly they still exist.  Not to worry - people can still buy puppies from reputable breeders, or adopt from shelters.

Further action can be taken by concerned pet lovers:

• Do not buy a puppy from a pet store.
• Never buy pet food, or supplies, from stores where puppies are sold.
• Never buy pet food, or supplies, from stores where any live animals are sold (most come from mass breeders)
• Pass information on to others how pet stores encourage, and promote, cruel breeding practices by buying cheaply produced puppies – raised in conditions not much better than battery hens.

What about the Puppies that are not Sold?

Many people buy pet store puppies because they feel sorry for them – but this is wrong, and contributes to cruelty by rewarding the seller. Eventually the store will lower their prices, only when the puppy is below $100 is it acceptable to buy, anything more simply encourages the store to continue.

People need to stop thinking about the one puppy, and rather should focus on the breeding dogs, standing on chicken wire for their lifetime, breeding, and breeding, and breeding, suffering from rotten teeth, skin problems, as well as mental stress and boredom. The only way to save those dogs is by not buying a single puppy from a pet store, and not supporting any store that sells pups! Puppies should not be purchased on a whim, from an unknown seller, at flea markets, or any such method.