What is a Puppy Mill Puppy?

When consumers are looking for a puppy, it’s typically because they want to have sole influence to shape the puppy, or because they don’t want a dog who comes to them with proverbial “baggage”. Unfortunately, many consumers purchase their puppies from pet stores and on-line sources and have no idea that the puppy they are getting may already be damaged.

According to the Humane Society of the United States⁽¹⁾ 99% of all puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills. Puppy mills are the scourges of the pet industry and their existence has been long hidden from the public. While pet rescue organizations have been battling these operations for years, Oprah Winfrey was the person largely responsible for bringing puppy mills to the public eye.

Puppy mills are facilities where dogs are factory farmed; one mill can produce thousands of puppies annually. Puppy mill puppies traditionally do not receive any healthcare, never leave their cages, and receive no human contact.

Why should I care?

It’s not humane
Breeding dogs are sentenced to life in a cage without human contact, exercise or health care. They do not leave their cages…even to go to the bathroom. They are bred continuously, and when they can no longer reproduce they are put down.

The puppies are fortunate enough to escape as they are the commodities, but life as they know it isn’t pleasant, nor is it conducive for good health and temperament. The only thing puppy mill puppies know about life is contained within the confines of their cage. The overcrowded, dirty conditions and lack of medical care further assists in the spread of disease and poor temperaments. When they are between 5-8 weeks old, they are sold to pet shops and puppy brokers who in turn, sell them on the Internet and in newspapers.

Emotionally and physically damaged puppies
Between 3-5 weeks of age, (the primary socialization period for puppies), emotional tendencies appear in pups. This is when they learn about bite inhibition and aggression, emotional temperaments are set, fear of strangers emerges, and they start to respond to sites and sounds. While socialization can be effective through 12 weeks of age, many behaviors and tendencies are already set by week 5. When puppies are not properly socialized they become adult dogs who are emotionally frigid and fearful, or the opposite, grossly over reactive with high anxiety. In both cases, aggression is likely to follow. This probably isn’t what you had in mind for the puppy of your dreams.

Puppy mill puppies tend to be sick, with illnesses that may present within days and others which may not present for a year or more. As long as a breeding dog can breed, they are bred, despite illness. Sick breeding parents produce sick puppies and the filthy and overcrowded conditions these dogs live in creates a whole host of additional illnesses that are transferred from dog to dog.

Consumers have to be educated about what they are buying from pet shops and on-line sources. Many online sources claim to be breeders when they are really puppy mills in disguise. Click to find out how to differentiate between a puppy mill and a professional breeder.

Puppy mills are a multi-million dollar industry because they hide their business in places where consumers cannot see them and they prey on consumer’s ignorance of their breeding tactics. Based upon the Humane Society’s 99% figure, we implore you to never purchase a pet from a pet store or from an online source. It’s up to you, the consumer, to uncover the truth about the puppy you might be buying. Choose wisely, the quality of your life and the puppy’s life depends on it.

What can I do?

Professionals in the pet industry have made “putting puppy mills out of business” number one on their task list. The most effective solution though is to stop buying their products. Healthy and properly socialized puppies can be found through a professional dog breeder and through your local animal shelter and breed rescue groups.

If you’d like more information on puppy mills and what you can do to stop them, there are numerous campaigns and associations you could investigate including the following:

Best Friends, Pets Are Not Products Campaign
American Humane Association, Help us Shut Down Puppy mills
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Fight Animal Cruelty/puppy mills
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Stop Puppy Mills Campaign

1) The Humane Society of the United States as seen on the Oprah, Puppy Mill Episode
Content not appropriate for children.
http://foryourentertainment.blogspot.com/2008/07/oprahs-puppy-mill-episode.html

FOR INFORMATION ONLY

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