*Puppy mills (also known as puppy farms outside of the United States) are large-scale dog breeding facilities that operate under substandard breeding conditions. Substandard breeding conditions allow puppies bred in puppy mills to develop chronic health problems, temperament issues, and hereditary defects.

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.

Such health problems include heart murmurs, hip problems, skin problems, deafness, allergies, plates in the skull that don't close properly, aggressive temperaments, or a host of other hereditary defects. Some of these problems may show up as soon as the customer gets the new pup home. Some may not become evident for several years.

A puppy mill is a business, with the facility designed purely for profit, not for the well-being of the dogs. When we buy a pet or even shop at a store that sells puppies, we contribute to a heartless underground industry that forces dogs to spend their entire lives in cages constantly breeding to support consumer demand for puppies. Please watch this video to witness the unbearable existence that breeding dogs face each day of their lives.

The crime the pet store commits is that they mask the illusion of the puppy mill horror with cute pictures and murals on the walls surrounding the pups that are behind glass enclosures. They are ashamed of the truth of their business and try to hide the lie that their pups are actually from poor breeders/puppy mills who simply breed for quantity instead of quality.

As consumers we do have the power to end this vicious cycle of terror and abuse.  The puppy mill business has absolutely no regard for the health and welfare of it's animals and the continual production of puppies is dependent upon the public buying puppies in a pet store. If people stopped buying puppies in pet stores, the demand would end and the pet stores would stop buying from commercial kennels and then the misery would end.

We ask you to please show your support in this very important cause by BOYCOTTING all pet stores that sell puppies and if you are thinking of adding a new member to your family that you do so responsibly (please check out our Responsible Adoption Resources)

*Source: Humane Society of the United States