Inside the Puppy Mills

As the Founder of American Pet Cross, www.americanpetcross.com, my position is pretty clear: We think these people should be eradicated from the commercial business area. We are proposing through our organization that legislation be introduced in all 50 states that would require the following:
1. Breeders: All breeders should be subjected to rigid state standards of space, cleanlines, water, heat , air conditioning, and medical attention. Documents showing the number of times an animal has been bred and the location those puppies were set to and prices paid. Breeders should be subject to minimal quarterly inspections and random spot inspections with the abilities of inspectors to close the facility immediately. Our contact for the general public is breederwatch@apc.com and we will send film and video to the appropriate authorities. Violations of these standards would result in a felony conviction and jail time of at least 1 year. The breeder would not be allowed to breed again without going throug extensive training and licensing in kennel operations.
2. Pet Shops- Pet Shops should be made to disclose their source of animals and the records of breeders. A national website should be created by the industry showing reputable breeders and their current ratings.
Breeders who fail to disclose their source of animals or who violate standars would be subject to felony trafficking charges of animals wit mandatory jail time.
3. Inspectors- States should apply to The Federal Government for Grants to establish educational courses and training as well as hiring of additional inspectors. Euthanasia costs in the United States are approaching 3 billion per year in known costs. Much of the euthanisia is due to returned or abandoned animals as well as improper spay and neuter clinics.

Our organization is offering $5,000 per event where the reporting of a breeder leads to the investigation, arrest, indictment and conviction of breeders violating standards.
If we all work together, we can cut this business by 80% in less than 5 years.

Dan Taylor, Founder@americanpetcross.com

As a person who has been involved in the rescue of dogs from some of these mills, I applaude this information being brought to public attention. As for finding "full bred" dogs, yes you can find them at shelters. They may not be available every day but they are there. And, you can also adopt from a breed rescue. One person commented on the "screening" done by the shelter. The same type of screening and application process is done by rescue groups. That is not to make it difficult for you to adopt but rather to hopefully find a good home for a dog that has already come out of a bad situation. You would be surprised how many people will apply to adopt a dog and then tell us "we had 3 dogs before now but they were all killed by other dogs because we think keeping a dog in a fence is cruel" or "we live on 10 acres but the dog still got on the road and got run over." So, yes we do prefer people with fences or a track record of being a responsible owner. Buying from a REPUTABLE breeder is an excellent way to get a good, healthy dog. But anyone who is selling dogs and won't allow you to come to their place of business and see the WHOLE place is questionable at best. Pet stores typically buy puppy mill dogs because millers sell cheap and the shops can then put a high price on the dogs a make big money. Millers don't care if dogs are healthy so many times the person buying the dog ends up with a dog with a lot of expensive or terminal health issues to be dealt with. This can be because the mother dogs were not properly nourished during pregnancy or the puppies were not given good food and nutrition during development. It is sad that so much of the illnesses and deformities of these animals could be avoided with just a little care but millers don't want to spend one more cent on a dog than they have to. So, the bottom line is, as with most things, we can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. All it takes is people getting their pets from good, honest breeders, rescue groups or yes, shelters. It is true there are fewer "pure bred" dogs in shelters but if you will save one of these precious "mixed breed" dogs, you will get as much love, loyalty and devotion as the most expensive, pure bred dog could ever give you.

too bad for the dogs, people have to make a living also.

FREE ADVERTISING FOR PETSMART!!! I worked at PetSmart for 9 months. PetSmart does NOT sell cats and/or dogs. The sponsor the local animal shelters and rescue centers by letting them come into their stores, set up pens for displaying the animals, and encourage their clientele to take a look. PetSmart has some very sound and solid policies about selling their small animals (rodents and birds). I was supported by our local PetSmart when I refused to sell a "gentleman" one of our hamsters to feed to his snake. I realize that the snake must eat but there are other options. When he complained to management (he thought a sale was a sale!) they supported, wholeheartedly, my decision. This was only once instance. AND PetSmart does not sell rodent females, only males. AND, any breeder that deals with PetSmart has to agree with their policies and sign an agreement that they will support those policies as long as they are a vendor to PetSmart. AND, PetSmart will send out their own investigators to the breeding facilities to ensure that all PetSmart policies are being followed. Did you know that you have to OWN a pet in order to work for PetSmart? (Unless the policy has changed in the past few years.) We, as the consumer, are in control and it depends on whether we support the places that support the puppy mills (and bird mills and rodent mills, etc.) whether or not these places stay in business. I say BOYCOTT, as a responsible pet owner and an animal lover.

The puppy mills require AKC registration papers, so the AKC is complicite in this travesty. Shame on the AKC!

This article makes it clear that regardless of where a puppy is purchased from it may have originally come from one of the puppy mills. When a puppy is given a good home, it is irrelevant where it came from. Adoption agencies have so many rules and are quite costly, so they are perpetuating the situation. In the long run, it was easier to buy a puppy from another state and have him flown into the nearest airport than to adopt right here! It is amazingly ridiculous the amount of effort it took for us to get the pet we wanted. We appreciate him even more for all the effort but some good people that are less tenacious would have just given up.