Inside the Puppy Mills

Yes, as Beanie238 just commented, this sort of thing seems to be able to operate under the legal radar, as dog and ***-fighting appears to do. It just hasn't become a big enough "story" yet so hasn't attracted enough attention for any substantial or meaningful action to occur. Whle living in Oregon, we went to several breeders, often seeing one or two litters being raised indoors with loving care. These dogs, most with AKC and other association papers usually were sold in the $400.00 to $500.00 dollar range. However, we were shocked, after moving to Los Angeles, to see "pure bred" dogs being sold in pet shops in local malls for $2,000.00 and $3,000.00. It was obvious from the sheer volume and number of dogs in one shop that they can't be getting them from a small, local breeder with just a few dogs to sell.

Puppy Mills should be illegal period! Yes, there are reliable breeders, but there are many, many animals available at your local shelters and through rescue groups. These animals deserve to be taken care of and loved even though they are not considered the popular "designer breeds" that some people need as a status symbol. Wake up government agencies! Give the Humane Society the power to shut these mills down!

How would you feel to spend your life in a cage and forced to breed every time you were "in heat"? Animals whether large or small have a heart and soul just like every human. Animals have no one but their owners to take care of them-they cant run from harm if they are forced to live in a cage. Therefore you "puppy breeders" should care for them and love them and provide shelter for them as you would any member of your own family. Afterall would you want your children to live in a cage? Anyone that can mistreat an innocent animal needs to take a long look at themselves in the mirror as the spinless human they really are. Thank You for this article-and I urge everyone to give to the ASPCA or Humane Society and help those innocent animals that cannot help themselves.

I had a litter of pups I was selling when I lived in Fl. I just happend to be on the road with the sire of the litter when I got a phone call from a prospective buyer. He told me that he was going to go look at another litter and then let me know, I said hey np go ahead and if you would like to see the sire i will be back home later that evening. Well about two hours later the guy calls me from the house and is buying one of the pups. He told me that the parents would not even come near him and that the puppies did ot even look like German Shepherds. This is a sure sign of what over breeding does to the Breeds.

My son has rescued two bull terriers from puppy mills by adopting them from rescue organizations. They both have had long lasting effects from the neglect and abuse. It is absolutely amazing to me that these two creatures can still show love and affection for the any human being at all. The vet bills are astronomical and the time spent to regain their trust is incredible, but he would do it all again and probably will in the near future.

Yes I agree, the AKC is supported by puppy mills. I wouldn,t say that they support puppy mills though. Puppy mills should be licensed and regulated by local state agencies, not the Federal Government. Most of the problems we have seen in the past years by Rotties, Dobies and German Sheperds have been from breeding the dogs to close to their realatives. This would not take place in other countries who adhere to stricter breeding standards. AKC suggest that you do this and that but even if you don't they will regester your puppies. The other thing is the food we feed are dogs, most of what you buy from a grocery store is garbage. All the protien comes from corn or soy and not real meat. Take time to read the labels people, if you truely love your dog then give it quality food.

Well, it was a nice informative article that Newsweek did, and I'm glad that awareness is being spread. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a contradiction for Newsweek to publish an article where the message to readers is to gain awareness and to not support puppy mills by buying them from retail or commercial providers, but then have a section to the right of the online article that says, "Sponsored Sites"..."Free Puppy Classifieds" and "Puppies for Sale."

treestone, the answer is to contact your governor and legislators and DEMAND rules and regulation for the puppy mills.

These legislators too often hear from the puppy mill industry, the AKC, the breeding industry who wants no regulations.

But when the public speaks up, there can be better rules and laws.

Find a humane group in your state that works on the puppy mill issue. You can often find them by doing a google search for "(your state) puppy mills"

Many national groups also have puppy mill advocacy divisions.

When our legislators hear a demand for better conditions, things WILL change. But we must speak up.

And also get the word out to family friends and neighbors to STOP BUYING puppies from pet stores, web sites, flea markets, classifieds.

I own a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that I purchased from Lucky Star Cavalier Rescue. This organization rescued her from a puppy mill in Missouri. When she was rescued, she had every parasite imaginable and many, many defects. Yes, we paid $500 for her, but with all the medical care that she received from the rescue agency, it was a drop in the bucket. I have had her in our home for 6 months and it has been quite a period of adjustment for her. She is still deathly afraid of women who wear long dresses and head pieces and men who wear hats and tool belts. She is also afraid of children who dress in the same manner. After I brought her home, she had some problems and I took her to my vet who found birdshot in her back side. I wonder who "loved" this little dog. She also had had many puppies because she was bred every season of her life until she was recsued at 5. She has brought much joy to us. I also had an occasion to check out other Cavaliers in our area in S W Ohio and found a little of Cavalier puppies who were being raised outside on wire with serious neurological problems. The owner of these puppies said that they were registered with the Continental Kennel Club who has very few guidelines for registration of litters. Most all pet shops buy their "stock" from puppy mills and soft hearted humans who truly believe that they are "rescuing" these puppies from the pet shops are only enabling the puppy millers to continue their sleazy business. Legitimate breeders are governed by rules and also the most important item to the breeders are their reputations. I am hopeful that some day all the puppy millers are forced to live in the same "safe, loving" environments that their dogs have.

Well, you presedential candidates listen up, IF, YOU, do not do anything about puppy mills, I DONT MEAN CALL A NEWS CONFERENCE AND SAY ALL THE RIGHT THINGS, I MEAN, shut them down cold, I WILL VOTE THIRD PARTY. I hope OTHERS WILL to.

"People don't understand that if you buy a purebred dog it probably came from a puppy mill..." No, people who buy a pet need to educate themselves. Breeders today, especially ones that show their dogs are concerned firstly on health including eyes, structure, hips, and so on, then temperment and looks.

Yes, puppy mills are horrible. Most breeders of purebred dogs who show are not puppy mills. They have 15 dogs at the most who live better than the average family. We have to get rid of puppy mills, but not bash the good breeder.

Where I live, all the dogs in the shelter are mixed breed dogs. People thought they might want a "designer puppy" and decided to breed a Sheltie to a pug. So the dog has 15 puppies and they only want one, so the rest go to the shelter.

If you want to breed a dog, know what you are doing! Know the health of the dog and all the dogs behind that one. As for a Collie, know they have an eye problem and that the good breeders are trying to get rid of that problem. Good breeders don't want to get rich.

I have seen dogs shipped from a few certain breeders. There is one that all I can say is where ever that dog is going is a far better place than where its from. So many breeds have been hurt or wasted here in the USA due to the fact there is no real breed standard by the AKC. Many of the problems we have heard about with the Rotties, Dobies or the German Shepherds are because the AKC does not and will not adhere to a higher breeding standard. If you take time to look at the dogs coming out of Germany, Belguim, Denamrk or Holland you will see that these dogs by far are superior to the ones bred here in the states under the AKC breeding standard, well I should say non-breeding standard. gdsummers

I personally know of a puppy mill in my area. The animal control in this area is a joke. This person has over a 100 dogs. These dogs don't have any human contact. I have taken some of the older dogs myself and have had them put down because of illnesses and dieases that she did not treat them for. If had left them with her she would of just bred them again. 1 had hip problems because of having so many liters. Another was blind and being in fights all the time with the other females in the cage. Sold me a dog with hyrocelphues and i finally had to have her put down due to uncontrolable seizures. Anytime they say that they have been checked by a vet. Go get another opinion

thank you for posting this article. I have been trying to educate the people around me about puppymills and the petstore connection for a long time, but until it gets national press, people just really dont get it. They think: "I am just buying ONE puppy from a pet store. That wont hurt anything." Rather than understanding how much it would help if they would adopt "just one puppy" instead. Thank you again for giving this the national press it deserves.

thank you for posting this article. I have been trying to educate the people around me about puppymills and the petstore connection for a long time, but until it gets national press, people just really dont get it. They think: "I am just buying ONE puppy from a pet store. That wont hurt anything." Rather than understanding how much it would help if they would adopt "just one puppy" instead. Thank you again for giving this the national press it deserves.

It does not seem to matter to humans the suffering of other humans or animals,as long as it does not happen to them.Let's take the concentration camps and puppy mills.We have horse owners in Phoenix on West Greenway Rd. who leave their animals in stalls with out cover in the summertime.Why,because there are NO laws to protect animals or any that would make someone think twicw about abuse.

I have a Cavalier Kind Charles Spaniel that we purchased from Lucky Stars Cavaliers. Her life was miserable and she was bred every season from the first one to the last one when she turned 5. When she was rescued, she had every parasite imaginable and many, many defects. She is deathly afraid of anyone who wears a long dress and head coverings or any man who wears a hat and tool belt. When we brought her to our home, we took her to our vet who found bird shot in her backside. I wonder who loved her soo much that they could do this to this little dog. It is going to take a long time for her to adjust to her friendly surroundings and caring humans. I am not a tree hugger, but the cruelty that these dogs endure is horrendous. I have seen a beginning of a puppy mill with all the puppies showing major neurological problems and the man still wanted $1700 for each puppy. He had four children and another one on the way and he needed the money. Puppy millers have no conscious when it comes to the almighty dollar. I might add that this person also had all his puppies registered with the Continental Kennel Club who has no regulations on what they register. Pet shops should NEVER buy puppies from these kinds of breeders. But as with most companies, homework is never done and the millers are forever enabled by the soft hearted humans who "rescue" them from the pet shops. Legitimate breeders take care with their breedings to ensure the blood lines of their dogs and also their reputation as a quality breeder.

people turn their heads on puppy mills just like they do the concentration camps. It's sad as they lived in the same conditions. Let's put the people and kennels conviicted of animal abuse through their same system for a year !

Lets talk about Animal "rescues". My family and I agreed that we should get a new dog, we have one now and a huge yard, we also wanted our beloved pet to have another playmate. So I researched all the "rescues" around us and they ALL wanted between $1500.00 and $2500.00 in order to adopt. I thought this was okay, seeing that they were a "non-profit" and a seemingly altruistic company. WRONG, My wife and I didn't have that much money to "donate" so we went to the local animal shelter. We chose three dogs, and each one of them had holds on them placed by rescues. I guess this is what they mean as rescue, But it does seem very odd, That at Christmas time, We cannot even adopt a dog at the pound, because the rescue is adopting them first!