Inside the Puppy Mills

Even top-dollar pet shops purchase dogs from puppy mills, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) charged in a new video report issued this week. The animal welfare group's exposé centered on a hidden-camera investigation of Pets of Bel Air, a chic Los Angeles pet store frequented by celebrities such as Paris Hilton. HSUS officials charge that the store regularly bought puppies from high-volume breeders, and the report showed undercover footage of the conditions at several of them. Humane Society President and CEO Wayne Pacelle charges that the nation's pet shops are increasingly doing business with puppy mills. "Contrary to what some believe, the puppy breeding industry has actually gotten even more corrupt in recent years," Pacelle told NEWSWEEK.

A call from NEWSWEEK to the owner of Pets of Bel Air seeking comment was not immediately returned, but a "Dear Customers" statement posted on the store's Web site said staffers were "horrified" by the HSUS report and assured readers that "we would never knowingly buy a dog from a puppy mill; and we are appalled by the possibility that this may have happened."

One of the alleged puppy mills mentioned in the report was RCW Kennels in tiny Elk City, Kan. The report charges that a Kansas state inspector last year found that puppies at RCW were sometimes forced to live in worn-out metal cages that exposed them to sharp edges and that the smell of urine ammonia in one building was "so strong it burned [the inspector's] nose and eyes." During the visit the inspector counted 170 adult dogs and 123 puppies, according to the HSUS report. According to Pacelle, a puppy mill is "any high-volume commercial breeder that sells dogs for profit without providing public access to the breeding site, and breeds female dogs every time they come into heat, which is stressful to the animal's system."

RCW Kennels owner Richard Weaver says he and his wife are shocked and upset by the HSUS investigation. Despite the inclusion of video from the kennel the Weavers have operated for 14 years, Weaver says he had not heard about the probe until they were contacted this week by NEWSWEEK. "I've been in the kennel business a long time. I love every dog, every one of them, and we take good care of them here," says Weaver. "We are not a puppy mill."

An undercover investigator with HSUS who has visited Weaver's kennel and others disagrees. In an exclusive interview with NEWSWEEK's Jamie Reno, the investigator, who asked for anonymity to protect his/her identity and safety in future operations, said RCW is a "classic example" of a puppy mill. The investigator talked about visits to kennels, pet stores, flea markets and auctions across the nation in search of corrupt puppy peddlers, and decried what he/she calls the rampant nationwide practice of inhumane puppy breeding.

NEWSWEEK: You paid an undercover visit to the RCW Kennels in Elk City, Kan., which is listed on the USHS website as a puppy mill. What did you see there?
Humane Society Investigator: We weren't there very long, but there were four buildings that were densely populated with dogs, and it smelled horribly, just as the Kansas inspector said. The sound was horrible too, so many dogs that seemed so desperate and frightened. In addition to the four buildings, there were some fenced pens on the ground as well. It was very hodgepodge. It all appeared rather old and rundown. I've seen worse, but it wasn't good.