A puppy mill is a commercial breeding facility
where puppies are mass produced in order to be sold to individuals or to pet wholesalers or brokers, retail pet stores, through
newspaper adds, and even into foreign markets. Many people have heard the term puppy mill but few are aware of the magnitude
of horrors associated with them. Even less are they aware that many licensed commercial dog breeders are, in fact, puppy mills.
Contained for life in small wire cages, the breeder dogs (dogs that are kept exclusively for breeding
purposes) are doomed to breed over and over again at every heat cycle until they die. Many suffer in extreme temperatures,
are never allowed out of their cages, and receive inadequate to no veterinary care. Dogs often live in their own excrement
and are forced to stand on wire floors causing painful sores on their feet. As puppies begin to mature and wander their surroundings,
their small feet fall through the wire floors causing injury and pain. Rodents, flies, fleas and other pests plague the animals
constantly. Many are housed in makeshift shelters such as trailers or old buildings; some are exposed to the elements living
outside in wire cages stacked on top of each other. When they are no longer able to produce some are killed inhumanely by
the breeders or just left to die. A small percentage of the lucky ones eventually find their way to a rescue.
At present, a USDA license is required for anyone with four or more breeding dogs who sell to brokers or pet stores,
but there are also backyard breeders who operate illegally. Whether licensed or not, these facilities see one thing only -
profit. The dogs are considered an agricultural commodity and therefore are treated as such. Most of these facilities are
in rural areas and are inspected once a year by the USDA. However, enforcement of regulations is weak-to-non-existent in some
states, and breeders are often given many opportunities to correct non-compliance issues allowing breeders to operate indefinitely
out of compliance. There are some large facilities that house thousands of dogs and are multi-million dollar industries. More
common are the rural breeders that house anywhere from 10-500 dogs, with the average between 65-75.
Unlicensed breeders typically sell puppies around six weeks of age; those who hold a federal license are prohibited
from selling puppies under eight weeks old. Breeders sell their stock by whatever method is most profitable. Puppies are usually
cleaned up - feces and urine washed from their coats, pus wiped from their eyes - just prior to being sold to an individual
or shipped to a buyer by whatever method is most convenient or cost effective, often in trucks with no climate control. The
puppy's life from that point is uncertain. Some eventually find their way to a loving home. Some are bought on impulse at
pet stores only to be "gotten rid of" when it is no longer cute or convenient.
Some of
the puppies have a chance in life. However, the lives of the breeder dogs - the puppy's parents - is carved in stone. Left
behind to breed again and again. And again.
