Hundreds of thousands of dogs suffer in puppy mills in this country. The dogs are prisoners of greed.
They are locked in small cages. They freeze in the winter and swelter in the summer. The dogs never get out of their prisons.
They are bred over and over again until they die. The only way to free them from the misery of these horrid puppymills is
to eliminate the demand for puppies by refusing to buy a puppy in a pet store and boycotting those pet stores that sell puppies.
When people stop buying puppies in pet stores, the puppy mills will go out of business and the misery will end. The state
and federal governments do not enforce the laws to protect the dogs. The commercial breeders and brokers have huge well-funded
lobbying efforts. Please join this fight to free the prisoners of greed. The only person who is going to make a difference
for the dogs suffering in puppy mills is you. You, the people, can free them from their puppy mill prisons.
Puppy mills (known as puppy farms USA) are dog breeding operations that are considered to be disreputable
and irresponsible. The term originated among critics of such operations. Small-scale, irresponsible dog breeding operations
are usually called backyard breeding; the terms are akin but not synonymous. The largest concentrations in the USA are allegedly
in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and rural Missouri.
Reputable breeders raise their animals in humane conditions, provide good socialization and
often formal training, and adhere to the breed standard. They are knowledgeable about major health problems associated with their breed, and with
the principles of genetics, frequently undertaking specific matings to produce or refine particular desirable characteristics
in their dogs. They are also sensitive to the requirements of their breeding
adults — who may also be breed or performance champions — and the puppies they produce. Reputable breeders frequently
screen potential customers rigorously, and usually provide a pedigree and health guarantee with their puppies.
Although many responsible breeding operations tend to be small, size alone is not an indication that a particular operation
is a puppy mill. Rather, puppy mills are characterized by ignoring duties that are standard among responsible dog breeders.
They may keep their dogs in overcrowded, unclean or otherwise inappropriate surroundings. The puppies they produce may be
improperly socialized or may suffer from health problems which are often not disclosed to purchasers. Their breeding animals
may also suffer, with females sometimes forced to undergo repeated pregnancies too quickly to fully recuperate between them.
Puppy mill operators may misrepresent the breed of dog being sold, and adult puppy mill dogs may exhibit characteristics
uncommon to their advertised breed. Unlike the puppies produced by reputable breeders, the vast majority of puppy mill animals
are sold to pet stores. Puppy mill operators are frequently accused of being motivated only by profit rather than a commitment
to the breed or any empathy for the animals in their care.
Purchasing dogs, especially those claimed to be purebred, from a pet store is strongly discouraged by reputable breeders
and animal shelters. While many pet stores claim to purchase dogs from "local breeders" instead of puppy mills, this is often
untrue or is a difference in name only, as reputable breeders generally do not sell animals to pet stores. The phrase "local
breeder" may also refer to backyard breeders.
