WHERE DO PET STORE PUPPIES COME FROM?
The majority of the puppies sold in pet stores come from breeding farms called
puppy mills. These dog farms typically keep dozens or hundreds of dogs in tiny,
filthy pest and feces infested crates their entire lives, producing litter after
litter. They rarely receive veterinary care, exercise, or love. Many of the
puppies produced by these places have genetic defects and health problems
related to the conditions they are raised in. Most of them will die young. By
purchasing a dog from a pet store, you are creating a demand for these puppy
millers to supply and are supporting their cruelty and mistreatment of dogs.
Please consider adopting a dog from a shelter. Remember...every time a puppy is
purchased in a pet store, a pound puppy may be killed.
This severely malnourished dog is likely the parent of hundreds of puppies sold in pet stores across the US:
Should any living being be forced to live like this?
Below is an example of the size cage a typical puppy mill dog is confined to 24/7. This injured puppy mill dog cannot stand on his foot, yet receives no care:
photo from www.peta.com
IMAGINE LIFE AS A DOG IN A PUPPY MILL
Imagine spending your whole life barefoot on a wire floor. Your feet are always bloody and sore. There are three other people sharing your tiny cage with you. When you go to the bathroom, it collects on the ground underneath you and is left there indefinitely. The stench makes you sick. Your only protection from the sun, rain, wind, and snow is a torn tarp that dangles over the top of your cage. You are constantly forced to breed, and your children are taken from you and sold, except for the babies that die from lack of proper care. Many of your babies will die on their way to pet stores due to illness or because they are too young to eat on their own. More will die once they get to the pet stores as a result of inadequate care, fear, loneliness, and disease.
Your body aches from having so many children and not getting any exercise. You are exhausted, starving and sick. The large male that shares your cage won't let you eat or drink, and attacks you when you try. The only food you get is stale and moldy anyways. You have infected bites and scratches all over your body, and flies are constantly swarming around your face and eyes. You are always afraid. You may die this month, from any of a number of ailments. If not, you might wish you did. You will die young - whether from neglect and abuse or from being shot when you no longer produce babies to sell. You will die alone, and many of your children will experience the same fate. Hundreds of thousands of pets are killed in shelters each year because no one wants them.
You have never known love or the freedom of running through an open field with your best friend. Here there are only enemies. The USDA, who is responsible for maintaining healthy standards in breeding mills, ignores your misery because they are more concerned about making sure the farmers are making enough money. They are actually the ones who advised farmers to start farming puppies in the first place. The only way you will every be set free is if all the people out there stop buying your puppies from pet stores to send the message that puppies are not a crop, and put the puppy farmers out of business...
View a short video on Puppy Mills >
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Please e-mail your Senators and Representatives to let them know we will no longer stand for this kind of animal abuse. You can easily find their names & e-mail addresses at usa.gov. A few moments of your time will make all the difference in the world to the thousands of suffering dogs across the US. Feel free to copy and paste the following request in your e-mail:
-
I am writing to let you know that I find the conditions of dog breeding
farms commonly called "puppy mills" to be abhorrent, disgusting, and
abusive. I am concerned that the USDA standards for the proper care of dogs
in breeding farms are not set high enough and are not regularly enforced. I
am urging you to please do all you can to raise the standards and help end
the suffering of the thousands of dogs trapped in these farms. Thank you for
your time and consideration.
THREE SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP STOP PUPPY MILLS
- Adopt a dog from a shelter or get your puppy from a responsible breeder. NEVER buy a puppy from a pet store.
- Buy your pet supplies from a store that doesn't sell puppies or kittens.
- and spread the news!
Thank you to the following web sites and organizations for helping to inform everyone of these horrible conditions and for fighting for the dogs who cannot fight for themselves:
- StopPuppyMills.org
- Prisoners for Profit - Info on Puppy Mills
- www.hua.org - Hearts United for Animals
- www.fightcruelty.org - ASPCA Puppy Mill Information
All information contained on this page is the opinion of the webmaster of this site. Statements made on this page do not refer to any specific pet store or breeder and webmaster makes no claim as to where any specific store receives it's puppies, or which breeders/puppy mills do not maintain healthy conditions for their dogs. All photos are the property of their copyright owners.