A Puppy Mill is a mass dog breeding establishment that produces puppies for profit by selling them wholesale to the pet industry. Many puppy mills are characterized by overcrowding, filth, inadequate shelter, insufficient food, water, and veterinary care. Most puppy mill owners sell their dogs wholesale to brokers who in turn sell them primarily to Pet Stores. Because profit, not quality dogs, is the ultimate goal of the puppy mill owner, breeding practices are shoddy, puppies are born with genetic defects, and the breeding dogs are kept in poorly maintained, inexpensive structures that will keep them alive and producing.

BUYING A PUPPY FROM AN AD IN THE NEWSPAPER

If you are considering the purchase of a puppy from an ad in the newspaper, there is a strong possibility that the advertisers are "backyard" breeders and/or puppy mills. If they ask you to meet them somewhere other than their residence/kennel, they are not a "Reputable Breeder." So, please check these places out very carefully, ask a lot of questions, and before you make the decision to buy a puppy from one of these places, get a written guarantee!!! If they refuse to sign it, leave without the puppy!

Dog breeding can be an At-Home living for some, so beware of places with a lot of dogs and multiple breeds. Most of these people breed purely for money and they don't know anything about breeding. The puppies may be born with genetic defects that will cause you heartache and grief down the line. If the puppies have not had their shots and get sick within a few days after you have taken them home, they will not stand behind their agreement. If they state the coloring of a dog's fur as "rare" or a color aside from what the true colors of the breed should be, the dog was misbred and it is a mutt. Educate yourself on the facts of your desired breed of dog before you go to any of the places you've found in the newspaper. Also, check all the other ads and see if there are any other breeds for sale with the same phone number listed (they will put in different ads for different breeds). Check the Cat section, too.

CYBER PUPPIES

Puppy Mills and Pet Dealers have all the angles covered. For every “Reputable Breeder” using the internet to advertise their “healthy, show-quality ” puppies, there is a puppy mill and pet dealer using their web site to advertise its “not-so-healthy and far from show-quality” puppies. Some list all the breeds for sale on one site. This should be a red flag to you! Some even state, with pride, that they are USDA and State inspected/licensed. Another red flag! Many of the puppy mills are now making separate web pages for each and every breed they have. Once they’ve hooked an Uneducated Buyer, the puppies are shipped out the same way as Pet Store puppies, and I've already mentioned the shipping conditions in Spot's Memorial. Besides, you should never buy a puppy "sight unseen" and without a clean bill of health from a veterinarian (your pick, not there's).

USDA MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

TITLE 9--ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS CHAPTER I--ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUREPART 3--STANDARDS--Table of Contents Subpart A--Specifications for the Humane Handling, Care, Treatment, and Transportation of Dogs and Cats |1| Sec. 3.6 Primary enclosures. (c) Additional requirements for dogs--(1) Space. (i) Each dog housed in a primary enclosure (including weaned puppies) must be provided a minimum amount of floor space, calculated as follows: Find the mathematical square of the sum of the length of the dog in inches (measured from the tip of its nose to the base of its tail) plus 6 inches; then divide the product by 144. The calculation is: (length of dog in inches + 6) x (length of dog in inches + 6) = required floor space in square inches. Required floor space in inches/144 = required floor space in square feet.

Use this math to measure the "minimum allowed floor space" for one of your pets at home and see what you come up with. This is what a dog in a puppy mill of your dog's size lives in (to run, play, eat, sleep, urinate, and defecate) every day for the rest of his life. A "Reputable Breeder" would never mention "USDA," let alone have one of its dogs live like this!

REPUTABLE BREEDERS

There are hundreds of responsible and reputable kennels and breeding establishments throughout the United States whose owners make a profit, but not at the expense of their dogs. These breeders may be full-time professionals making an entire living from a kennel, or hobby breeders with 5 or 10 animals. A responsible breeder is concerned with improving the quality of the breed (by showing or belonging to a breed club) than he or she is at making money. Customers wishing to buy puppies from these breeders are welcome to inspect the premises and, in most cases, meet the puppy’s parents.