Sara Nelson
Puppy mills are a serious problem due to the high increase in puppy demands. The problem is most dogs from puppy mills have many health problems.
It is important to know how you can help stop this from happening. Most of the dogs that are coming from puppy mills are coming from the USA.
Puppy mills normally keep dogs in dirty cages, in bad conditions and sell them for a high price for an unhealthy pet with serious health problems.
In 2009, there was a statistic about puppy mills that stated that there were 2 million stray dogs because of puppy mills.
According to ASPCA, every year approximately 1 million puppies were sold on Craigslist and other classifieds websites.
The sale of puppies on Craigslist comes with a higher risk of buying pets online or purchasing something that turns out to be a fraud.
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The truth about puppy mills
Most of the time people are very confused about the facts and truth behind puppy mills. Many people think that puppy mills are a good way to adopt a puppy, but in reality, it is not.
In fact, puppy mills are one of the worst ways to get dogs because the breeders don’t care about their dogs, all they care about is money.
The main reason why puppy mills were created was that most people could not afford puppies so instead, they looked into buying one from a breeder that offers a cheap puppy.
Here are some common diseases that most dogs from puppy mills have:
- heart problems
- eye problems (cataract)
- skin diseases
- neurological diseases
- glaucoma
- anemia
- musculoskeletal system
- and much more.
The stats about puppy mills
You might not realize how large the puppy mill industry is.
Puppy mills have even increased over the year, and here are the stats about the puppy mills:
- 70% of puppy mills operate illegally
- There are approximately 10,000 puppy mills in the US
- 100,000 to 1 million dogs are being put into puppy mills in the U.S every year
- Worst states for breeding and selling puppies: Missouri, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska.
- Puppy mills also produce animals that are used in labs for animal testing
- About half of puppies born in mills survive their first 12 weeks of life
- The average puppy mill dog lives only a few years or less
- Every year thousands of dogs are rescued from puppy mills.
It is important that we should do our best to stop this cycle at all costs. Like I said before, most people purchase puppies from puppy mills because they don’t have enough money to purchase from a reputable breeder.
But instead of buying from these breeders, you can find many shelters with great dogs who need homes too!
And who knows your new best friend might even save your life.
How do Puppy Mills operate?
The process of breeding dogs in puppy mills begins with finding a female dog who is ready to be bred.
According to animal advocates, the most favorable breeds are poodles and their mixes because of the amount of money they can bring in after being sold.
These dogs are often stolen from other people or shelters or purchased at flea markets without paperwork.
Once a female dog enters the mill, she will then be artificially inseminated.
The females will typically remain pregnant for about eight months, during which time they also undergo various procedures like vaccinations and deworming.
Most puppies on average start going through training at about 3-4 weeks old, however, some begin as early as 1 week old where they are made to socialize with humans.
The youngest stage of puppy mill breeding is what makes the most profit, so this is where the breeders have their main focus.
They will often sell puppies to pet stores and other distributors for about $150 each although some organizations that buy dogs from mills at times pay up to $500 per dog.
The smallest breeds are usually sold at a price higher than their larger counterparts since they can fit in small places and require little exercise.
How and where mill Puppies are sold
Many people don’t know that purchasing a dog from a puppy mill breeder is supporting the horrible industry of pet mills.
The most disgusting thing about puppy mills is they breed dogs frequently without caring for their physical needs or emotional health.
Even so, the puppy mill’s biggest customers are not pet owners, they are huge brokers, pet shops, or even online stores.
Along with this information, there are tons of websites that are using the internet to sell puppies and most of them come from places called ‘Puppy Mills’.
The online pet shops and mill breeders advertise their dogs all over flyers and newspaper ads with cute names like ‘Dozer’ for a Husky or ‘Midnight’ for an Australian Shepherd all tricks the buyer into thinking they are buying a well-bred dog when it’s actually not.
Are puppy mills illegal?
People always say that “Puppy mills are illegal” but in fact, it is not.
There are no federal laws that prohibit the breeding of dogs, cats, or other animals commercially with the purpose to sell them as pets.
So puppy mills breeders still get away with their cruel ways of treating animals and people keep on buying from them, because they think this is a good way to adopt a pet.
Today we have many things you can do instead of purchasing a puppy mill dog, like adopting one and save a life!
You will help both an abandoned animal by giving him or her home and you will also be saving another pet from having to suffer a terrible fate.
What to do if you bought a puppy from puppy mills
Dog owners who discover that they have bought a dog from a mill should reunite with the dog. If an owner doesn’t provide socialization and training for their dogs, it can lead to behavioral problems.
But on the other hand, if the dog has serious health issues like eye or heart problems then it is always best to bring the pet to the vet right away.
Many times, people buy pets online and get scammed by puppy mills breeders so there’s no rush in purchasing your new family member online.
Most of the time when people buy dogs online they never return because they were falsely advertised by these so-called “breeders”.
Most people might think that the pet stores are selling animals from reputable breeders. Most of them don’t know that the store actually buys animals from unlicensed individuals who operate as “puppy mills”.
Summary
Before you decide to give your money to a seller for a puppy, make sure to check the credibility of the seller/breeder. This ensure you won’t end up getting scammed or having a puppy from puppy mills.
A lot of people choose to adopt instead of buying their pets, so there’s no need for you to rush into buying your own dog.
Most rescues need more help than shelters do in order for them to run properly since many rescue organizations rely on volunteers.