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We have all seen those adorable faces and tiny whiffling noses pressed up against the glass and been tempted to get a puppy from the pet store. Have you ever considered though where those puppies are sourced from, if not a local breeder?

Pet store puppies are rarely bred by reputable breeders, they are sourced from puppy mills. Most people won’t have heard of a puppy mill. Soon, you will probably wish you hadn’t.

Imagine a compound of small cages where dogs are bred intensively; that is a Puppy Mill. Hundreds of thousands of puppies are farmed in this way across North America to satisfy a demand in pet stores. A Puppy Mill dog has a wretched and hopeless start in life.

A Puppy Mill puppy is likely to suffer from ill health, behavioral problems and diseases due to unselective breeding. Add to that a lack of socializing skills, which stems from early separation from the mother, rather like dysfunctional children.

Add to this negative early start poor feeding and possibly inadequate water, coupled with miserable living conditions with no room to move and little contact with humans, before being taken often incredibly long distances to the pet store, during which many die.

It is responsible when breeding puppies to take into account any diseases a breed is prone to, and to carefully select dogs to mate, otherwise you end up with a walking wagging time bomb. Good breeder will make proper vet care, immunization and health a priority.

You can check when buying a pedigree puppy if they come from a respectable breeder, by first visiting the premises, but also they should give you a certificate of bloodline. You should also get a guarantee, check with the breeder about the fine details; but you should not ever have to “exchange” the puppy.

The situation is very different at a puppy mill, where the main aim is profit rather than animal welfare. Their goal is to produce as many puppies as possible to turn over the greatest margin. This means often poor breeding, where animal unscreened for hereditary diseases are used, or possibly even interbreeding which can lead to no end of health and temperament issues.

The bitches have the worst deal, as they will be made to breed relentlessly in miserable health conditions. And once spent from this terrible life, they will be rewarded with abandonment or death.

Puppy mills are still in operation despite laws to control them. The way to combat these farms is to remove the demand for puppies by only purchasing your puppy from a good breeder, or adopting one from an animal rescue centre; don’t trust pet stores, which may be ignorant or misleading of the truth.

Although it is tempting to save a puppy by buying him, don’t. You will create a space for the next puppy from a mill. If you want to do something, contact the authorities or an animal shelter who will be able to do something constructive.

Puppy mills are a sad fact of supply and demand, so don’t add to the problem by buying puppies of which you do not know the origin.

Last 5 posts by Rebecca Foxton

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Tags: Dogs