Puppy Mills
Cages upon cages, dogs barking everywhere, starving puppies. This is what the United States is headed for if the United States doesn’t stop puppy mills. Puppy mills are a problem because the animals are uncleanly and not very well taken care of. People need to stop this act. Hopefully, people will decide that they want to help out and stop puppy mills.

“According to the HSUS, commercial kennel conditions are “squalid”, “foul”, “unsanitary”, and “inhumane”, and puppies are “ill-treated”, “often ill”, and “sick and traumatized” (Oliver 79). Puppy mills started to show up in the late 1940’s in the post World War II era. These puppies were used as an alternative crop, due to the high demand of puppies in WWII. They were first sold in department stores like Sears and Roebuck in the 1950’s. The puppies sold in these department stores were usually from the early version of breeders now known as puppy mills. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [ASPCA] quoted this: “Supported by the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] they developed the first commercial puppy breeding kennels” (“Puppy”). The county with the highest rate of puppy mills in the United States is Grant County, specifically, Lancaster, WI. The groups of people who live around this area are the Amish. They believe that the Bible says an animal is not a person, and it can be kept in cages instead of being able to be free and roam around.

Some dogs from puppy mills are sent off for medical research testing. Most of the dogs that are used in medical research are used for testing in heart surgery research. In 1987 over 180,169 dogs were used in animal research. Some of these dogs were from puppy mills (Steffen 11). Most of these dogs were not needed for what they wanted at the puppy mills (Steffen17).

Most puppies sold in pet stores are from puppy mills. The puppy mills will send their puppies to pet stores looking for cheap and newborn puppies. “Puppy mills are run by breeders who breed large numbers of puppies to sell to the pet stores” (Schoreder 15). The Pet Doctor Center has over 300 pet stores across the country, and all of these dogs and puppies are from puppy mills. “Merchants, or also known as ‘dog sellers’ believe that these animals are cash crops, not real animals, just a way of income” (Oliver 79). “The Humane Society of the United States accuses commercial breeders of engaging in ‘cruel commerce’ that treat puppies ‘like so much merchandise’ (Oliver 79). Lawmakers are trying to make new laws allowing dogs to have more freedom. One of the states that has been promoting such laws is Missouri. This law was initially voted on in March of 2010 (Sharon). In this law, people would need to walk their dogs for an hour each day, rather than sitting in cages all day. Lawmakers want to have a cap on how many female dogs a breeder can have at breeding time. This law would only allow 50 females pregnant in one place. They also promote having a veterinarian come in every week for check-ups on the dogs and newborn puppies. Those proposing new laws want to have their dogs be up-to-date on vaccinations. People think that they should have their dogs “put down” because some breeders will just shoot their aging and sick dogs, as well as puppies. There is a report of 80 dogs shot after an inspector told the owners that they needed veterinary treatment for fleas and flies. These people had their dogs in very bad conditions and could have faced up to a $300.00 fee for each dog. Instead they took the 80 dogs behind their house and shot them to save expenses (Herbst).

The number of puppy mills in the U.S. has gone up from about 50 puppy mills in the 1940’s to approximately 200-400 thousand today. These numbers cannot be exact because all puppy mills cannot be located due to the fact that so many are illegal. These are just those that are licensed. All of the licensed puppy mills in the United States bring in about 2-4 million dollars a year. This is an estimate from the Humane Society of the United States (Sharon).

There is a law called the Puppy Lemon Law. The law is different in all of the states; it is generally a law that is for the owners who buy a puppy from pet stores or breeders. If the dog dies, then in certain states the pet store has to reimburse the owners who lost the puppy. These states include: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Vermont (“Lemon”). These states have many rules for puppy breeders and pet stores that sell puppies. Some states have to refund people if their dog or puppy gets sick or dies within a certain amount of days after buying the pet at the pet store. They are also required to pay any medical expenses up to the price of what they purchased the dog for. Some states require the breeders to refund the money that the people spent on the dog. If breeders fail to have their registration papers, they may not be able to return the dog or get the money for the dog back. They Puppy Lemon Law says the owners can choose if they want their money or vet care reimbursed. This is designed so if someone buys a puppy and if dies or has some very serious issues, the owner can then opt to return the puppy. The rules are different in all states. Some have similar laws but they are not the same. All together, only fourteen of the fifty states have this law. Wisconsin does not have this law. Some people believe this should be a law in Wisconsin. Some other states’ laws say that they need the following: whom it applies to, the contagious or infectious disease, congenital or hereditary defects, replacement, refund, and reimbursement of veterinary expenses to treat dogs. These all help the people if they lose a dog to any of these issues. This law is very effective because people get their money back if they do lose a dog.

Some solutions could be in place to prevent puppy mills. If one sees this act going on, one should call the police right away and just report what one sees. Sometimes it is not an illegal act, but one should call and make sure. Puppy mill owners can get very mean if someone reports them because some of the puppy mills are illegal. They could be illegal because they don’t have a license to have a puppy mill. Some people believe that breeders are also considered puppy mills, but they actually run a legitimate breeding operation. Breeders have six or less pairs of dogs. Most breeders have clean facilities, and lot many dogs or puppies at one time. Anyone can call the ASPCA to inquire about breeders if they live in an area that has an ASPCA. Most of the time most locations do not have this organization close, unless they are in a big city. The ASPCA will help the caller. They will come and check out what people suspect to be a puppy mill or other animal cruelty act. The ASPCA goes to over 40,000 animal cruelty acts or reports of them in a year. They sometimes check into situations further if they suspect illegal activity. There are other places that people can go and report suspicious activity. In a local town people can go to the police, county, or local animal shelter. People can call a toll free number that will contact their contact area (Newkirk 87).

Animal cruelty is horrific. “The law of the puppy mills is to have it cleanly and well treated not dirty and ill-treated” (Sharon). “The ASPCA is also working to have commercial dog breeders, licenses’ removed from people who run puppy mills” (Schroeder 15). Contact the press at this e-mail: press@aspca.org This is to report an illegal act (Hurley).

Anyone can help stop puppy mills by not purchasing puppies from pet stores. If anyone buys a puppy from a pet store that sells puppy mill puppies, they are giving money to the puppy mills, and are helping promote them to keep producing puppies. Puppy mills earn most of their profit from pet stores who sell their puppies. If a friend does buy a dog from a pet store, it is important to make sure they are not illegally purchased from a puppy mill, and that they are from a real breeder. Anyone is allowed to request to see the paperwork that tells the name and location of the breeder. If they are unable to produce papers on the dog, it is important to tell someone else because they are required to have proper documentation on the dogs and puppies. The other downfall of buying a dog from a pet store are that the dogs are very over priced and still have to live in wire cages. These cages might be nicer than what they grew up in, but the animals are still living in wire cages, not in real living environments. Cage living is not good for their feet, and they can get sores on their paws from this.

Puppy mills are a very sad thing. They mistreat dogs and puppies. They should be stopped. Many people can do something to help eliminate this problem. Try buying a dog or puppy from a local breeder; one that you are familiar with, or know exactly where the dog came from. This problem can also be resolved by adopting a puppy or dog from a Humane Society. This way, we wouldn’t have as many doge in the Humane Society and they would have a loving family that they can belong to. The next tome someone sees a dog in a pet store, just think about how long they have been there, and where they might have come from.














Works Cited

Herbst, Diane, The Puppy Saver People, 70.13 (2008) Sep.29) Feb. 10, 2010
70(13): 163-167.

Hurley, Jennifer. Animal Rights, San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999.

NewKirk, Indgrid. You Can Save the Animal: 251 Simple ways to stop thoughless cruelty Rocklin: Prima Publishing, 1999.

Miller-Schroeder, Patricia. The ASPCA MN: Weigl Publishers, Inc. 2003.

Oliver, Daniel. Animal Rights The Inhumane Crusades Bellevue: Merrill Press, 1999.

“Puppy Lemon Law States”, know your rights. 2010 24, Feb.2010. www.maltenseonly.com/lemon.html

“Puppy Mill Timeline” ASPCA. 201017, Feb.2010. www.aspca/org/fight-animalcruelty/puppy-mills/puppy-mill-timeline.html

Peters, Sharon L. Puppy Mills Face More Heat USAtodayn.d.: Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.web.11,Feb. 2010

Steffens, Bradley. Animal Rights San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1989.