What Are Puppy Mills?

While many people may be familiar with the term "puppy mill," the industry and government regulators dismiss the horrors associated with them. Puppy mills are facilities which are licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture that mass-produce puppies for pet stores throughout the country and to emerging foreign markets. At present a USDA license is required for anyone with four or more "intact bitches" although federal officials are considering raising the number of animals held to as many as 60 without a USDA license. Puppies are subjected to horrific conditions from birth and during transport from breeder, to broker, to pet stores hundreds of miles from where their life began. The breeding "stock" suffers a constant misery living in small cramped cages often soiled with their own excrement.

A few Midwestern states are home to the largest concentration of puppy mills in the country, and Missouri is by far the worst offender. Many of the operators of these puppy mills hold other jobs and utilize mass-production methods to produce what they and government regulators consider an agricultural commodity. In a typical puppy mill, the dogs are fed in the morning and again in the evening. Cleaning, sanitation and general maintenance are addressed as time permits, usually during the weekend, if at all. Most of these facilities are in rural areas and are family operated to supplement a modest family income. In previous years USDA inspectors conducted at least one unannounced inspection per year at these facilities, however, federal authorities have recently adopted a risk based inspection program.

Operators are given the opportunity to correct non-compliant items (technically violations of federal law) that are disclosed during the inspection. If upon reinspection the violation or "non-compliant item" is not corrected, enforcement action should be taken in an effort to improve conditions at the facility. Inspection policies have deteriorated to such an extent that operators of these facilities can operate indefinitely with repeated disclosure of "non-compliant items." The emphasis has dramatically shifted from the "welfare" of the animals to commerce. A factor that no doubt has contributed to this phenomenon is the decline in small family farms.

Humane organizations, animal advocacy groups and consumers are outraged at USDA's lax enforcement of federal regulations as they have prompted substantial growth in the number of puppy mills over the past several years. To avoid the stigma of being called puppy mill facilities, many breeders invested thousands of dollars in facilities that surpassed USDA's minimum standards. Unfortunately lax enforcement policies have allowed sub- or minimum-standard operators to compete and ultimately diminish profit margins for the better facility operators, forcing many of them out of business.

Today the average puppy mill will house between 75 and 150 breeding animals, most housed in hutch-style cages with wire floors. The fecal matter drops to the ground below and waste accumulates beneath the cage, providing a haven for flies and other vermin. Even with fairly prompt removal of waste, the ground becomes permeated with stench as the urine cannot be raked away. Dogs housed in indoor facilities endure an equally deplorable existence with ammonia vapors and odors permeating poorly ventilated buildings. Rodents, flies and other pests plague the animals almost constantly. Solid surfaces are supposed to protect the legs of puppies; however, as they mature and scout out their surroundings, feet and legs often fall through wire floors. The resulting injuries compound their misery. Their soft coats of fur become soiled with the fecal matter that didn't drop through the cage, adding insult to injury.

At 8 weeks of age puppies are "harvested" and cleaned up for the trip to the broker. They are bathed to clean up feces and odors they have endured during their brief lives in the puppy mill. Pus is wiped from their sad and scared eyes just before they are shoved into whatever is convenient – with any luck an approved shipping container. Some will perish, and others will be rejected by the broker only to be held back for breeding stock. Many others will be killed for their lack of monetary value and some may even be sold for research. The survivors can be seen at your local pet store, but the emotional scars and irresponsible animal husbandry can bring misery into your home instead of anticipated joy.

If you have any compassion at all for the animals bred and raised under these miserable conditions, stay out of pet stores. Each puppy purchased from a pet store serves an industry with no conscience and virtually no enforcement by USDA. Thousands of unwanted animals of all ages and breeds are euthanized at shelters every day. Adopt and spay or neuter a shelter animal or rescued companion animal, and do your part to help end the plight of unseen thousands housed in puppy mills throughout the country.