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In addition to the PET STORE PUPPIES – Most all puppies purchased online come from puppy mills with conditions like this or even worse.  Don’t be fooled by websites!

If you can’t visit the puppy first, you may very well be getting one from a puppy mill. There are lots of great dogs out there. Know where yours is coming from.
Don’t Shop – Adopt locally! For every puppy that is purchased…one will die in a shelter…

What is a Puppy Mill?

Puppy mills are dog breeding facilities that put profits ahead of the welfare of dogs. They don’t care about filth, disease, socialization, overcrowding. They don’t care about inbreeding or genetic defects. They don’t care about who adopts the puppies or about wearing out the breeding moms. They just care about making money. It’s a sad truth, but it’s the truth.

View the reality of puppy mill conditions . (Warning: this site has graphic photos and a video that some people may find disturbing.)

And conditions only get worse for the moms, who are forced to breed over and over again with little, if any, veterinary care. Once they can no longer reproduce, they are usually killed. Often, this is at the young age of four years old.

Don’t be fooled by websites. If you can’t visit the puppy first, you may very well be getting one from a puppy mill. There are lots of great dogs out there. Know where yours is coming from.

What’s the best way to prevent getting a puppy mill dog?

The best way to stop the cycle of cruelty in puppy mills is to adopt from a local shelter instead.

And if you choose to purchase one instead, make sure it is coming from a reputable breeder.

How can I tell if a dog online comes from a puppy mill or a reputable breeder?

Sometimes it can be pretty hard to determine whether you’re getting a puppy mill dog, which is why we always recommend adopting from a shelter or rescue instead. That being said, here are some sure-fire puppy mill signs:

1. No purchase criteria: Reputable breeders may do an extensive interview with potential applicants and may only let people that have been  recommended by prior buyers have an opportunity to get a dog from their litter.  They are very choosy about selecting the right families for their puppies. Puppy mills don’t care who you are as long as you don’t ask too many questions and have cash or credit card available.
2. Advertising: Reputable breeders generally don’t need to advertise. They find their adopting families by referrals. Puppy mills place lots of ads online, often times under the guise of being reputable. Some online postings will go so far as to use the term “adopt” instead of buy.
3. Reluctance for an inspection: Reputable breeders will gladly let you meet the parents of the dog, see where the puppies were born and how they’ve been treated since birth. Puppy mills generally will not let you see any of the living conditions.

What can I do to show others that adopting is the way to go?

We don’t encourage criticizing the purchase of purebred dogs. Making people feel guilty for their decision doesn’t help the cause. The best thing to do is to inform others of some of the facts. Here are just a few:

• Many people are fooled by the sophisticated advertising techniques of online purebred “breeders” who are in fact puppy mill owners.
• Most people know that puppy mill puppies are sold in pet stores, but didn’t know they are also sold online.
• As targeted online advertising from these sellers becomes more sophisticated and pet stores continue to go out of business, online puppy sales will continue to increase.
• It is estimated that up to 45% of all puppies are acquired online – and virtually all of these dogs are from puppy mills.
• About 1 million breeding female dogs are confined in puppy mills throughout the country.
• About 4 million dogs are bred each year, and about 4 million cats and dogs are euthanized. So for each dog bought from a puppy mill, that’s one less dog saved from euthanasia.
• Approximately 25% of dogs in shelters are purebreds, so purchasing a dog is not the only way to get a purebred dog.

Encourage the adoption of pets through legitimate shelters and rescue organizations. If a suitable pet cannot be adopted then we recommend obtaining a pet only through a compassionate, responsible breeder.

• Overview
• Ways to Ensure You Are Dealing with a Responsible Breeder
• Warning Signs You Are Not Dealing with a Responsible Breeder
• Purchasing Pets Online
• Sources
• How Much is that Doggie on My Browser - A new report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), reveals that the Internet can be a tool for exploiting dogs.