Puppy mills facts and figures

If you’re thinking of getting a puppy from a puppy mill or a pet store, you should consider these puppy mills facts and figures before you do so.

Hopefully they will change your mind.

Don’t be fooled by the professional and enticing websites of some of these puppy mills, either.

They may look great in your web browser, but they never reveal what the mills are actually really like.

Here’s some facts and figures to show the truth behind puppy mills.

If you're thinking of getting a puppy from a puppy mill, you should consider these puppy mills facts and figures first.

Puppy mills facts and figures

  • Puppy mills are intensive dog breeding farms that focus purely on making as much money as possible without any concern for the health and welfare of the dogs. It’s a fact that puppy mills are designed to maximize profit at the expense of the poor dogs.
  • Dogs are kept in horrible, dirty conditions in wire cages leading to a life of misery. The cages are small and cramped and the dogs get very little exercise and play time.
  • The female dogs are bred relentlessly, basically as much as they can be; they’re given no rest or recovery time between litters. Despite being almost constantly pregnant, they get very little veterinary care and are often malnourished. And once they’ve been bred so much that they can no longer produce puppies, they’re very often just killed. This usually happens once they reach the age of about 5 – 7.
  • There are about a million breeder dogs in puppy mills in the U.S.
  • Estimates suggest that more than 2 million puppies from puppy farms are sold each year in the U.S. alone. The puppies are taken from their mothers between the age of about 4 – 8 weeks and are sent to brokers who then send them to pet shops. The puppies aren’t usually provided with enough food and water, not to mention shelter or ventilation, during their transportation and many of them die during it.
  • 99% of the puppies for sale in pet shops come from puppy mills and nearly half of these will have some sort of health problems. This is why I recommend you don’t buy a puppy from a pet store.
  • It’s also estimated that more than a million puppies are killed in shelters each year because homes can’t be found for them, and the shelters are full to capacity.
  • The water that’s given to the dogs is often dirty and contaminated, as is the food, leading to health problems for the dogs.
  • These health problems are often not treated as the dogs aren’t provided with veterinary care. Dogs in puppy mills are often found with rotting teeth, open sores on their bodies, ear infections, sore and bleeding paws, and many other health issues.
  • Dogs in puppy mills are usually kept outside and are not given any sort of protection from the elements. So there’s no air conditioning in hot weather, and no protection from the cold and snow in colder weather.
  • The dogs are often left to live in their own urine and excrement because it’s not cleared up in many mills.
  • There are thought to be more than 10,000 puppy mills in the U.S. alone. Less then 3,000 of these are actually regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And even those puppy mills that are regulated and found to be in breach of standards are usually allowed to stay open while they fix the problems.
  • Dogs in mills are often just left with their original collars on, meaning they become too tight as the dogs grow.
  • When puppy mills euthanize dogs, it’s not usually done humanely. Common methods used include drowning and/or shooting.

Summary

If you were thinking of getting a puppy, hopefully these puppy mills facts will make sure you get one from a reputable breeder or a shelter rather than from a puppy mill.

It’s important to note that many of these puppy mills have websites with images showing beautiful dogs in ideal conditions. Don’t be fooled by these pictures, they’re nothing like reality. If you’re tempted by a website, think of the above puppy mills facts and figures and then go elsewhere.

Source: The Humane Society Of The United States – Puppy Mill Research

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