Puppy mills frequently house dogs in shockingly poor conditions, particularly for the "breeding stock" animals who are caged and continually bred for years, without human companionship, and then killed, abandoned or sold to another "miller" after their fertility wanes. These adult dogs are bred repeatedly to produce litter after litter—without hope of ever becoming part of a family. The result is hundreds of thousands of puppies churned out each year for sale at pet stores, over the Internet, and through newspaper ads. This practice will end only when people stop buying these puppy mill puppies.

If you want a dog in your life, please don't buy a puppy mill puppy. Pet store clerks and other sellers will never admit their dogs come from puppy mills. How do you separate fact from fiction? The facts:

Pet stores cater to impulsive buyers and consumers seeking convenient transactions.These stores don't interview prospective buyers to ensure responsible, lifelong homes for the pets they sell, and the stores may be staffed by employees with limited knowledge about pets and pet care.

A "USDA-inspected" breeder does not mean a "good" breeder. Be wary of claims by pet store staff that they sell animals only from breeders who are "USDA-inspected." The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) enforces the federal law called the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), which regulates commercial breeding operations. But the act doesn't require all commercial breeders to be licensed, and the USDA establishes only minimum-care standards in enforcing this law. Breeders are required to provide food, water, and shelter—but not love, socialization, or freedom from confining cages. Many USDA-licensed and inspected puppy mills operate under squalid conditions with known violations of the AWA.

Many disreputable "breeders" sell their dogs directly to the public over the Internet and through newspaper ads. They often sell several breeds of dogs, but may advertise each breed in a separate place and not in one large advertisement or website. These breeders are not required to be inspected by any federal agency and, in many states, are not inspected at all.

Reputable breeders care where their puppies go and interview hopeful adopters. They don't ever sell through pet stores or to families they haven't thoroughly checked out.

Purebred "papers" do not guarantee the quality of the breeder or the dog. Even the American Kennel Club (AKC) readily admits that it "cannot guarantee the quality or health of dogs in its registry."

Puppy mill puppies often have medical problems. These problems can lead to veterinary bills in the thousands of dollars. But pet retailers count on the bond between families and their new puppies being so strong that the puppies won't be returned. And guarantees are often so difficult to comply with that they are virtually useless. In addition, poor breeding and socialization practices at many puppy mills can lead to behavioral problems throughout the puppies' lives. In the event your new puppy does experience medical problems, file a Pet Seller Complaint Form.

Please don't buy from a pet store, and be very wary of websites and newspaper ads. Above all, don't ever buy a dog if you can't physically visit every area of the home or breeding facility where the dogs are kept. Puppy mills will continue to operate until people stop buying their dogs. We urge you to visit your local shelter, where you are likely to find dozens of healthy, well-socialized puppies and adult dogs—including purebreds—just waiting for that special home—yours.

Source:  HSUS

 

If you feel you have been a victiim of a puppy mill, or a bad breeder, the HSUS has provided a resource to file a complaint.

Pet store and puppy mill laws across the nation.

 

 

"All creatures are created from the same paternal heartbeat of God. Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them wherever they require it. If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men". -St. Francis of Assisi

The Unnecessary Death of a Pet Store Puppy

I have always been an animal lover. But like most people, I was uneducated regarding the reality of pet stores, puppy mills, and animal cruelty. I understood it occurred but never knew the connection between a puppy mill and a pet store.  My thinking changed when I had the opportunity to become an Animal Protection Inspector for the Georgia Department of Agriculture.  To say I was happy with this employment position,  would be an understatement. I finally had the chance, I thought, to actually help the animals.   But after eight months, I realized I couldn't have been more wrong in my assumption.  

A pet store, located in Cumming, Ga,  was one of our "problem establishments", my supervisor said.  He would use this name to refer to licensees that were continuously receiving complaints due to the condition of their establishment, and/or the way they housed their animals, selling sick puppies, etc.  A 'problem establishment' meant the Doa spent alot of time handling complaints against the establishment.  This pet store received enough complaints over the years that my supervisor had their paperwork filed in two manila file folders in the state car.    

During one of my visits following up on a complaint,   I noticed a chihuahua puppy, in a cage, that appeared to be sick.   I questioned the pet store owners about his health and they told me the puppy was running around playing 'right before' I arrived.   

Later that week, on a follow up inspection at this establishment, I observed this same puppy, still in the cage for sale, to be in worse condition than he was before, with vomit in his cage.  I pointed this out to the store owner.  The owner told me that the puppy was playing, and running around earlier, and it was probably just an upset stomach.  I asked the store owner whether the puppy was receiving any medical care, and he told me that he was giving him molasses and vitamin supplements from a squeeze tube. He went on to tell me that chihuahuas are usually in poor health and it was nothing to worry about.    

Since I had observed this puppy, on two separate occasions to be in this condition,  I phoned my supervisor and relayed the information to him.   My supervisor asked me if the pet store owner was treating the puppy.  I told him about the pet store owner saying he was giving him molasses and vitamin supplements.  My supervisor told me that the molasses and supplements would be considered 'treatment, and as long as the pet store owner was 'treating' the puppy, there was nothing we could do.  He said the only way we could intervene would be if the pet store owner wasn't "treating" him.  I told my supervisor that the molasses and vitamin supplements were not a 'medical' treatment, nor "adequate medical care".   He said the way the animal law was worded it did not fully describe 'adequate medical care'.

A week or so later, on one of my off days, I stopped in this store with my mother, to check on the sick puppy. After seeing that the puppy was not in his cage out front, I asked the store owners who said that the puppy hadn’t been feeling well and they had taken it to the back. I asked to see it so she went to the back and brought him out. I'm sure my mouth dropped when I first saw the puppy. He was limp in her arms and appeared, to me, to be in the process of dying.

I asked them if they were going to take him to a vet and they said no. I then offered to take the puppy to the vet, myself, pay for his treatment, and then bring him back to the store. Both the pet store owner and his wife said no. They told me that they might take him to their personal vet if his condition didn't improve.  I asked if this was the same vet who missed the diagnosis on another sick puppy from a previous complaint.  The pet store owner's daughter, who was present during this conversation, began raising her voice towards me, accusing me of defaming their vet.  Her mother, who was present,  apologized to me for her daughter's outburst. I told her mother that it wasn't her fault, and I departed the pet store. 

After getting back in my car, I  phoned my supervisor and told him that it appeared, to me, that the puppy was in the process of dying. And that the owners had removed him from his cage and taken him out of his cage and into their back office.   My supervisor said the same thing as he did before, that as long as the pet store owner was 'treating' the puppy, we couldn’t do anything. He  again repeated how the way the law was worded, it didn't fully describe adequate medical care. 

I was absolutely phucking livid.  I hung up on my supervisor, that's how angry I was.  All I could think was that here I was, an Georgia Department of Agriculture Animal Protection Inspector, someone in their position for the very purpose of protecting animals in this situation, and I was being told that there was nothing we could do to help this puppy.   

GEORGIA ANIMAL CRUELTY CRIMINAL PROVISIONS

16-12-4. Cruelty to animals.

(b) A person commits the offense of cruelty to animals when he or she causes death or unjustifiable physical pain or suffering to any animal by an act, an omission, or willful neglect. Any person convicted of a violation of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor;

I was called down to the Atlanta office shortly after that incident, and because of this incident.  During this meeting the Animal Protection Director verbally reprimanded me for "harassing" this licensee, and for "defaming" their vet in their pet store. She had already typed, and printed out, a Letter of Reprimand for me to sign, and told me it was no big deal, but to appease the vet and licensees, I needed to sign it. 

Sitting in her office,  I remember thinking how totally f'd up it was - an Animal Protection Director reprimanding an Inspector for attempting to do exactly what this department's job responsibilities required of her.  Although the meeting ended with her deciding against my signing the paper, I remember thinking how, once again, she was so quick to side with the licensee instead of her employee.     

Apparently, this 'daughter' told the vet that I was in their pet store "defaming" her and blah blah blah.  The vet had written a letter to the AP Director complaining about my "defaming" her. And that is why I was called into Mary's office.  I asked Mary  if she would care to hear "my" side of what actually happened, before I signed anything. I remember thinking to myself it seemed strange that she would have that letter of reprimand already typed out before she had even asked me what happened. 

But she did listen as I told her what had happened, and that the only thing I said was "Is that the vet who missed the diagnosis on the other puppy?", trying to establish which vet their were referring to.   There had been a previous complaint I worked at this pet store in which a vet had examined one of their puppies, who later was diagnosed with a disease, and that particular vet had not diagnosed this.  As I told Mary, I wasn't "defaming" anyone, but trying to figure out which vet they were referring to. I told Mary I would stop in the vet's office to speak with the vet and explain to her what had actually happened. 

The Director ended our meeting reminding me that I was a state employee and I needed to remember that even on my off days,  I couldn't voice my personal opinion to a licensee.    A few days later,  I stopped in the pet store owner's vet office, to clear up what the pet store owner’s daughter had created, and that is when I learned that the chihuahua puppy had died.   Their vet told me that the pet store owner did bring the puppy in, but that he had pneumonia and couldn't be saved.     

Ah, yes, Ms. Director, let's allow a sick puppy to suffer from a treatable disease for weeks, and eventually die, but God forbid, let's not hurt a licensee's feelings.   

This pet store has changed ownership, twice I believe, since this time, and I guess that owner eventually decided to close that business.  Currently, this building is a Title Max store, and no animals are housed there any longer, thank God.   I am extremely happy the original pet store owners, and their daughter, are not there any longer. 

I had, also, written a report on this daughter's admission of breeding and selling puppies at her residence, providing her with written notice that she must be licensed with the Animal Protection Division if she was going to operate as a Pet Dealer.  I also advised my supervisor of this person currently operating without a license.  Whether he followed up,  I don't know. 

I have never forgotten that little puppy - and I won't ever forget the sick feeling it gave me to know that I, as a Department of Agriculture Animal Protection Inspector, supposedly in my position to protect animals, could do nothing to help him.      

And on a personal note to Mary Greene, Animal Protection Director,  it will be a very cold day in hell when the Department of Agriculture, or any government entity, tells me I can't speak my opinion on my own time.

*** After leaving the Doa, I was asked, and happily attended, by the new owners of this pet store, to attend a court hearing to testify in regards to the "conditions" of the daughter's grooming area which was previously located in the back of the pet store.  At one point, this 'daughter' asked me, while on the stand, if I was an "expert in dirt".  I replied "No, but I know what filth looks like when I see it".  Touche', my dear, touche'.