Join The Fight To Stop Puppy Mills.

When you buy your puppy in a pet store, probably most of you don't question where the cute little fluffball came from. You might assume that the pet store buys from breeders or maybe a local family had a surprise litter.

Pet store puppies are rarely bred by reputable breeders, they are sourced from puppy mills. Most people won't have heard of a puppy mill. Soon, you will probably wish you hadn't.

A complex of small cages and run with the express purpose of breeding dogs on a rapid cycle. Scores and scores of puppies are bred in this way to end up in the window of pet shops across the continent. The lucky ones, that is, who survive.

Poor health, temperament issues and hereditary diseases are often the legacy of being bred at a Puppy Mill. Socialization rarely occurs as the puppies are taken away from their mother early, thus depriving them of these skills.

Poor health is contributed to by a lack of decent food and water, terrible cramped living conditions and overcrowding; and there is little chance for them to experience positive human interaction before being transported to the pet store

Usually when breeding dogs, breeders will study the blood line of each of the parents to check whether there is any risk of inherited diseases, so that they breed a healthy puppy. Medical and vaccination programs will also be adhered to, until the time they are released to a loving home.

You can check when buying a pedigree puppy if they come from a respectable breeder, by first visiting the premises, but also they should give you a certificate of bloodline. You should also get a guarantee, check with the breeder about the fine details; but you should not ever have to "exchange" the puppy.

There is no such ethos at the Puppy Mill, where money talks fast and loud. They breed dogs regardless of health, disease or family history, which is a recipe for disaster.

Breeding dogs are kept in miserable conditions, without proper attention to their diet, health or exercise regime, and forced to breed every time they are in season, physically exhausting the dog, and leading to weaker puppies. At the end of their breeding life, the dogs are often killed or abandoned.

Although there are laws Puppy mills still flourish. The only way to stop them is to remove the demand by refusing to buy a puppy unless you know its origins, or if it is from an animal shelter.

Don't buy a puppy mill puppy just to save him. You will just create the market for more puppies to be produced. The best thing to do if you see puppies being bred or kept in inappropriate conditions is to inform the appropriate animal protection authorities who will be able to take action.

Puppy mills, tragic and inhumane as they are, are a problem caused by the consumer, so use your spending power wisely and put an end to these hellish establishments.

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