What is a puppy mill? I believe that a puppy mill is a mass producer of puppies that is in it for the profit and nothing else. I believe that anyone who sell’s or would be willing to sell to a pet store is a puppy mill. I am against buying animals from any pet store. If there is no demand there will be no supply. When animals are bought from pet store, this creates a demand; the pet stores then buy from puppy mills to meet that demand. Check out your local shelters and rescues first. Reputable breeders will not sell to pet stores. Puppy mills can range in size and only care about selling puppies as fast as they can. They will brag about how much money they will make or have made, they don’t want anything to do with the animal once they have sold it and don’t care who they sell it to. A puppy mill does not care about the betterment of any breed and may inbreed their animals and or cross breed them. In some puppy mills the adults, especially the females must endure years of torment living in small wire cages, their feet never touching the ground, never receiving medical care and being killed or euthanized when they become too sick to produce puppies. These poor animals may not have names as they are considered an item rather than a living, feeling creature.
Before adopting or buying any pet be sure to research it and find out if it is the correct pet for you and your family. If you are looking for a laid back dog don’t get a hyper dog because it’s a cute puppy. Don’t over look the adult dogs either, they may have already passed the puppy stages like chewing and some may already be housebroken. Just because a dog is at a shelter does not mean something is wrong with it. Many of the animals there are owner surrenders because they are moving and either don’t have time to look for a home or just don’t care enough to look or want to get rid of what they have so they can get another puppy. Many are taken to the shelter because the wrong type of dog was bought for the family: “It became too energetic for us”;”We wanted something more laid back.” I’ve seen a lot of pure bred dogs at the shelter for this very reason. Another reason is he got so big, we didn’t know he would get that big. Again, do research before you buy a dog or puppy. A puppy mill selling a dog is not very likely to give you all the down sides just before you buy the dog. This is another reason to go with an adult, you can see how big he is.
You should also ask yourself if you can afford this animal. Medical care may be required from time to time to keep them healthy. They require shelter if staying outside. A 3 sided box or tied to a car is not shelter. Food and water is a must! Ask yourself if you would be warm enough if you stayed in its house. A dog can live 10 plus years depending on the breed or breeds. This is a long time commitment, not a throw away item like a pair of shoes you no longer want to keep. Have your pet spayed or neuter so you don’t have unwanted puppies. Even if you plan to find homes for them you are taking possible homes from puppies and dogs at shelters that can be euthanized if they don’t get adopted.
“Would you want to be treated the same way you treat your dog if your positions where reversed?"~John