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Puppy mills are indoor/outdoor dog breeding facilities that operate solely for profit and breed their animals in substandard conditions. Puppy Mills can operate anywhere (from a small room in an apartment or house to remote farmland) and can range from housing 2 - 2000+ dogs.
Please read PUPPY MILL FACT SHEET from HSI Canada.
Puppy Mills and irresponsible Breeders use avenues such as brokers, pet stores, newspaper ads and Internet sites to sell their puppies.
Dogs or "breeding stock" found in puppy mills are continually bred for years until their frail bodies are too weak to produce any more puppies. Sadly many of these dogs are forced to live their entire lives enduring inhumane conditions such as dirty overcrowded, indoor/outdoor cages and pens. These crude facilities exist with the sole purpose of maintaining minimum expenses for maximum profits. Dogs receive little, to no, veterinary care and often suffer from preventable diseases and painful disfigurements. After their fertility wanes, breeding stock are commonly killed, abandoned or sold to another mill. The annual result of all of this breeding is hundreds of thousands of puppies, many with behaviour and/or health problems.
The bottom line is a puppy mill is strictly a money making business, with the facility designed purely for profit, not for the well-being of the dogs. When we buy a pet or even shop at a store that sells puppies, we contribute to a heartless underground industry that forces dogs to spend their entire lives in cages; constantly breeding to support consumer demand for puppies. Please watch this video to witness the unbearable existence that breeding dogs face each and every day of their lives.
The crime the pet store commits is that they mask the illusion of the puppy mill horror with cute pictures and murals on the walls surrounding the pups that are behind glass enclosures. They are ashamed of the truth of their business and try to hide the lie that their pups are actually from poor breeders/puppy mills who simply breed for quantity instead of quality.
*Pets of Bel Air Pet Store* (undercover investigation)
As consumers we do have the power to end this vicious cycle of terror and abuse. The puppy mill business has absolutely no regard for the health and welfare of it's animals and the continual production of puppies is dependant solely upon supply and demand. One sure way to affect the puppy mill industry is by eliminating one of their largest and easiest avenues for selling their puppies and that is to not buy a puppy through a pet store.
When the demand ends, the pet stores would no longer purchase or sell puppies which would dramatically effect the success and existence of the Puppy Mill industry. Be a part of the solution; together we can Shut Down Puppy Mills!!
If you are thinking of adding a new forever friend to your family please do so responsibly (please check out our 
Responsible Adoption Resources)