What is a puppy mill?
 

Alright so I am doing a research paper for my vet tech class on puppy mills and could use some help.

I know what a puppy mill is and what it entails. I'm looking for some good sources to use for my paper (books, websites, videos) and perhaps any personal stories if you would like to share.

What are my chances of being able to go into a pet store and track a puppy to a puppy mill? It's been a long time since I've stepped foot into a pet store that sells puppies so I'm not sure on the protocol of them showing you the puppy's paperwork?

There are 2 pet stores nearby that sell puppies. I was wondering if I went in as a customer acting seriously interested in a puppy, would I be able to see the puppy's registration and could I track them back to a puppy mill by looking up the breeder on the registration.
I would really love to discourage or shut down the one pet store close by because their pups aren't taken care of very good and I just cringe and hate seeing them like that all the time.

Also anyone ever been to a dog auction? They have them around here but I've never been to one. I heard they are suppose to be pretty bad. They seem to be on the hush hush too so how would I get into one? Are there any chances of me being able to record one secretly?

I picked this topic because I really feel strongly about it and would love to see all these horrible places shut down. I live in a town filled with puppy mills but I've never been to one and probably couldn't get to one because they probably hide it pretty good. But I see the many adds in the paper that you can tell are either brokers (got a lot of those too) or from puppy mills.

Anyways I looking for as much info on the subject as possible and any stories or angles I can add to it.

Any help is appreciated!! I'm really wanting to do the auction thing and try to trace a puppy back to a puppy mill if either of those are possible.

Go there pretend to be interested buyer, ask to see proof of 'papers' on a potential puppy note the breeders name and kennel name anything else you can get from the papers...I traced my pound dumpee back to his pup mill and the breeder and the company that brokered all her sales because the genuises microchip the pup and register them in their name...so when they dumped him and another designer reject at the pound they just scanned their chi-noted another one of these dogs (they just claim the new owners dumped the dogs they protect clients blah bs blah)...anywho...here's some links.

Minina Hates Puppy Mills | Facebook
Above will link you to various groups who educate and advocate.

SPCA International: Fighting Animal Cruelty

Puppy Mills : The Humane Society of the United States

Badger Kennel Club, Inc.-- About Puppy Mills

Puppy Mills: Frequently Asked Questions : The Humane Society of the United States

Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project, Inc.: Identifying a Quality Breeder

How to Identify a Puppy Mill over the phone

Is there a list of puppy mills somewhere on the internet? - Yahoo! Answers
Above you can't use for a research paper if APA formatting is required I forget if it passed MLA anyways it's just a quality answer you could read and NOT plagiarizer but paraphrase...

No Puppy Mills Canada

Pet store chain linked to puppy mills - Health - Pet health - msnbc.com

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publicatio...al_dealers.pdf

USDA - APHIS - Newsroom

USDA - APHIS - Newsroom
Best was saved for last...
Good Luck!

Double post darn it...

Puppymills - commercial dog kennels and the USDA
Best site here.
Darn it double copy double post...I need to go back to sleep geez

I can't give you much info but wanted to say, good for you! I hope you will share your research and final product here as I am so interested in hearing all you learn.

I am in shock really to hear that we have puppy auctions in the states! :eek: I knew they had them in Japan and found out the hard way while I was there years ago but never imagined that they were in the states as well. :mad:
I was younger then and not too bright as these things went. I walked by a pet shop with a window on the street and had no intentions of going inside but I saw the tiniest little Maltese and he looked so sad that I had to go in and see him. I went in and asked to hold him and he was just sad and I could hear his chest rattling. I couldn't bear to leave him and walked outside and asked my husband to bring me the money, 500 and something Yen. The shop owner could speak very little English and me very little Japanese so I handed over the money with no info really and out the door we went. That was on a Friday late afternoon. First thing Monday morning I had him at the vet and was told his chest rattling was far more sinister than just a respiratory problem. He had a congenital heart defect and would not live long. :mad: We went about the task of almost daily vet visits and giving him tons of medicines and had a Japanese friend of mine call the shop owner. He said bring him back and I will give you another. Me: What will you do with this one? My friend says, they will likely just kill him as they will not spend money on vet care. I was told at that time that the puppies all come from "the puppy market" aka puppy auction just the same as the stores, restaurants and fish stands go to every morning to stock up. I was told the puppies are taken VERY young, auctioned off for next to nothing and then sold in the shops for high dollar. They are not given shots or any other care, if they get sick they are killed and replaced.
I told him I will keep Sam until his time is up and care for him and bring him a death cert from my vet at that time. Little Sammy only lived one week after that and died a painful sudden death. It was a horrible experience for my whole family but I am still thankful that he did have one week out of that place and knew a little bit of love before he went.

Sorry that was so long but wanted to share my only experience with a pet shop puppy and puppy auctions. I know it is in Japan but I am afraid it isn't far from what is happening in the states as well.

I will be watching for your updates. :)

Thanks for the info, it is very helpful!! I saw where one site tells you how to put in motion to shut down the pet store. I would love to do that but don't have the spare time right now but what a wonderful idea. The one pet store has such great unique stuff and great grooming service but they need to stop selling puppies. I would like to get pictures of a puppy mill but I know that is unlikely, I just would love nothing more than to expose them. And you can tell they are a puppy mill just by how many breeds they have but you are only allowed to see the puppies in the house.



I am so sorry for your loss and that you had to go through that. That puppy had more love in that one week you had him then he probably ever got in his life. Thank you for sharing your story with me. It helps as it is good information to know that even in Japan they have puppy mills. Is this as common as it is in the United States? Do you know if they have any laws against it in Japan?

I picked up a book that is about a puppy mill survivor, it is called "Saving Gracie." The one thing I was a little surprised to learn was that a top show breeder ran a puppy mill. His dogs were top of the line and of course appeared to be beautifully groomed and well mannered at the shows but at home he had hundreds. You just never know who is running a puppy mill unless you see the premises yourself.

I dont really have anything to add, but I just wanted to say good for you for trying to expose the puppy mill industry.

I wish you good luck and hope to see the paper when completed! :)

I think it's more common there than in the US. :( It doesn't seem they really have any laws against it and there are literally pet shops full of puppies on every street corner. The puppy auctions seem to be common knowledge and not really hidden at all though I never went to any while there. I think if I had wanted to they would have been as easy to find as the fish auction.

Not related really to puppy mills directly but another thing I found out about Japan that was just sick was they have something there (I can't remember now what they were called exactly) but they were basically pet drop boxes. In reading about them it sounded like an over sized mail box where you could drop your pet in if you didn't want it anymore. It's their attempt to keep down the stray animal population. Every so often they would come by and empty them. The dogs and cats could be in there for days in the sweltering heat before they came to "empty" it. I think they were in the more rural areas or well out of the way as in 7 years I never saw one that recognized to be one. I was hopeful it was something they had moved away from. I suppose though you could say they are related to puppy mills because there would be far too many dogs and they are easily replaced at any street corner due to puppy mills.

Not sure if your interested in much outside of the US but here is an article I found while looking for info on the drop boxes.

WARNING: While not too graphic it does show photos of dogs in a gas cell.

Dark side of Japan’s pet boom | Photographers Blog

You can go to this link to find out where a puppy originated, once you have the right information:

Free Puppy Report

That is just horrible!! It totally relates to puppy mills because there is such an over population of dogs. If a reputable breeder was breeding they would be screening potential homes and the chances of the dogs ending up abandoned are less likely.
Do you know how I could check to see if there are any laws in Japan for puppy mills or whether anything is being done about it?

Thanks for the info!!

Thank you so much for this!! I plan to go next week. I'm just worried they won't show me the paperwork because I know the one pet store is pretty strict in their ways of concealment.

I did a speech in my Oral Speech class two semesters ago in college about puppy mills. It was my BEST speech and the teacher gave me an A+. I think it was because I knew what I was talking about and was so passionate about it.

If I can find some of the things I used, I'll post them, it's been so long and all my bookmarks got deleted so I may not have them anymore. I had a powerpoint to go along with it too.

Good luck!

I'm bumping this up. I'm almost done with it.
I've actually learned a couple things about puppy mills that I didn't know such as the government loaned the Hunte Corporation (biggest puppy mill provider) almost a million dollars!! It makes me sick that we gave that much money and more to them. It is so sad what this country has come to. Where all that matters is money and greed. We've become so greedy, is it any wonder why the nation has so many problems.

Anyways I can't seem to find any numbers. Am I missing something? I'm looking for an estimate of either how many USDA breeders there are or about how many puppy mills there are. I'm not finding that info but I need it. All is see is just the mention of thousands but that isn't very specific.

Anyone know the numbers or where I can find them?

Bump again just to say I'm already flustered with corporate welfare-but corporate welfare for a puppy mill!? Seriously disgusting!