Breeders v. Puppy Mills
 

I did a (non)thorough search of the forums for this, but...

What exactly IS a puppy mill? Sure, I know some basics, but I want to know everything. What are ALL the reasons that these are bad places? What are the warning signs; how can you tell when you are dealing with one? If someone breeds dogs for profit, when do they go from a breeder to a puppy mill-er? Is it possible to have a lot of dogs and breed them all without being a puppy mill, if you make sure they are not inbred and they are all well cared for?

A puppy mills main focus is money, not the puppies or the parents. The dogs are not fed quality food, overbred, not socialized, kept in cages and don't receive veterinary care. They don't care about the future of the lines and don't track the puppies to see if there are any genetic problems. They'll breed dogs they know little about and further genetic problems while a breeder would take this dog out of the breeding program. When you are just looking at the bottom dollar and don't care about the dogs. A good breeder probably doesn't make much money at all and it wouldn't surprise me if some are in the "red". I guess what I'm trying to say is being a good breeder takes a lot of commitment, time and money. I also think a breeder can turn into a puppy mill when their hearts are no longer in it and they too are just concentrating on the money and getting no joy from it. I think numbers do play some part in it because being human we can only give so many dogs the full attention they need. I have never been a breeder.

That is very helpful, thank you. :)

This just my opinion and what I've seen.

Back in 98 or 99, my husband and I called checking on a Mini Schnazer that we'd seen in a newspaper. We drove for about an hour, ended up at this farm, the "breeder" wasn't home yet when we arrived, we rode on down a little dirt rode and found a barn full of animals, dozens of pens with the most pitiful dogs and pups. We turned around to leave and ran into the breeder...she insisted that we look at her "breeders", they were kept in small windowless buildings, she had about 25 Yorkies on her back porch. I'm guessing that she had at least 250 dogs not counting the pups, Yorkies, Poms, Chihuahuas, Scotties, Schnauzers, Westies and she also had horses. We left and my husband stopped by the police station in that town and told them about how these animals were kept. A few years later she was arrested and all the animals were removed. Puppy Mill!

Another breeder, which some may consider a puppy mill but I didn't, she breeds several different breeds and she has a lot of dogs, probably 30. I went to this womans house, and she loves her dogs, the dogs are kept in a kennel but she has monitors set up in each. The kennels were spotless, one for males, one for females, and one for the pregnant dogs. Not a puppy mill.

Another example, I emailed a Pom breeder here in Kentucky...her website states that all her dogs are her pets and kept in the house with her. She had pictures of her dogs on her website...I stopped counting after 60 dogs there were lots more! I just can't imagine that she keeps all those dogs in her home. So, in my opinion she was a fancy AKC puppy mill :eek:

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/puppymil.html

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/kgaeding...picsmills.html

You can learn all about Mills by searching the net using key words...PUPPY MILL....

There is a wealth of information out there and most all of it would make you sick to read...be warned...they can be VERY graphic and make you want to cry.

Here's some to start you off....http://www.stoppuppymills.org/

http://www.prisonersofgreed.org/

ALSO...Please know MOST Pet Stores buy all their puppies from these Mills. This is why you see so many posts saying DO NOT BUY FROM PET STORES..

good luck reading ...it's a huge eye opener

A must read puppy mill poem.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35181

These people who run these puppymills just make me sick to my stomach. I just don't understand how you can treat these beautiful animals as if they were worth nothing. All these dogs want is to give you unconditional love and in return, just to be fed properly and given a warm bed to sleep in.

Yep, not too much to ask. :(