[News] Puppy Mill Bills Across the Nation - Page 2 - YorkieTalk.com Forums

livingdustmops · 03-01-2009, 02:39 PM

I agree and in fact I think 30 is wwwwwway to many...it would help explain pet overpopulation.

I think many people come on here and post without reading the bills or even understanding them. I don't see how anyone can justify the number of animals that are euthanized (mixed or purebred) every year at our pounds.

Doodlebop · 03-01-2009, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yorkiesmiles

What is wrong with limiting a breeder to 30 adult dogs? This sounds like more than plenty to have a good breeding program. This is an honest question - not trying to stir trouble

30 dogs is enough to have a good breeding program, but that is not really the point. In Illinois they want the maximum to be 20. It is the rights that are being taken away. We start with something like this, supposedly to shut down puppy mills, and then we end up like California with mandatory spay and nueter, no tail docking, or ear cropping, Where does it end? What are we willing to let the government control?

This is supposed to be about puppy mills, This will not stop them. It will make them go further underground. You can put 100 dogs stacked in cages in a basement, meet people at the circle K, and run ads with a prepaid cell phones. Since puppy mills don't register their dogs with the akc, or anyother so called registries, who will control them? Will this bill stop them? The Answer is NO...

It is a violation of civil liberties, that will only affect the people following the rules...

livingdustmops · 03-01-2009, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doodlebop

Since puppy mills don't register their dogs with the akc, or anyother so called registries, who will control them? ...

I guess I have to ask you what is your definition of a puppy mill? AKC does register large volume breeders puppies. There are many registries that will register these dogs.

You can go to the AKC website and type in volume breeders to read their stand.

http://www.akc.org/pdfs/about/specia...VBC_finalA.pdf

http://www.akc.org/pdfs/about/delega...pt02_forum.pdf

American Kennel Club - Testimony of AKC Chairman of the Board Ronald Menaker

American Kennel Club - AKC Chairman Says Recent Pennsylvania Kennel Seizure Illustrates Need for Legislation

High Volume Breeders Committee ...Five Years Later by Gretchen Bernardi
- Terrierman's Daily Dose -

Talk Gwinnett! - AKC's Armageddon Plan for Shelter Dogs?

yorkiesmiles · 03-01-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doodlebop

30 dogs is enough to have a good breeding program, but that is not really the point. In Illinois they want the maximum to be 20. It is the rights that are being taken away. We start with something like this, supposedly to shut down puppy mills, and then we end up like California with mandatory spay and nueter, no tail docking, or ear cropping, Where does it end? What are we willing to let the government control?

This is supposed to be about puppy mills, This will not stop them. It will make them go further underground. You can put 100 dogs stacked in cages in a basement, meet people at the circle K, and run ads with a prepaid cell phones. Since puppy mills don't register their dogs with the akc, or anyother so called registries, who will control them? Will this bill stop them? The Answer is NO...

It is a violation of civil liberties, that will only affect the people following the rules...

But some puppy mills are AKC - and that is in AKC's lap! AKC has not done a good job themselves either. They allow for mills & BYB to continue registering dogs with them. AKC could put a stop to some of this themselves by enacting some new polices.

Granted, it does not all fall at AKC's feet. But AKC needs to step up to the plate also with lobbying for bills that don't hurt a quality breeder. But right now with a foot in each world - why would any legislator listen to them?

What would you propose to stop the puppy mills? Are you saying just turn your back on those dogs & the horrid people running them, just to save the breeder?

Doodlebop · 03-01-2009, 03:56 PM

I think that if a complaint is made on a breeder, or puppy mill, then local authorities should have a right to search the premises, just like if a complaint is made to the akc, they will come and inspect the premises. If the law is being broken because animals are living under cruel conditions, then the law needs to be enforced.

yorkiesmiles · 03-01-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doodlebop

I think that if a complaint is made on a breeder, or puppy mill, then local authorities should have a right to search the premises, just like if a complaint is made to the akc, they will come and inspect the premises. If the law is being broken because animals are living under cruel conditions, then the law needs to be enforced.

So you don't think puppy mills should be shut down?

I have to disagree. These mills do need to be shut down.

I believe breeder organizations & AKC, if they can straighten themselves out & figure out who they really want to be. need to try & fight for the responsible breeder so things do not go to the extremes that you suggest. Yes, that takes time, $ and effort - it's ugly how that works in our country when you have to face these powerful lobbying arms, but breeders can't sit back & cry, they have to help create alternative legislation that will keep themselves and their dogs safe & establish new standards in this country.

Doodlebop · 03-01-2009, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yorkiesmiles

So you don't think puppy mills should be shut down?

I have to disagree. These mills do need to be shut down.

I believe breeder organizations & AKC, if they can straighten themselves out & figure out who they really want to be. need to try & fight for the responsible breeder so things do not go to the extremes that you suggest. Yes, that takes time, $ and effort - it's ugly how that works in our country when you have to face these powerful lobbying arms, but breeders can't sit back & cry, they have to help create alternative legislation that will keep themselves and their dogs safe & establish new standards in this country.

Puppy Mills should be shut down! What makes it a puppy Mill? If you are breeding for champion dogs, how many litters can you have a year and not be considered a puppy mill?

I think that a puppy mill, is a place where the dogs are dirty, uncared for, their health is the last thing the owner thinks about. They only want to breed as much as they can for as long as they can. These places are disgusting and should be shut down.

yoursotino · 03-02-2009, 06:39 PM

I dont want some one tell me how many dogs I can have I only have two breeding females and I am a show breeder. You are so right about Puppy mill I want them shut down. The reason the exsist is because people buy from them. When you go to petstore and purchase a puppy 90 percent of the time it is a puppy mill. You should do your homework ask to see the stud and dam. This bill is a good thing concerning puppymills but most of it is directed to the small breeder and show breeders. Please read the entire bill the draw your conclusion not just the first three paragraphs. I said this before in another post. This bill is not about a certain breed what if you had a litter of labs, or german shepards if they had more then 5 puppies you would be breaking the law if you sold them. I hate puppy mill but they will do just what everyone says just go farther under ground. I feel AKC does a good job and most puppymill dont sell AKC puppies

yorkiekist · 03-02-2009, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doodlebop

30 dogs is enough to have a good breeding program, but that is not really the point. In Illinois they want the maximum to be 20. It is the rights that are being taken away. We start with something like this, supposedly to shut down puppy mills, and then we end up like California with mandatory spay and nueter, no tail docking, or ear cropping, Where does it end? What are we willing to let the government control?

This is supposed to be about puppy mills, This will not stop them. It will make them go further underground. You can put 100 dogs stacked in cages in a basement, meet people at the circle K, and run ads with a prepaid cell phones. Since puppy mills don't register their dogs with the akc, or anyother so called registries, who will control them? Will this bill stop them? The Answer is NO...

It is a violation of civil liberties, that will only affect the people following the rules...

Give the government and inch and they will take a mile!! And the problem will never be solved by governmental control.

yorkiekist · 03-02-2009, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doodlebop

I think that if a complaint is made on a breeder, or puppy mill, then local authorities should have a right to search the premises, just like if a complaint is made to the akc, they will come and inspect the premises. If the law is being broken because animals are living under cruel conditions, then the law needs to be enforced.

Seems like with all the recent puppy mill busts, things are working just fine without all of the badly worded legislation.

yorkiekist · 03-02-2009, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yoursotino

I dont want some one tell me how many dogs I can have I only have two breeding females and I am a show breeder. You are so right about Puppy mill I want them shut down. The reason the exsist is because people buy from them. When you go to petstore and purchase a puppy 90 percent of the time it is a puppy mill. You should do your homework ask to see the stud and dam. This bill is a good thing concerning puppymills but most of it is directed to the small breeder and show breeders. Please read the entire bill the draw your conclusion not just the first three paragraphs. I said this before in another post. This bill is not about a certain breed what if you had a litter of labs, or german shepards if they had more then 5 puppies you would be breaking the law if you sold them. I hate puppy mill but they will do just what everyone says just go farther under ground. I feel AKC does a good job and most puppymill dont sell AKC puppies

good post!!

yorkiekist · 03-02-2009, 07:39 PM

Animal Rights or Human Responsibility

bugsmomma · 03-02-2009, 08:05 PM

Here is the information on the Oklahoma legislation:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...ll-hb1332.html

livingdustmops · 03-03-2009, 10:05 AM

Special Features | Special Features

The numbers ($$$) tell the real story!

The USDA – understaffed and ineffective

The commercial pet trade is regulated (though, many would argue, not closely enough) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS). The USDA is responsible for administering the Animal Welfare Act, which requires breeders, brokers and dealers to provide minimal basic care to their nimals. Anyone who breeds pets for the wholesale trade or sells stock to other breeders must obtain Class A licenses, while brokers and dealers are required to obtain Class B licenses. This does not apply to breeders who sell directly to the public.

The majority of these factory farms are concentrated in Pennsylvania and the Midwest – Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma. Missouri, which has more mills than any other state, is by far the worst – a “black hole of despair,”

Under the Animal Welfare Act, breeders must provide nutritious food, clean water and housing that is kept dry and cleaned of waste. They must also provide adequate veterinary care and observe their animals daily. But the regulations still allow for keeping dogs in cages, albeit with “sufficient space to allow each dog and cat to turn about freely, to stand, sit and lie in a comfortable, normal position, and to walk in a normal manner.”

How big is that? The USDA-APHIS has a formula. Each dog must be provided with a space calculated by dividing the mathematical square length of the dog plus six inches by 144. The dog must also be given just six inches of space above his head. So, a dog who is 40 inches long can be given just 14.69 square feet of space (roughly the size of a bathtub).

Are the regulations enforced? Well, the USDA-APHIS is understaffed and, by most accounts, ineffective. According to USDA spokesman Darby Holladay, between 115 and 120 inspectors enforce the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act. Holladay added that there are 15,000 licensees and registrants under the Animal Welfare Act alone, but he told Best Friends he couldn’t comment on whether or not he thought the agency was understaffed.
Those 120 inspectors are responsible for monitoring not only thousands of breeders, brokers and dealers, but zoos, circuses and research facilities as well.

The USDA levied more than $1.5 million in fines in 2005-06, and the agency’s general counsel listed scores of complaints on alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act. If animals are in extreme danger, the USDA works with local agencies to confiscate the animals. Holladay said, “We do that quite often.”
But although commercial breeders who violate the Animal Welfare Act can receive a civil penalty of up to $3,750 per day per violation, a glance at USDA inspection reports shows that some puppy millers have been able to tally up violation after violation, and still keep operating.

“There’s such a lack of enforcement and so much recidivism,” Wilkins said. “They’re not being watched and regulated.” Fry agrees. “If the USDA were to levy those fines, they would have all the resources they need to regulate that industry.”

Take the case of Gary McDuffee in Morrison County, Minnesota. Despite a five-year history of USDA violations, Morrison County commissioners still issued McDuffee a new conditional-use permit for a facility that could hold up to 500 adult dogs plus any number of puppies. Previous violations included cages that were too small, cages that were deteriorating and contained sharp and dangerous materials, failure to clean animals’ enclosures, failure to label shipped animals as live cargo, and use of expired or outdated drugs or medications.

The McDuffee case drew nationwide attention and put the puppy mill issue back in the headlines. Animal welfare advocates, including those with Fry’s organization, plan to appeal the ruling. Best Friends supporters have contributed $20,000 to help with the appeal.
Holladay says the USDA does try to educate its license holders and bring them into compliance. But Fry says some breeders just aren’t getting it. “You’d think after five years of noncompliance,” he said, “they’d realize educating them wasn’t working.”

Not only is the USDA lax in its regulation of commercial breeding operations, but it has actually poured money into them.
The USDA has loaned the Hunte Corporation, a large Missouri-based dealer and the largest wholesaler of puppies sold in pet shops, more than $4 million in recent years for expansion and upgrades. Hunte, which has grown 35 times its original size since 1991, is involved in the transport and sale of animals to 300 pet stores around the world.

Puppy mills and pet stores depend on each other. It’s estimated that 90 to 98 percent of dogs sold by pet stores come from puppy mills, according to a Best Friends study. The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council estimates that 3,700 of the nation’s 11,500 pet stores are selling dogs from puppy mills – about 300,000 to 400,000 puppies per year.

Only half the dogs bred at puppy mills even make it to the pet shops. The other half die from the mills’ squalid conditions, hypothermia, starvation or the horrors of transport.

AKC
The American Kennel Club name alone conjures up images of the crème de la crème of canines proudly prancing around a show ring with their handlers. Surely they all came from the finest of dog lines, their parents pampered and cared for by their loving owners.

Think again.

“The AKC makes between $20 million and $30 million a year off dog registrations,” Fry said. “A large percentage of that is from puppy mills. It’s a cash cow. Without those registrations coming in, they would take a serious loss in income.”

According to the AKC’s 2006 audit report, the AKC made more than $33 million from registration fees, accounting for almost half of the registry’s $72 million in total revenues that year.

Lisa Peterson, AKC’s director of communications, said the AKC does inspect breeders. She said breeders who produce four to six litters a year are randomly selected for inspection. Breeders who produce seven or more litters a year are inspected every 18 months. If they pass two inspections in a row, they get one inspection cycle off and then go back on the rotation. Peterson said the AKC, which has 14 inspectors, conducted about 5,000 inspections last year. “When our inspectors go in to inspect,” Peterson said, “breeders have to meet our standards of care for dogs.”

The AKC has fined and suspended breeders who use their registry who have been convicted for cruelty to animals (the average penalty is 10 years and a $2,000 fine) or who have failed to comply with the AKC’s Care and Conditions Policy, which usually brings a one-year suspension and a $1,000 fine, according to AKC documents.

Yet the AKC has consistently come out against state legislation that would require the most basic care standards, such as Minnesota’s Senate File 121 and House File 1046, as well as Pennsylvania governor Edward Rendell’s efforts to strengthen that state’s dog laws.

“We oppose any legislation that takes away the right of the owner to determine what’s best for their pets,” Peterson said.

Money – and lots of it – keeps puppy mills in business. Breeders, animal brokers, pet stores, veterinarians and even the American Kennel Club (AKC) make big bucks from all those puppies. In 2006, the AKC registered 870,000 individual dogs and 416,000 litters. At $20 per dog and $25 per litter (plus $2 per puppy), that’s well over $30 million.

Many more articles to read:
Special Features | Special Features
Puppy mill awareness
Special Features | Special Features
How you can help:
Special Features | Special Features

julietimothy · 03-03-2009, 12:17 PM

I love the last post. What people do not understand is many puppy mills are AKC. You see AKC puppies in pet stores all the time and most that would put their puppies in pet stores it is because they don't want people coming to their house where they raise their puppies. They have something to hide!! AKC tries to act as if they are trying to stop puppy mills but they are not. I just reg. a litter of maltese puppies with AKC and they send coupon for my next litter. This would be great up it goes out of date in 17 days. This coupon only are helping save money for the breeders that have litters every other week. So AKC love big time breeders. Lots of money to be made!! I don't think the number of dogs you have makes you a puppy mill, I think it is how they are raised and housed.

03-01-2009, 02:39 PM	#16
livingdustmops Princess Poop A Lot Donating Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 6,728	I agree and in fact I think 30 is wwwwwway to many...it would help explain pet overpopulation. I think many people come on here and post without reading the bills or even understanding them. I don't see how anyone can justify the number of animals that are euthanized (mixed or purebred) every year at our pounds. __________________ Cindy & The Rescued Gang Puppies Are Not Products!

03-02-2009, 06:39 PM	#23
yoursotino No Longer a Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: yorkieville Posts: 254	Say no!!!!!!!! I dont want some one tell me how many dogs I can have I only have two breeding females and I am a show breeder. You are so right about Puppy mill I want them shut down. The reason the exsist is because people buy from them. When you go to petstore and purchase a puppy 90 percent of the time it is a puppy mill. You should do your homework ask to see the stud and dam. This bill is a good thing concerning puppymills but most of it is directed to the small breeder and show breeders. Please read the entire bill the draw your conclusion not just the first three paragraphs. I said this before in another post. This bill is not about a certain breed what if you had a litter of labs, or german shepards if they had more then 5 puppies you would be breaking the law if you sold them. I hate puppy mill but they will do just what everyone says just go farther under ground. I feel AKC does a good job and most puppymill dont sell AKC puppies

03-02-2009, 07:39 PM	#27
yorkiekist YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: HOT, HOT, HOT AZ Posts: 3,150	Heres some food for thought: Animal Rights or Human Responsibility __________________ *BUYCOTT ARIZONA*

03-02-2009, 08:05 PM	#28
bugsmomma Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 92	Here is the information on the Oklahoma legislation: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...ll-hb1332.html __________________ LadybugBellaMistyDaisy MaeWebber Support OKYorkieRescue. org Last edited by bugsmomma; 03-02-2009 at 08:09 PM.

03-03-2009, 10:05 AM	#29
livingdustmops Princess Poop A Lot Donating Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 6,728	Best Friends Helping to End Puppy Mills Special Features \| Special Features The numbers ($$$) tell the real story! The USDA – understaffed and ineffective The commercial pet trade is regulated (though, many would argue, not closely enough) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS). The USDA is responsible for administering the Animal Welfare Act, which requires breeders, brokers and dealers to provide minimal basic care to their nimals. Anyone who breeds pets for the wholesale trade or sells stock to other breeders must obtain Class A licenses, while brokers and dealers are required to obtain Class B licenses. This does not apply to breeders who sell directly to the public. The majority of these factory farms are concentrated in Pennsylvania and the Midwest – Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma. Missouri, which has more mills than any other state, is by far the worst – a “black hole of despair,” Under the Animal Welfare Act, breeders must provide nutritious food, clean water and housing that is kept dry and cleaned of waste. They must also provide adequate veterinary care and observe their animals daily. But the regulations still allow for keeping dogs in cages, albeit with “sufficient space to allow each dog and cat to turn about freely, to stand, sit and lie in a comfortable, normal position, and to walk in a normal manner.” How big is that? The USDA-APHIS has a formula. Each dog must be provided with a space calculated by dividing the mathematical square length of the dog plus six inches by 144. The dog must also be given just six inches of space above his head. So, a dog who is 40 inches long can be given just 14.69 square feet of space (roughly the size of a bathtub). Are the regulations enforced? Well, the USDA-APHIS is understaffed and, by most accounts, ineffective. According to USDA spokesman Darby Holladay, between 115 and 120 inspectors enforce the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act. Holladay added that there are 15,000 licensees and registrants under the Animal Welfare Act alone, but he told Best Friends he couldn’t comment on whether or not he thought the agency was understaffed. Those 120 inspectors are responsible for monitoring not only thousands of breeders, brokers and dealers, but zoos, circuses and research facilities as well. The USDA levied more than $1.5 million in fines in 2005-06, and the agency’s general counsel listed scores of complaints on alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act. If animals are in extreme danger, the USDA works with local agencies to confiscate the animals. Holladay said, “We do that quite often.” But although commercial breeders who violate the Animal Welfare Act can receive a civil penalty of up to $3,750 per day per violation, a glance at USDA inspection reports shows that some puppy millers have been able to tally up violation after violation, and still keep operating. “There’s such a lack of enforcement and so much recidivism,” Wilkins said. “They’re not being watched and regulated.” Fry agrees. “If the USDA were to levy those fines, they would have all the resources they need to regulate that industry.” Take the case of Gary McDuffee in Morrison County, Minnesota. Despite a five-year history of USDA violations, Morrison County commissioners still issued McDuffee a new conditional-use permit for a facility that could hold up to 500 adult dogs plus any number of puppies. Previous violations included cages that were too small, cages that were deteriorating and contained sharp and dangerous materials, failure to clean animals’ enclosures, failure to label shipped animals as live cargo, and use of expired or outdated drugs or medications. The McDuffee case drew nationwide attention and put the puppy mill issue back in the headlines. Animal welfare advocates, including those with Fry’s organization, plan to appeal the ruling. Best Friends supporters have contributed $20,000 to help with the appeal. Holladay says the USDA does try to educate its license holders and bring them into compliance. But Fry says some breeders just aren’t getting it. “You’d think after five years of noncompliance,” he said, “they’d realize educating them wasn’t working.” Not only is the USDA lax in its regulation of commercial breeding operations, but it has actually poured money into them. The USDA has loaned the Hunte Corporation, a large Missouri-based dealer and the largest wholesaler of puppies sold in pet shops, more than $4 million in recent years for expansion and upgrades. Hunte, which has grown 35 times its original size since 1991, is involved in the transport and sale of animals to 300 pet stores around the world. Puppy mills and pet stores depend on each other. It’s estimated that 90 to 98 percent of dogs sold by pet stores come from puppy mills, according to a Best Friends study. The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council estimates that 3,700 of the nation’s 11,500 pet stores are selling dogs from puppy mills – about 300,000 to 400,000 puppies per year. Only half the dogs bred at puppy mills even make it to the pet shops. The other half die from the mills’ squalid conditions, hypothermia, starvation or the horrors of transport. AKC The American Kennel Club name alone conjures up images of the crème de la crème of canines proudly prancing around a show ring with their handlers. Surely they all came from the finest of dog lines, their parents pampered and cared for by their loving owners. Think again. “The AKC makes between $20 million and $30 million a year off dog registrations,” Fry said. “A large percentage of that is from puppy mills. It’s a cash cow. Without those registrations coming in, they would take a serious loss in income.” According to the AKC’s 2006 audit report, the AKC made more than $33 million from registration fees, accounting for almost half of the registry’s $72 million in total revenues that year. Lisa Peterson, AKC’s director of communications, said the AKC does inspect breeders. She said breeders who produce four to six litters a year are randomly selected for inspection. Breeders who produce seven or more litters a year are inspected every 18 months. If they pass two inspections in a row, they get one inspection cycle off and then go back on the rotation. Peterson said the AKC, which has 14 inspectors, conducted about 5,000 inspections last year. “When our inspectors go in to inspect,” Peterson said, “breeders have to meet our standards of care for dogs.” The AKC has fined and suspended breeders who use their registry who have been convicted for cruelty to animals (the average penalty is 10 years and a $2,000 fine) or who have failed to comply with the AKC’s Care and Conditions Policy, which usually brings a one-year suspension and a $1,000 fine, according to AKC documents. Yet the AKC has consistently come out against state legislation that would require the most basic care standards, such as Minnesota’s Senate File 121 and House File 1046, as well as Pennsylvania governor Edward Rendell’s efforts to strengthen that state’s dog laws. “We oppose any legislation that takes away the right of the owner to determine what’s best for their pets,” Peterson said. Money – and lots of it – keeps puppy mills in business. Breeders, animal brokers, pet stores, veterinarians and even the American Kennel Club (AKC) make big bucks from all those puppies. In 2006, the AKC registered 870,000 individual dogs and 416,000 litters. At $20 per dog and $25 per litter (plus $2 per puppy), that’s well over $30 million. Many more articles to read: Special Features \| Special Features Puppy mill awareness Special Features \| Special Features How you can help: Special Features \| Special Features __________________ Cindy & The Rescued Gang Puppies Are Not Products!

03-01-2009, 03:56 PM	#20
Doodlebop Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: USA Posts: 42	I think that if a complaint is made on a breeder, or puppy mill, then local authorities should have a right to search the premises, just like if a complaint is made to the akc, they will come and inspect the premises. If the law is being broken because animals are living under cruel conditions, then the law needs to be enforced.

03-03-2009, 12:17 PM	#30
julietimothy YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Frisco City AL Posts: 325 Blog Entries: 1	Thank you!! I love the last post. What people do not understand is many puppy mills are AKC. You see AKC puppies in pet stores all the time and most that would put their puppies in pet stores it is because they don't want people coming to their house where they raise their puppies. They have something to hide!! AKC tries to act as if they are trying to stop puppy mills but they are not. I just reg. a litter of maltese puppies with AKC and they send coupon for my next litter. This would be great up it goes out of date in 17 days. This coupon only are helping save money for the breeders that have litters every other week. So AKC love big time breeders. Lots of money to be made!! I don't think the number of dogs you have makes you a puppy mill, I think it is how they are raised and housed.