Does it come from a puppy mill?

Question

so ppl keep saying that if u go 2 a dog store to get a puppy, it comes from a puppy mill, but i want on the website, and they said:

Where do your puppies come from?
Just Puppies buys the puppies from USDA and state licensed breeders, mostly in Missouri. USDA breeders are regulated by the federal department of agriculture and are regularly inspected by the USDA as well as the state.

Should I believe them?

Answer 1

Yes, all USDA breeders are puppy mills!

http://www.prisonersofgreed.org

Do you know what the USDA regulations are for the kennels? Let me put it like this... If the dog isn't standing in it's own feces when the inspector arrives, it passes the check. And they always call ahead and schedule the checks... Anyone USDA licensed is guaranteed to be a puppy mill. By no means are they regularly inspected, unless you think every 5 years having an appointment scheduled a month in advance is a 'regular inspection' Please check out that web site for more information... the animals are NEVER health checked by the USDA, they do a quick walk through to make sure no animal is covered in waste and that the cages are up to size... and the size is only about 10 times the size of the dog (very, very small) and they dogs are NEVER let out to exercise or socialize... they are bred twice a year and the puppies are almost always less healthy than a puppy from a local breeder.

Again USDA licensing is ONLY for puppy mills! Only mass breeding operations which sell through a broker are required to get a USDA license.

Answer 2

All puppy mills are USDA state licensed breeders. Class B Dealers are people who keep dogs in horrid conditions, and then either breed them or sell them to research facilities are also licensed by the USDA. Many of these facilities are NOT inspected. They inspection process not only is time consuming but often the government does not have the staffing. If they are chased off of the property at GUNPOINT the do not even get the licesnsed revoked. It is a sugar coated version of the truth that you were told. In order to be licensed with the USDA you have to deal in mass quantities. Even if by some chance a puppy didnt come from a puppy mill there is almost a 100% chance that the puppy is not from quality bred parents. Any responsible and reputable breeder will take great pride in the offspring that they have brought into this world. Under NO cirumstance would they let a 3rd party sell the dog for them. They will require a contract signed, it protects you but more importantly to them it protects their puppies. The contract will have a 'first right of refusal' which means that you must send the dog back to them should you not be able to care for the dog any longer..even if the dog is 12 years old. People who breed their dogs responsibly and ethically will have all parents thoroughly vet check and the appropriate certifications for the parents (OFA : checks for hip/elbow displaysia CERF: checks against hereditary eye disorders ect ect ect. ) The crazy part is most of the time you can buy either a 'pet quality' ( puppy does not meet the show criteria but comes from show parents) or a 'show quality' puppy for LESS than you would pay for a puppy from an undermined source and parentage. Here are a couple links to both the AKC and the UKC....
http://www.akc.org/
http://www.ukcdogs.com/
both websites offer additional links to breeders that are responsible and active within the breed community. You can also look up all the different breeds and learn more about the one you would like. If you need any other help in finding a well bred puppy please feel free to contact

Answer 3

Oh I'm glad I read this!! I worked for a Petland store and I will let you know first hand RUN I would not buy a puppies from a pet shop they do come from puppy mills that are the most horrifying thing you will ever see! The female dogs are just bred over and over then you end up with dogs with all kind of problems(health and behavior) Go to a breeder,shelter or rescue just about every breed has a rescue(petfinder.com) I was told when I started working there that the puppies came from a distributor called Hunt corp.(puppy mill) I did my homework and found out otherwise. The USDA is supposed to check up on company's that breed puppies but I don't think they really care if they did all of the puppy mills would be shut down state and city offices don't care either(Ive called just about all of them to file a complaint ) I think they just don't care. So Please don't but from a pet st ore you will pay twice as much at a store than you would from a breeder,shelter or rescue.

Answer 4

All kennels are required to be usda certified. Certification does not mean it is not a puppy mill. And coming from Missouri, I'd bet it is. Missouri has huge numbers of puppy mills. I travel a lot in Missouri. It's a nice state. But you have to be careful when aquiring a pet there. How many different types of dogs are bred there? My collies came from a puppy mill in Missouri. They are deaf and vision impaired because of poor breeding practices. It was all about making money. Not breeding the best dogs possible. See if you can visit the breeders facility. Most puppy mills do not want people visiting their locations. See if the parent dogs are on hand. Even if you are not actually able to visit the site, ask anyway and see what they say. I would recommend against purchasing off the internet.

Answer 5

This is all true. Most puppy mills are USDA State Licensed Breeders. BUT these puppy mills are in very rural areas and there is usually 1-2 state inspector to inspect these places. So they are not inspected every year.

Yes the majority of the puppy mills are located in Missouri. Which has given the good breeders a black eye due to the reputation.

Answer 6

Popular opinion would say yes.
However to say that all USDA breeders are puppy mills because regulations are not what you believe they should be is not accurate or logical.
This is an emotionally charged issue and I really think that most people do not realize that there is an economy that has deveoped with rescues and shelters.
They sell pets too and depend on adoptions to keep donations flowing. It is in their best interests to promote bad images of breeders so that they can induce guilt in buying from pet stores and breeders. This is an ADVERTISING tactic!
Animal rights groups and rescues may call your pets breeder a puppy mill. This may be true or it may be false.
The onyl way for you to evaluate this is to visit the breeder yourself and make the call.

Answer 7

There is a difference between a puppy mill and a commercial breeder. You'd never know if from listening to the brainwashed people on here. MOST commercial breeders take care of their stock and the facilities are kept clean. Puppy mills are dirty and the animals are not given adequate care. Commercial breeders do not give a whole lot of thought to quality and you will get a much better dog from a hobby breeder. MANY people get puppies from a CB(petshop) and seem to be pretty happy with them, I get them in classes ALL THE TIME.

*I* would never buy one from a CB, but we are all able to make our own choices (or at least we should be). If there were no CBs, where do you think most people would GET their purebred puppies??? Show breeders could/would not be able to supply the country with pets. You WOULDN"T be able to get one unless you had one shipped from a VERY questionable 'breeder' in a country with little or no abuse/neglect laws.


Lizan- Hunte Corp is NOT a puppy mill. They are a broker. They have on site Vets and staff that handles the puppies daily. If puppies come in unhealthy they do not buy from that person anymore.

Answer 8

Missouri is a HUGE puppy Mill state. The fact that the breeders are USDA inspected proves the point that they are puppy mills. DO NOT BUY pups from them. Just Puppies is a puppy broker.

Answer 9

Just because it is inspected and regulated does NOT mean it's not a puppy mill. Unfortunately, the regulations for mass-quanitity breeders a/k/a puppy mills are not as strict as they should be. Animal rights has a LONG way to go - and the pet store putting that on their website is (in my best guess) put there to give false security. Missouri is one of the top states for puppy mills, along with Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Utah.

Puppy Mill pups go to pet stores without having had adequate care - they usually come with health problems (many that result in death) caused by questionable breeding practices (such as inbreeding) and they are usually very, very difficult to train, as they have not had the social interaction that puppies need - instead they have been locked in a cage since day ONE and thrown food...

If you are really interested in getting a puppy, please check out your local shelter, contact a rescue group if you are interested in a particular breed or go look at http://www.petfinder.com

Answer 10

This is the story of Telly... Telly was owned by a USDA licensed breeder... he was the father of many of the puppies you see in the pet stores and online... he is a representation of the parents you could find if you met the parents of that puppy on Just Puppies.

http://www.prisonersofgreed.org/Telly.html