Puppy Mills are Evil

I recently watched an episode of Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel that was about Puppy Mills. A rescue organization asked Cesar to come help them with a couple of dogs that they had rescued from a puppy mill that, of course, had some pretty serious behavior problems. One dog was a Pekinese that bit anyone who tried to touch her or the person that was holding her and the other was a Yorkshire terrier that obsessively licked the face and hands of whoever was holding her. Cesar was, of course, able to fix both of these dogs and they found great homes.


There were cameras on the people that went into the mill and the conditions that these dogs live in is deplorable. The adult breeders (that is all they are in the eyes of the people who run these places) live their entire lives in a small cage. They never come out, EVER. The practice is legal but there are some rules; such as the mills are only allowed to have 100 dogs at a time. 100 dogs! The dogs they breed have every conceivable congenital defect there is and yet they keep breeding them. I saw a yorkie that had such bad knees that she was unable to stand normally. I saw a couple of Shih-Tzu’s that had horrible entropian (the eyelashes go into the eye instead of away from it scratching the eye), it was so bad that the dogs had permanent ulcers on their corneas. Both of these dogs had litters of pups with them. Dogs from puppy mills are more likely to have hip dysplaysia (look it up), elbow dysplaysia, and dental disease among many other diseases that will be problematic for both the dog in terms of discomfort and the owner in terms of cost to fix and maintain these problems. Not to mention the dogs get no socialization and the puppies are taken away from their mothers and siblings at four to five weeks of age most of the time to be shipped off to pet stores to be sold. I cannot tell you how bad this is for dogs. They need to spend at least eight weeks with their mother and siblings if not ten weeks. This is the time when dogs learn social skills they need for the rest of their lives from their mother and siblings. This experience cannot be simulated by humans. No wonder the dog whisperer is so popular! He has to help all of these dogs that could have learned proper social skills from their own dog family.



I am really writing this blog to reach as many people as possible about the horrors of puppy mills. The dogs are basically tortured for as long as they can spit out litters of unhealthy puppies and then killed when they are no longer of any use. These puppies get sold to pet stores where people buy them by the thousands every year. As long as there are people to buy puppies at pet stores there will be puppy mills to make them. The pet stores are as much at fault. They sell supposedly healthy puppies to the unsuspecting public…wait, I hate to not put the public on the hook here. They should do some research before they buy any dog. It is best to adopt from a shelter or a breed rescue, these are people that dedicate their lives to rescuing a certain breed from shelters or they get dogs from people that can no longer keep their purebred dog and then match the dog to a better home. If you must buy a dog go to a reputable breeder (these are not online) and ask to see both of the parents. The dogs should be raised one litter at a time in someone’s home. The pups should be clean and happy. The parents should be free of defects and the breeder should have paper work certifying the health of both parents. The temperament of both parents should be impeccable as this is definitely passed from generation to generation. Before you get a dog do a little research. Find out what the energy level of that breed is and make sure if you get a high energy dog you are willing to exercise the dog everyday. Do not get a high energy dog and then take it to the shelter when it eats your couch out of frustration because you can’t or won’t exercise it properly! Do not get a breed that needs to go to a groomer every six weeks or needs it coat brushed every day if you are not prepared to spend the money on grooming or the time on brushing leaving the dog to be matted and filthy all of the time. They don’t like being dirty anymore than you do.



Finally I would really love to see puppy mills outlawed. This is cruelty to animals and should not be allowed to go on any longer. Most of you are probably saying “Don’t we have enough problems in this world?” This is true but these dogs are innocent that don’t want anything more than to be fed and near us. I think they deserve better. We have shaped them over thousands of years to suit our needs and I think it is time they get a break. I have been a Veterinary Technician for 15 years now and everyday I am at work I see an endless parade of dogs. It is pretty easy to tell which ones came form a puppy mill and which ones didn’t. It makes me sad everyday that this horrible disservice is being done to these wonderful creatures that we are supposed to take care of. I will leave you with a couple of pictures I found online of puppy mills. I warn you I spared you the worst of them but they are pretty sad. If you want to help just type Puppy Mill into your search engine and you will find countless sites that are trying to get this stopped as well as ways you can help. The best way is educating the public on what is really going on and where those cute little “puppies in the window” came from.



Lastly I want to drill this into your head; MILLIONS OF DOGS ARE EUTHANIZED EVERY YEAR!!! SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR DOG!!! YOU DO NOT NEED TO BREED THEM! YOUR CHILDREN DO NOT NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH THAT IS WHAT PBS IS FOR! IF THEY NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH THEN THEY MUST ALSO NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF A PILE OF 140 DEAD DOGS. THIS IS HOW MANY DOGS ARE KILLED IN EVERY SHELTER IN THIS COUNTRY EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!