When you buy your puppy in a pet store, probably most of you don’t question where the cute little fluffball came from. You might assume that the pet store buys from breeders or maybe a local family had a surprise litter.

In a relatively small number of cases that might be true, but the fact remains that puppy mills supply huge numbers of puppies every year to pet stores, internet sales and even apparently reputable dog breeders’ sites. What is a puppy mill? you may ask. The answer may shock you.

A complex of small cages and run with the express purpose of breeding dogs on a rapid cycle. Scores and scores of puppies are bred in this way to end up in the window of pet shops across the continent. The lucky ones, that is, who survive.

Puppy mills pups tend to suffer from poor health, temperament issues and hereditary conditions. At the mill, they are taken away from their mother before the recommended weaning time of 10 weeks, therefore not receiving the right socialization and benefits of being fed by their mother.

Poor health is contributed to by a lack of decent food and water, terrible cramped living conditions and overcrowding; and there is little chance for them to experience positive human interaction before being transported to the pet store

It is responsible when breeding puppies to take into account any diseases a breed is prone to, and to carefully select dogs to mate, otherwise you end up with a walking wagging time bomb. Good breeder will make proper vet care, immunization and health a priority.

You can check when buying a pedigree puppy if they come from a respectable breeder, by first visiting the premises, but also they should give you a certificate of bloodline. You should also get a guarantee, check with the breeder about the fine details; but you should not ever have to “exchange” the puppy.

There is no such ethos at the Puppy Mill, where money talks fast and loud. They breed dogs regardless of health, disease or family history, which is a recipe for disaster.

The bitches have the worst deal, as they will be made to breed relentlessly in miserable health conditions. And once spent from this terrible life, they will be rewarded with abandonment or death.

Although there are laws Puppy mills still flourish. The only way to stop them is to remove the demand by refusing to buy a puppy unless you know its origins, or if it is from an animal shelter.

It is imperative that you don’t buy a puppy from a mill to rescue him. It is creating a demand for another puppy to be bred into a life of suffering. Contact the appropriate bodies, and demand they take action.

Puppy mills are a sad fact of supply and demand, so don’t add to the problem by buying puppies of which you do not know the origin.