User:Adinello/Puppy Mills

Puppy Mills
A puppy Mill is a dog breeding facility that produces mass quantities of dogs for sale either directly to the consumer or to pet stores. Puppy mills sell dogs through the internet, pet stores, flea markets, and online ads. They are characterized by poor living conditions in order to maximize profit while mass breeding pets. There are an estimated 10,000 licensed and unlicensed puppy mill facilities in the U.S However, of these 10,000 only 3,000 are regulated by the USDA. The USDA sets the baseline standards for animals bred in these facilities and when violated, the USDA can fine or subject the case to criminal prosecution.



Breeding Conditions
A common concern towards puppy mills is that some offer no veterinary care or protection for animals against harsh weather conditions. It has been reported by Animal Rescue Corps that due to the minuscule amount of regulation among puppy mills, they often have little to no sanitation of cages, thus the animals can be living in feces or urine for unknown periods of time. The dogs in these facilities can spend the majority of their lives in small cages with no room to exercise or play. Female dogs are usually bred each time they are in heat with little to no recovery time between litters. Once they have reached exhaustion or old age, they are usually killed. It is a common occurrence in puppy mills for dogs to have collars fastened very tightly around their necks to the point they become embedded in their skin and must be cut out. Due to the sanitation issues, dogs from puppy mills have commonly been reported to suffer from a variety of health issues and are still sold to customers in this condition.



Welfare Acts
The Animal Welfare Act was passed in 1966 and outlines the minimum standard of care for dogs and cats being sold commercially. Under the AWA, large-scale commercial breeders that breed animals for resale are required to be inspected and licensed by the USDA. However, animal breeders who are not necessarily considered "wholesale" operations and sell directly to the public are not required to follow guidelines of the AWA. Records from the Humane Society of the United States show that many USDA-licensed breeders do not face any penalizations for repeated violations of the AWA.

The "Puppy Mills Campaign" created by the Humane Society of the United States is also in efforts to improve the standards of care for dogs in puppy mills and breeding facilities. The campaign has attempted to get laws passed in 35 states in order to increase enforcement actions towards puppy mills. Due to the efforts of the campaign, there are new regulations for dogs from foreign mills. The regulations now require dogs to be at least six months old and in healthy conditions before they can be shipped to the United States. Before these regulations were set in place, thousands of puppies at a time would be subjected to overseas transport before fully vaccinated or weaned. Many states have "Puppy lemon law" which requires sellers to provide certain guarantees to buyers. If the dog purchased is found to be ill or carrying hereditary problems/diseases, the buyer can return the dog and get a refund or replacement or can keep the dog and be reimbursed for the vet bills or the dogs purchase price.