Puppy mills are mass breeding establishments that often produce dogs in conditions of filth, lack of shelter, overcrowding, and insufficient food, water, and veterinary care for resale in pet stores. If you buy a puppy mill puppy, you contribute directly to the misery of the adult dogs who spend their entire lives as nothing more than puppy-producing machines. If you're thinking about buying a puppy, consider these facts. The stress and trauma of being shipped long distances at young ages to pet shops, coupled with poor sanitation and lack of veterinary care at these mills, make puppy mill puppies more susceptible than most to a variety of diseases. The AKC (American Kennel Club) papers that come with your puppy, according to the AKC itself, "in no way indicate the quality or state of health of the dog." Although not all dogs in pet shops are from puppy mills, most dogs bred at puppy mills do end up in pet shops. Puppy mills continue to exist because people buy dogs from pet stores that sell puppies bred at these cruel establishments. Your local animal shelter always has homeless puppies for adoption, and often there are puppies who are purebred or resemble and have characteristics of AKC breeds. [return to top]