Milwaukee Pet Store Protest Group
Pet Stores, Puppy Mills, Animal Welfare
Information
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDxm8uv8huo
A puppy mill is a breeding facility that mass produces puppies for sale. There are thousands of puppy mills across the country, producing over 2 million puppies per year. These facilities, most of which are inspected and licensed by the U.S.D.A., are notorious for their filthy, overcrowded conditions and the unhealthy animals they prouduce. Many of the dogs suffer from malnutrition and exposure; usually remaining outside year round, enduring both freezing temperatures in the winter and intense heat in the summer. Cat breeding occurs on a smaller scale and under similar conditions. Mill Life
Puppy mill kennels generally consist of small, outdoor wood and wire cages or crates. The animals are cramped into filthy cages. Their eyes are filled with pus and their fur with excrement. Many of the puppies suffer from malnutrition and exposure; they usually remain outside year round, enduring both freezing temperatures in the winter and intense heat in the summer. Like pet store owners, breeders save money, and thus maximize profits, by spending little on food, shelter, and veterinary care. Puppies consequently receive below standard food, minimal if any veterinary care, and inadequate shelter which, combined with the inbreeding prevalent in puppy mills, produce animals with genetic diseases and abnormalities. Puppies' legs often fall through the bottom of their wire cages, causing additional injuries. Because they are mistreated (instead of socialized by humans) during an important developmental period, they may be excessively timid or ferocious and thus unsuitable as house pets.
This dog, rescued from a puppy mill, is suffering from a severe case of untreated mange and a ruptured eye.
"Brood Bitches"
Dogs that are kept in puppy mills their entire lives are called "brood bitches." They are typically undernourished and receive little veterinary care, in spite of being kept perpetually pregnant. Their puppies are frequently taken from them before being weaned; as a result, some puppies do not know how to eat and die of starvation. At approximately six or seven years of age, when they can no longer breed more puppies, "brood bitches" are killed.
The hind leg of this "brood bitch" was eaten off by another dog in a puppy mill. She lay for two days without medical attention -- even though the puppy miller was aware of her condition – and died in a hospital shortly after being rescued.
Transportation and Sale
At four to eight weeks of age, puppies are taken from their mothers and sold to brokers (or retail businesses). The brokers then pack them in crates and transport them for sale at various pet shops. Frequently, the puppies are not provided with adequate food, water, ventilation, or shelter during transport; consequently, many die en route. Those that are not sold will be killed, brought back to the mill to breed, or sold to laboratories for research.
Cramped, filthy conditions like the ones in this mill are common to the industry.
Photo Credit: Animal Protection Institute
Diseases Common to Puppy Mill Dogs
Deafness
Epilepsy
Cataracts
Eye lesions
Retinal degeneration
Glaucoma
Hip dysplasia
Retardation
Personality disorders such as excessive aggression
Dislocated kneecaps
This mill dog's body is covered with sores. Her cage barely allows her room to turn around.
The Problem with Pet Stores
Most of the puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills. Purchasing pet store animals entails not only supporting the cruel puppy mill industry but also taking a home away from one of the 17 to 20 million unwanted animals who are killed each year.
Because of the inbreeding and filthy conditions common to puppy mills, they often produce animals with serious health problems, which typically result in hefty vet fees for adopters.
Pet stores generally do not socialize their animals; the puppies may consequently develop behavioral problems which make them far from ideal pets.
Most pet shops do not check the references or histories of their customers. They therefore send animals home with potentially abusive and irresponsible "owners" without taking even the slightest precautions.
Pet shops dispose of unsold animals in, at times, unscrupulous ways. For instance, former pet store employees have reported finding animals starved or frozen to death.
Cockroach and rodent infestation may spread disease to animals in pet shops.
The overcrowding common in pet stores sometimes causes animals such as birds to beat up on one another.
Ailments Common to Pet Store Puppies
Parvovirus
Distemper
Upper respiratory disease
Diarrhea
Ear infections
Eye infections
Worms
Mange
Coccidia
Giardia
The American Kennel Club
Although the AKC claims to be devoted to advancing the health of purebred dogs, it typically spends only about 2% of its total yearly income on research towards that end. Moreover, AKC papers do not guarantee the value or health of a puppy. The organization does not try to work with breeders to improve mill conditions, perhaps because breeders pay the AKC millions of dollars in registration fees for purebred dogs each year.
The Law
Anti-cruelty laws are rarely enforced in the rural areas where most puppy mills are located. The United States Department of Agriculture is responsible for inspecting puppy mills to ensure that they are complying with the Animal Welfare Act, but kennels are inconsistently inspected. When violations are found, puppy mill operators are allowed to remain open while they remedy them. Repeat offenders often refuse to allow Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service workers to enter and inspect their facilities; those kennels sometimes remain licensed in spite of this noncompliance.
You Can Help
Adopt from an animal shelter or rescue group; never buy from a pet store. Remember that 25% of shelter animals are purebreds.
Do not shop at stores that sell animals.
Volunteer at your local animal shelter or rescue group.
Ask your elected officials to outlaw puppy mills. Urge them to demand that the USDA enforce the Animal Welfare Act. For your senators' and representatives' contact information, visit
www.vote-smart.org/index.phtml
Write letters to the editors of your local newspapers about the horrors of the puppy mill industry and its connection with pet stores.
Distribute brochures about puppy mills and pet overpopulation outside of pet shops
Ask shopping mall managers not to renew the lease of the pet store on their property.
Report pet store abuses to whoever is responsible for enforcing anti-cruelty laws in your town. Write a detailed statement of the abuses and take photographs, if possible.
Educate others about the cruelties of puppy mills and the importance of adopting from shelters
USDA?
Pet stores tell us their animals come from USDA Certified Breeders. Of Course they do. By law, anyone selling puppies to a store for resale HAS to be USDA certified. Do you know what that means though? Do you know what the regulations for this industry are?
Watch this video and find out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4r-FcXAXcE
Is this how man's best friend should be treated? This is perfectly legal. So is this OK with you? This is WHY you should NOT buy animals from pet stores. These are the regulations for this industry. This is where there laws are not strong enough. This is LEGAL CRUELTY.
If that isn't bad enough, would you like to see what it means to be a "BLUE RIBBON KENNEL?" Watch this video and find out! Just remember, to be a blue ribbon kennel this means you are EXCEEDING the industry standards! Take a look for yourself and see how you feel about the industry standards!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdI2U6dgA8Y
To see specific regulations regarding the commercial breeding of dogs by APHIS and the Animal Welfare Protection act, please click on the following link to view how these animals should be housed, cared for, treated, etc.:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/awr.shtml
Do you think these regulations are strong enough? Do you think they prevent cruelty to these animals? I don't!!! Write to your legislators today and tell them what you think!
Puppy Mills are defined variously as:
Any high-volume breeder whose "cash crop" is puppies (small-scale puppy farmers by this definition are usually referred to as "backyard breeders");
Just those high-volume breeders who breed pets as their livelihood and keep them in unsanitary, cruel, or abusive conditions;
Just those commercial breeders who sell their "crop" to pet stores;
Anyone who breeds puppies purely for commercial gain, "warehousing" animals in small cages or pens with little positive human contact, and sells through pet stores, wholesale to brokers, direct to the public either at the facility or at swap meets, out of the back of cars, through the internet, with advertising in newspapers, signs along the road, etc.
All sources agree, however, that even the best "commercial breeder" is an undesirable source for happy, healthy, well-socialized pets. It's a little known fact that many, if not most, pet store kittens, birds, reptiles, and other animals come from the same type of breeding facility.
The problem with large commercial breeding facilities is, they are in the business solely to make money. They "farm" pet animals as other livestock breeders "farm" pigs, chickens, and cows (and, if they sell pets wholesale, are governed by the same agency). The goal is profit, pure and simple.
The "breeding stock" — parents of the "cash crop" — will probably never make it out of the mill, subsisting with poor quality food and shelter, often in overcrowded, filthy, wire-bottomed cages; receiving minimal veterinary care, if any; lacking socialization with humans; enduring active physical abuse, and being killed or left to die when no longer "productive." They will be bred as often as possible to increase profits, inbred (meaning that the parent dogs are brother and sister, father and daughter, mother and son, etc.); and sometimes bred indiscriminately. Altogether too frequently, "defective" pups rejected by brokers, pet stores, or consumers, end up at mill auctions as breeders.
Investigations of some millers have even uncovered falsified lineage records (fake AKC/UKC registrations). If this type of fraud is discovered, these facilities lose their "registration privileges" with the AKC or UKC (see What Does AKC/ UKC/ Breed Registration Really Mean?), but some other registries have been invented by and for breeders who have been barred from the legitimate breed registries just to impress prospective puppy purchasers who haven't "done their homework."
Because of these indiscriminate breeding practices, pups may not actually be purebred, or may be born with serious genetic disorders such as heart murmurs, hip problems, skin problems, deafness, allergies, plates in the skull that don't close properly, aggressive temperaments, or a host of other hereditary defects. Some of these problems may show up as soon as the customer gets the new pup home. Some may not become evident for several years.
Puppies born in commercial breeding facilities are also generally separated from their mother and siblings weeks before they are ready. Studies have shown that pups are taught important lessons in socialization, pack order, and discipline in the first eight weeks of their lives. Puppies removed from their mothers' gentle discipline and their siblings' play before the age of eight weeks may never learn important lessons about getting along with other animals — including non-dominant members of their new human families. And puppies whose only contact with humans is as "merchandise" may never learn how to respond to humans as friends and pack leaders.
For the consumer who purchases a pet that started life with a commercial breeder, these factors all too often result in the heartache of a new animal companion facing severe physical and temperament problems and even early death. At the very least, a pet store customer may take home a completely unsocialized — and unsociable — puppy who may, within a matter of days, end up in a shelter because of excessive nipping, biting, or refusal to bond with his/her new family members.
Are there good breeders? A most emphatic YES! Raising sound, healthy, well socialized puppies is difficult work with some very specific demands. Quality breeders care about the animals they produce, and most say that if someone is making money breeding puppies, that person is doing something wrong! (Please see How to identify a Quality Breeder and Breeders With Pride: Responsible Breeders Speak Out.)
It is the opinion of the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project that puppy millers and back yard breeders should not be called "breeders." They do not deserve the title. Regardless of whether the facility is a large, sprawling commercial endeavor or a few crates in someone's barn or backyard, whether they sell to brokers/pet stores or direct to the public, Puppy Millers, Back Yard Breeders (BYB), and pet brokers are PET PROFITEERS. They don't care about the animals, they care about M-O-N-E-Y. They use and abuse animals for profit.
For more information on Puppy Mills, see our Puppy Mill Links page and:
- Humane Society of the United States, "Get the Facts about Puppy Mills"
- American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, "Puppy Mills"
- Hearts United for Animals, "Prisoners of Greed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDxm8uv8huo
A puppy mill is a breeding facility that mass produces puppies for sale. There are thousands of puppy mills across the country, producing over 2 million puppies per year. These facilities, most of which are inspected and licensed by the U.S.D.A., are notorious for their filthy, overcrowded conditions and the unhealthy animals they prouduce. Many of the dogs suffer from malnutrition and exposure; usually remaining outside year round, enduring both freezing temperatures in the winter and intense heat in the summer. Cat breeding occurs on a smaller scale and under similar conditions. Mill Life
Puppy mill kennels generally consist of small, outdoor wood and wire cages or crates. The animals are cramped into filthy cages. Their eyes are filled with pus and their fur with excrement. Many of the puppies suffer from malnutrition and exposure; they usually remain outside year round, enduring both freezing temperatures in the winter and intense heat in the summer. Like pet store owners, breeders save money, and thus maximize profits, by spending little on food, shelter, and veterinary care. Puppies consequently receive below standard food, minimal if any veterinary care, and inadequate shelter which, combined with the inbreeding prevalent in puppy mills, produce animals with genetic diseases and abnormalities. Puppies' legs often fall through the bottom of their wire cages, causing additional injuries. Because they are mistreated (instead of socialized by humans) during an important developmental period, they may be excessively timid or ferocious and thus unsuitable as house pets.
This dog, rescued from a puppy mill, is suffering from a severe case of untreated mange and a ruptured eye.
Puppy mill kennels generally consist of small, outdoor wood and wire cages or crates. The animals are cramped into filthy cages. Their eyes are filled with pus and their fur with excrement. Many of the puppies suffer from malnutrition and exposure; they usually remain outside year round, enduring both freezing temperatures in the winter and intense heat in the summer. Like pet store owners, breeders save money, and thus maximize profits, by spending little on food, shelter, and veterinary care. Puppies consequently receive below standard food, minimal if any veterinary care, and inadequate shelter which, combined with the inbreeding prevalent in puppy mills, produce animals with genetic diseases and abnormalities. Puppies' legs often fall through the bottom of their wire cages, causing additional injuries. Because they are mistreated (instead of socialized by humans) during an important developmental period, they may be excessively timid or ferocious and thus unsuitable as house pets.
"Brood Bitches"
Dogs that are kept in puppy mills their entire lives are called "brood bitches." They are typically undernourished and receive little veterinary care, in spite of being kept perpetually pregnant. Their puppies are frequently taken from them before being weaned; as a result, some puppies do not know how to eat and die of starvation. At approximately six or seven years of age, when they can no longer breed more puppies, "brood bitches" are killed.
The hind leg of this "brood bitch" was eaten off by another dog in a puppy mill. She lay for two days without medical attention -- even though the puppy miller was aware of her condition – and died in a hospital shortly after being rescued.
Transportation and Sale
At four to eight weeks of age, puppies are taken from their mothers and sold to brokers (or retail businesses). The brokers then pack them in crates and transport them for sale at various pet shops. Frequently, the puppies are not provided with adequate food, water, ventilation, or shelter during transport; consequently, many die en route. Those that are not sold will be killed, brought back to the mill to breed, or sold to laboratories for research.
Cramped, filthy conditions like the ones in this mill are common to the industry.
Photo Credit: Animal Protection Institute
Diseases Common to Puppy Mill Dogs
Deafness
Epilepsy
Cataracts
Eye lesions
Retinal degeneration
Glaucoma
Hip dysplasia
Retardation
Personality disorders such as excessive aggression
Dislocated kneecaps This mill dog's body is covered with sores. Her cage barely allows her room to turn around. The Problem with Pet Stores Most of the puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills. Purchasing pet store animals entails not only supporting the cruel puppy mill industry but also taking a home away from one of the 17 to 20 million unwanted animals who are killed each year. Because of the inbreeding and filthy conditions common to puppy mills, they often produce animals with serious health problems, which typically result in hefty vet fees for adopters. Pet stores generally do not socialize their animals; the puppies may consequently develop behavioral problems which make them far from ideal pets. Most pet shops do not check the references or histories of their customers. They therefore send animals home with potentially abusive and irresponsible "owners" without taking even the slightest precautions. Pet shops dispose of unsold animals in, at times, unscrupulous ways. For instance, former pet store employees have reported finding animals starved or frozen to death. Cockroach and rodent infestation may spread disease to animals in pet shops. The overcrowding common in pet stores sometimes causes animals such as birds to beat up on one another. Ailments Common to Pet Store Puppies Parvovirus Distemper Upper respiratory disease Diarrhea Ear infections Eye infections Worms Mange Coccidia Giardia The American Kennel Club The Law You Can Help Adopt from an animal shelter or rescue group; never buy from a pet store. Remember that 25% of shelter animals are purebreds. Do not shop at stores that sell animals. Volunteer at your local animal shelter or rescue group. Ask your elected officials to outlaw puppy mills. Urge them to demand that the USDA enforce the Animal Welfare Act. For your senators' and representatives' contact information, visit Write letters to the editors of your local newspapers about the horrors of the puppy mill industry and its connection with pet stores. Distribute brochures about puppy mills and pet overpopulation outside of pet shops Ask shopping mall managers not to renew the lease of the pet store on their property. Report pet store abuses to whoever is responsible for enforcing anti-cruelty laws in your town. Write a detailed statement of the abuses and take photographs, if possible. Educate others about the cruelties of puppy mills and the importance of adopting from shelters USDA?
Although the AKC claims to be devoted to advancing the health of purebred dogs, it typically spends only about 2% of its total yearly income on research towards that end. Moreover, AKC papers do not guarantee the value or health of a puppy. The organization does not try to work with breeders to improve mill conditions, perhaps because breeders pay the AKC millions of dollars in registration fees for purebred dogs each year.
Anti-cruelty laws are rarely enforced in the rural areas where most puppy mills are located. The United States Department of Agriculture is responsible for inspecting puppy mills to ensure that they are complying with the Animal Welfare Act, but kennels are inconsistently inspected. When violations are found, puppy mill operators are allowed to remain open while they remedy them. Repeat offenders often refuse to allow Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service workers to enter and inspect their facilities; those kennels sometimes remain licensed in spite of this noncompliance.
www.vote-smart.org/index.phtml
Pet stores tell us their animals come from USDA Certified Breeders. Of Course they do. By law, anyone selling puppies to a store for resale HAS to be USDA certified. Do you know what that means though? Do you know what the regulations for this industry are?
Watch this video and find out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4r-FcXAXcE
Is this how man's best friend should be treated? This is perfectly legal. So is this OK with you? This is WHY you should NOT buy animals from pet stores. These are the regulations for this industry. This is where there laws are not strong enough. This is LEGAL CRUELTY.
If that isn't bad enough, would you like to see what it means to be a "BLUE RIBBON KENNEL?" Watch this video and find out! Just remember, to be a blue ribbon kennel this means you are EXCEEDING the industry standards! Take a look for yourself and see how you feel about the industry standards!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdI2U6dgA8Y
To see specific regulations regarding the commercial breeding of dogs by APHIS and the Animal Welfare Protection act, please click on the following link to view how these animals should be housed, cared for, treated, etc.:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/awr.shtml
Do you think these regulations are strong enough? Do you think they prevent cruelty to these animals? I don't!!! Write to your legislators today and tell them what you think!
Puppy Mills are defined variously as: Any high-volume breeder whose "cash crop" is puppies (small-scale puppy farmers by this definition are usually referred to as "backyard breeders"); Just those high-volume breeders who breed pets as their livelihood and keep them in unsanitary, cruel, or abusive conditions; Just those commercial breeders who sell their "crop" to pet stores; Anyone who breeds puppies purely for commercial gain, "warehousing" animals in small cages or pens with little positive human contact, and sells through pet stores, wholesale to brokers, direct to the public either at the facility or at swap meets, out of the back of cars, through the internet, with advertising in newspapers, signs along the road, etc. The problem with large commercial breeding facilities is, they are in the business solely to make money. They "farm" pet animals as other livestock breeders "farm" pigs, chickens, and cows (and, if they sell pets wholesale, are governed by the same agency). The goal is profit, pure and simple. The "breeding stock" — parents of the "cash crop" — will probably never make it out of the mill, subsisting with poor quality food and shelter, often in overcrowded, filthy, wire-bottomed cages; receiving minimal veterinary care, if any; lacking socialization with humans; enduring active physical abuse, and being killed or left to die when no longer "productive." They will be bred as often as possible to increase profits, inbred (meaning that the parent dogs are brother and sister, father and daughter, mother and son, etc.); and sometimes bred indiscriminately. Altogether too frequently, "defective" pups rejected by brokers, pet stores, or consumers, end up at mill auctions as breeders. Because of these indiscriminate breeding practices, pups may not actually be purebred, or may be born with serious genetic disorders such as heart murmurs, hip problems, skin problems, deafness, allergies, plates in the skull that don't close properly, aggressive temperaments, or a host of other hereditary defects. Some of these problems may show up as soon as the customer gets the new pup home. Some may not become evident for several years. For the consumer who purchases a pet that started life with a commercial breeder, these factors all too often result in the heartache of a new animal companion facing severe physical and temperament problems and even early death. At the very least, a pet store customer may take home a completely unsocialized — and unsociable — puppy who may, within a matter of days, end up in a shelter because of excessive nipping, biting, or refusal to bond with his/her new family members. Are there good breeders? A most emphatic YES! Raising sound, healthy, well socialized puppies is difficult work with some very specific demands. Quality breeders care about the animals they produce, and most say that if someone is making money breeding puppies, that person is doing something wrong! (Please see How to identify a Quality Breeder and Breeders With Pride: Responsible Breeders Speak Out.) For more information on Puppy Mills, see our Puppy Mill Links page and: All sources agree, however, that even the best "commercial breeder" is an undesirable source for happy, healthy, well-socialized pets. It's a little known fact that many, if not most, pet store kittens, birds, reptiles, and other animals come from the same type of breeding facility. Investigations of some millers have even uncovered falsified lineage records (fake AKC/UKC registrations). If this type of fraud is discovered, these facilities lose their "registration privileges" with the AKC or UKC (see What Does AKC/ UKC/ Breed Registration Really Mean?), but some other registries have been invented by and for breeders who have been barred from the legitimate breed registries just to impress prospective puppy purchasers who haven't "done their homework." Puppies born in commercial breeding facilities are also generally separated from their mother and siblings weeks before they are ready. Studies have shown that pups are taught important lessons in socialization, pack order, and discipline in the first eight weeks of their lives. Puppies removed from their mothers' gentle discipline and their siblings' play before the age of eight weeks may never learn important lessons about getting along with other animals — including non-dominant members of their new human families. And puppies whose only contact with humans is as "merchandise" may never learn how to respond to humans as friends and pack leaders. It is the opinion of the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project that puppy millers and back yard breeders should not be called "breeders." They do not deserve the title. Regardless of whether the facility is a large, sprawling commercial endeavor or a few crates in someone's barn or backyard, whether they sell to brokers/pet stores or direct to the public, Puppy Millers, Back Yard Breeders (BYB), and pet brokers are PET PROFITEERS. They don't care about the animals, they care about M-O-N-E-Y. They use and abuse animals for profit.
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