Our Momday Morning Smile - Meet Lizzy

 Rescued from a puppy mill and now happily living in

North Palm Beach, Florida

A few facts about puppy mills

The majority of pet stores that sell puppies carry dogs from puppy mills, which are mass production facilities that churn out large numbers of puppies under inhumane conditions. The breeding dogs at puppy mills spend their entire lives in cramped cages or kennels with little or no personal attention or quality of life. Consumers who purchase puppies from pet stores or over the Internet without seeing a breeder's home firsthand are often unknowingly supporting this cruel puppy mill industry.

Facts:

• Approximately one-third of the nation's 9,000 independent pet stores sell puppies.
• The HSUS estimates that 2 million to 4 million puppy mill puppies are sold each year in the United States.
• Documented puppy mill conditions include over-breeding, inbreeding, minimal veterinary care, poor food and shelter, crowded cages and lack of socialization.
• Dogs kept for breeding in puppy mills suffer for years in continual confinement. They are bred as often as possible and then destroyed or discarded once they can no longer produce puppies.
• Pet stores and online sellers often use attractive Web sites to hide the truth and to dupe consumers into thinking that they are dealing with a small, reputable breeder.
• Reputable breeders never sell puppies over the Internet or through a pet store and will insist on meeting the family who will be purchasing the dog.
• Puppy mills contribute to the pet overpopulation problem, which results in millions of unwanted dogs euthanized at shelters every year.
• Over the past three years, 16 states have passed laws to crack down on puppy mills.

To learn more about puppy mills, visit humanesociety.org/puppymills.

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