A puppy mill is a facility where dogs are bred indiscriminately for profit. Puppy mill operators want to minimize their expenses and maximize their profits. Female dogs are continuously bred from their first heat until their productivity drops or the popularity of the breed changes; then they are sold or killed. Many of these animals are bred despite illness, physical injuries and congenital deformities and receive little or no veterinary care. They are the victims of greed and cruelty. To stop puppy mills, you have to stop buying animals from pet stores and breeders who are over breeding thier animals to make more money.

Courtesy of Kathleen Faulconer, Sheltie E-mail list, 5/17/97 At the pet stores I worked in in the '70s puppies were bought from puppy mills. Even then the profit margin was pretty good for the pet stores so this was the way to go financially. The pups were bought for around $75.00 and sold for up to $250.00. There were several lists to pick puppies from. The owner of the store placed orders like any retailer. So many of this breed, so many of that. Sometimes there were specials, discounted because the pups were older than 6 weeks!Within a certain amount of time the orders were filled. Filthy crates that resembled fruit boxes would arrive at the door filled with pups (as many as four if the breed was small) and covered with airline stickers. Evidence that there were many plane changes along the way from the midwest to California. I had the lovely job of opening the boxes. I wasted no time in getting them open. After some experience I knew that it was a matter of life and death if I delayed. The boxes opened from the top and I could rip them open and peek in. Picture this if you can: Each crate would be soaked with filth. Urine and feces covering the crate and the pups inside. Many were so covered with muck that you could not recognize the breed. No water or food had been given during the long trip. Many of the breeds we "bought" were toy breeds. Fragile lives, easy sales. Without thinking, after a while, I learned to set up a triage unit. I would open all the boxes at once, first looking for dead puppies. IT was not shocking to have 25-50% dead pups. Those I set aside, after determining that there was no hope (rigor mortis was a good clue), in a pile. Then I looked for the weak but still breathing ones. These got first priority. I would be ready to pour honey down their throats and try whatever I could to get them going again. Remember this was a long time ago and we had no real revival methods. I was usually successful at getting them on their feet. People are amazed at the lives I can save now, well.... I had a lot of practice. Happy, bouncy pups got taken care of next, that included the removal of the encrusted feces and a quick bath. It was disgusting, no two ways about it. After the initial trauma of the puppies arrival, we could assess their condition. Most of the puppies were infected in some area, ears, eyes, etc. ALL the pups were filled with worms. I cannot forget the day that an Irish setter pup died before my eyes, vomiting and diarrhea, piles of round worms came out and nothing else. Followed by a violent seizure. Then there was the schnauzer pup with docked ears, kept unclean and allowed to infect, covered with black gangrene. She was saved but her ears were not. They were cut to the skull by the vet. We did not know what Parvo was either but, judging by the number of pups that died within a few days, we had it then......bigtime.
In the end I did argue the point that the profit was very low when you tacked on vet bills to make the puppies saleable. They finally agreed to discontinue selling puppies. Just 2 months ago a pet store sold a darling sheltie pup to someone that knew a friend of mine. He had been sent, and visited, two reputable breeders in our area. He did not like the quality dogs, he wanted a tiny sable with big eyes and that is what he found at the pet store. Within 30 hours she was dead. Not only did he contact the pet store and was told that she could not POSSIBLY have parvo because she still drank water but, he was told if he wanted to bring her back he would have to do so during a shot clinic and that is what he did! Exposing dozens of dogs to parvo. She then was put in a grooming cage right in with dogs there to be groomed, exposing them. Is this not the most twisted thing that "dog lovers" can do? The pet store owner called him the next morning and informed him the pup was dead. She had parvo after all! In my opinion this is a criminal case. No, there is no way to change my mind about puppy mills. I will judge from my experiences and not give them the benefit of doubt. There are few crueler things that can be to done to an animal than what they are subjected to in the mill and the suffering after. It makes many of the things that animal rights activists are fighting against look mild in comparison. I cannot state it any stronger than this.