What are the living conditions in puppy mills?
The puppy millers who sell to pet stores must be licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA does have minimum standards that the puppy farmers are supposed to meet. However, there are many, many puppy millers and just over 100 USDA inspectors for the entire United States. Many times, the puppy millers can break the rules and not get caught. Remember, the largest number of puppymillers do NOT sell puppies to pet stores. They sell directly to the public at swap meets, through ads in the newspapers, over the internet, out of their cars in shopping plaza parking lots, directly from their farms or homes, etc. Here in Wisconsin, there is absolutely NO regulation or licensing required. The puppies may be sick, undernourished, filthy, and injured, but it is the adult dogs who suffer the most. If a puppy is born with an obvious defect and can’t be sold to a pet store, directly to the public, or to a laboratory, chances are excellent that it will spend its entire li
