Why do some Silky Terriers breeders sell their puppies for so much less?
Many of them are puppy mills. A puppy mill is a mass dog breeding establishment. A puppy mill is a mass dog breeding establishment producing puppies for profit by selling them wholesale to the pet industry. Many puppy mills are characterized by overcrowding, filth, inadequate shelter, and insufficient food, water, and veterinary care. Most puppy mill owners sell their dogs wholesale to brokers, who in turn, sell them primarily to pet stores. Because profit, not quality of dogs, is the ultimate goal of the puppy mill owner, breeding practices are often shoddy, and the breeding dogs are kept under the most inexpensive possible conditions that will keep them alive and producing. The dogs from puppy mills often have genetic and personality disorders. In between the puppy mill operators and the responsible kennel owners are the so-called “backyard breeders” whose newspaper ads dot Sunday papers each week. These are people who own one or two purebred dogs and produce a litter of puppies once
