What is a Puppy Mill?
- Is a commercial farming operation in which purebred dogs are kept and bred solely for their offspring. The large number of puppies are sold and are often kept in inhumane conditions without environmental enrichment.
What do Puppy Mills look like?
- The hard thing about puppy mills is that they can look like anything.
- Puppy mill owners have very clever schemes. They can easily make their puppies look like they were home bred.
How do I know if I’m buying from a Puppy Mill?
- Pet stores: they all buy their puppies from a puppy farm, they are not registered breeders.
- If the parents or puppies don’t seem accustomed to human interaction, it is most likely a puppy mill.
- If the puppies and/or parents seem unhealthy or unclean.
- They might not let you see the parents of the puppies
- The “breeders” might breed multiple breeds of dogs – Normally if they are a reputable breeder they will be passionate about 1 type of breed, and won’t have multiple breeds.
- Be careful when buying online, this has become a popular way of selling puppy mill dogs.
- The puppies don’t have the breed standard traits, as they may not be from purebred parents.
When buying a puppy avoid the temptation of “rescuing” a puppy mill puppy, this is still putting money into the pockets of the puppy farm owner. As long as they keep making money, they will keep producing puppies. If you are considering getting a puppy, contact Coventry Animal Hospital and our staff will be happy to help you, to ensure you end up with a healthy puppy.