What Is a Puppy Mill

Article written by ASPCA

What Is a Puppy Mill?

A puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs. Unlike responsible breeders, who place the utmost importance on producing the healthiest puppies possible, breeding at puppy mills is performed without consideration of genetic quality. This results in generations of dogs with unchecked hereditary defects.

Puppy mill puppies are typically sold to pet shops—usually through a broker, or middleman—and marketed as young as eight weeks of age. The lineage records of puppy mill dogs are often falsified.

What Problems Are Common to Puppy Mill Dogs?

Illness, disease, fearful behavior and lack of socialization with humans and other animals are common characteristics of dogs from puppy mills. Because puppy mill operators fail to apply proper husbandry practices that would remove sick dogs from their breeding pools, puppies from puppy mills are prone to congenital and hereditary conditions. These can include:

• Epilepsy
• Heart disease
• Kidney disease
• Musculoskeletal disorders (hip dysplasia, luxating patellas, etc.)
• Endocrine disorders (diabetes, hyperthyroidism)
• Blood disorders (anemia, Von Willebrand disease)
• Deafness
• Eye problems (cataracts, glaucoma, progressive retinal atrophy, etc.)
• Respiratory disorders

On top of that, puppies often arrive in pet stores—and their new homes—with diseases or infirmities. These can include:

• Giardia
• Parvovirus
• Distemper
• Upper respiratory infections
• Kennel cough
• Pneumonia
• Mange
• Fleas
• Ticks
• Intestinal parasites
• Heartworm
• Chronic diarrhea

How Are Animals Treated at Puppy Mills?

Puppy mills usually house dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, without adequate veterinary care, food, water and socialization. Puppy mill dogs do not get to experience treats, toys, exercise or basic grooming. To minimize waste cleanup, dogs are often kept in cages with wire flooring that injures their paws and legs—and it is not unusual for cages to be stacked up in columns. Breeder dogs at mills might spend their entire lives outdoors, exposed to the elements—or crammed inside filthy structures where they never get the chance to feel the sun or a gust of fresh air on their faces.

How Often Are Dogs Bred in Puppy Mills?

In order to maximize profits, female dogs are bred at every opportunity with little to no recovery time between litters. When, after a few years, they are physically depleted to the point that they no longer can reproduce, breeding females are often killed. The mom and dad of the puppy in the pet store window are unlikely to make it out of the mill alive—and neither will the many puppies born with overt physical problems that make them unsalable to pet stores.

When and Why Did Puppy Mills Begin?

Puppy mills began sprouting up after World War II. In response to widespread crop failures in the Midwest, the United States Department of Agriculture began promoting purebred puppies as a fool-proof “cash” crop. It is easy to see why this might have appealed to farmers facing hard times—breeding dogs does not require the intense physical labor that it takes to produce edible crops, nor are dogs as vulnerable to unfavorable weather. Chicken coops and rabbit hutches were repurposed for dogs, and the retail pet industry—pet stores large and small—boomed with the increasing supply of puppies from the new "mills." Today, Missouri is considered the largest puppy mill state in the country.

Seeking a puppy supply source on the East Coast, puppy brokers—the middlemen who deliver the dogs from mills to pet stores—convinced many of Pennsylvania’s Amish farmers in the 1970s that puppies were the cash crop of the future. Brokers conducted seminars to teach farmers how to operate their own breeding facilities. Thirty years later, Lancaster County, PA, has the highest concentration of puppy mills of any county in the nation and has earned the dubious nickname of “Puppy Mill Capital of the East.”

How Can I Help Fight Puppy Mills?

There are many ways you can fight puppy mills, starting with refusing to patronize the stores and websites that sell their dogs.

• Do not buy a puppy from a pet store—in fact, do not buy a puppy from any place that does not allow you to see its entire facility and meet the mother dog. This includes websites that sell pets online. Anyone can put up a great-looking website boasting the highest standards of breeding and care, but you really have no way of knowing if such businesses are what they claim. Truly responsible breeders want to meet you before selling you one of their prized pups to be sure that he or she is going to a good home. Read more about online scams here.
  
  
• You can also take a more active role in fighting puppy mills by working with the ASPCA to pass legislation that ensures that all animals bred to be pets are raised in healthy conditions. Stay up-to-date about current legislation to ban puppy mills by joining the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade. Please also read our Ten Ways You Can Help Fight Puppy Mills.

How to Recognize Animal Cruelty

Here is an article we think everyone should be keenly aware of. Cruelty to animals is on the rise. And we must all STEP UP and TAKE ACTION when we suspect this is going on. Please read this article by the ASPCA.

Signs That an Animal Might Be Abused

Recognizing cruelty is simple, right? Not quite, say ASPCA experts. Aggressive, timid or fearful behavior doesn't always tell the whole story. Animals may appear to be timid or frightened for many reasons other than abuse.

“It’s almost impossible to make conclusions based on a pet’s behavior alone,” says the ASPCA Animal Behavior Center’s Kristen Collins, CPDT. “The best way to tell whether a pet is being or has been abused is to examine him and his surrounding environment.”

Check out our list of signs that may alert you an animal needs help:

Physical Signs

• Collar so tight that it has caused a neck wound or has become embedded in the pet’s neck
  
• Open wounds, signs of multiple healed wounds or an ongoing injury or illness that isn’t being treated
  
• Untreated skin conditions that have caused loss of hair, scaly skin, bumps or rashes
  
• Extreme thinness or emaciation—bones may be visible
  
• Fur infested with fleas, ticks or other parasites
  
• Patches of bumpy, scaly skin rashes
  
• Signs of inadequate grooming, such as extreme matting of fur, overgrown nails and dirty coat
  
• Weakness, limping or the inability to stand or walk normally
  
• Heavy discharge from eyes or nose
  
• An owner striking or otherwise physically abusing an animal
  
• Visible signs of confusion or extreme drowsiness

Environmental Signs

• Pets are tied up alone outside for long periods of time without adequate food or water, or with food or water that is unsanitary
  
• Pets are kept outside in inclement weather without access to adequate shelter
  
• Pets are kept in an area littered with feces, garbage, broken glass or other objects that could harm them
  
• Animals are housed in kennels or cages (very often crowded in with other animals) that are too small to allow them to stand, turn around and make normal movements possibly with too many other animals

“Reporting suspected animal cruelty ensures that animals in jeopardy receive prompt and often lifesaving care,” says ASPCA Special Agent Joann Sandano. “By making a complaint to the police or humane society in your area—you can even do so anonymously—you help ensure that animals in need are rescued and that perpetrators of animal cruelty are brought to justice.”

If you see signs of animal abuse, don’t keep it to yourself. Here’s how to report cruelty in your area.

BARF: Bones And Raw Food -The search for a better dog diet marches on

Introduction

Always searching for better, more economic diets for dogs, breeders and exhibitors of pets and performance dogs are traveling in two directions these days. The majority of these dog owners cheer on the development of ever more specialized commercial diets by premium pet food manufacturers. However, a growing and increasingly vocal segment of the population is switching to BARF, the diet familiarly known as “bones and raw food” but also tagged as “biologically appropriate raw food,” “Billinghurst Australian real food” and the “born again raw feeders” diet.

Developed by Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst, the BARF diet under any appellation is based on feeding raw, meaty bones, animal offal, raw vegetables, and supplements instead of commercially-processed or cooked homemade diets.

Billinghurst has published two books about BARF: Give Your Dog a Bone in 1993 and Grow Your Pups with Bones.

Dr. Billinghurst describes BARF this way:

“BARF is about feeding dogs properly. The aim of BARF is to maximize the health, longevity and reproductive capacity of dogs and by so doing, minimize the need for veterinary intervention. How do you feed a dog properly? You feed it the diet that it evolved to eat. ... Artificial grain based dog foods cause innumerable health problems. They are not what your dog was programmed to eat during its long process of evolution. A biologically appropriate diet for a dog is one that consists of raw whole foods similar to those eaten by the dogs’ wild ancestors. The food fed must contain the same balance and type of ingredients as consumed by those wild ancestors. This food will include such things as muscle meat, bone, fat, organ meat and vegetable materials and any other foods that will mimic what was those wild ancestors ate.”

Those who feed BARF point out that kibbled foods have been around for about 60 years but that dogs ate handouts from human tables for millennia before processed foods were marketed. However, the debate rages hot and heavy. Those who develop processed dog foods and those who feed these diets point out the scientific reports that back their claims; those who feed BARF are equally as adamant that their anecdotal evidence about dog health and well-being proves the value of fresh, raw food.

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Raw vs cooked

BARF feeders eschew the convenience of 40-pound bags of kibble and opt for preparing meals for their dogs that include uncooked meaty bones, uncooked muscle and organ meat, raw eggs, vegetables, fruit, yogurt, cooked cereals, cottage cheese, and herbs, enzymes, and other supplements. They are not tied to the same diet every day – no more just measuring the kibble and pouring it in the bowl. If a good source of fresh chicken parts or lamb meat is available, the dogs get chicken or lamb. If green beans are on sale this week, cottage cheese is two-for-one at the supermarket, or the carrots are ready to be pulled in the garden, the dog’s diet (like the family diet) will likely be heavy in those ingredients.

The BARF philosophy is that dogs should be fed the foods they are evolutionarily suited to eat. The BARF principles are that commercially-prepared cooked foods lack enzymes and other essential dietary components and contain some ingredients that promote allergies and are otherwise harmful for dogs.

Those who develop, study, and feed prepared dog foods do not agree, and they point to studies and feeding trials to prove their assertions. Companies producing these foods do not rest on their laurels; they keep on studying canine nutrition so they can improve the food they sell. As a result, companies now market a variety of dry foods based on lamb, chicken, beef, or turkey with grain sources of rice, corn, barley, or wheat.

In the old days, kibble was preserved with ethoxyquin, a preservative with a bad rap; today vitamins are used by an increasing number of companies. As scientists learn more about the individual needs of breeds, performance dogs, puppies, couch pets, middle-aged dogs, and geriatric dogs, they design and test diets to meet those needs. As a result, many dog food companies now include Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids for coat and skin health, provide special diets for large-breed puppies, or tout the addition of anti-oxidants and herbs in their formulas. (See sidebar.)

Proponents of the BARF diet do not believe that these changes in commercial formulas give dog owners enough leeway in planning dog diets or provide appropriate nutrition for many dogs. They encourage dog owners to experiment with a broad variety of raw foods and judge whether their dogs appear healthier and more energetic on the BARF diet than on the commercial diet.

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Long-term

There are beginning to be some nutritional analyses of BARF and some cases of disease or deficiency have appeared in dogs fed the raw meat diet. Two veterinarians who specialize in canine nutrition reported in the AKC Gazette(1) that some of the diets they analyzed were low or deficient in some nutrients. Letters to the editor in a subsequent Gazette(2) issue, however, disputed portions of the article.

Some veterinarians have expressed doubt about feeding bones to dogs, but BARF believers counter that fear with the assertion that cooked bones tend to splinter and cause damage, but raw bones are safe. Other veterinarians and health experts have expressed concern about bacterial contamination in raw meat diets, especially E. coli and Salmonella, and Freeman and Michel found substantial E. coli contamination in one of the diets they analyzed for their report. Both E. coli and Salmonella organisms can infect other animals and people, so even though the majority of dogs may not exhibit symptoms, they can none-the-less pass the contamination to other animals or people. Serious outbreaks of these diseases can kill or debilitate children, the elderly, and individuals with compromised immune systems.(3)

The best judge of diet is the condition of the dog. Some dogs with low energy, allergies, skin problems, and other symptoms have increased pep and stamina, shiny coats, healthy skin, and a general increase in well-being when switched to the BARF diet, but many dogs do well on premium commercial diets, especially those that are highly digestible and include fatty acid supplements. Dog owners need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of both.

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Books

Along with Billinghurst’s books and seminar, those considering a switch to a home-prepared diet for pets or show dogs can find information in Dr. Pitcairn’s Guide to natural Health for Dogs and Cat; The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog by Wendy Volhard and Kerry Brown DVM; and The Collins Guide to Dog Nutrition by Donald Collins DVM.

Other sources of information include research conducted by the Iams Company and Purina. Scientists at these companies are leaders in canine nutrition studies and development of commercial diets.

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Notes

1. “The raw deal,” by Lisa M. Freeman DVM, PhD, and Kathryn E. Michel, DVM, MS; AKC Gazette, April 2001. This article also appeared in slightly different form as “Nutritional analysis of five types of raw food diets” in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, March 1, 2001.
2. Letters to the editor, AKC Gazette, June 2001.
3. See Salmonellosis, page 120-121, Merck Veterinary Manual 8th edition edited by Susan E. Aiello BS, DVM, ELS, and Salmonellosis, pages 364-65, UC Davis Book of Dogs edited by Mordecai Segal..

Norma Bennett Woolf