The Petland Puppy Mills Update: From In Defense of Animals

First, some background for those of you who may not know.

WHAT IS A PUPPY MILL?

While many people may be familiar with the term “puppy mill,” the industry and government regulators dismiss the horrors associated with them. Puppy mills are facilities which are licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture that mass-produce puppies for pet stores throughout the country and to emerging foreign markets. At present a USDA license is required for anyone with four or more “intact bitches” although federal officials are considering raising the number of animals held to as many as 60 without a USDA license. Puppies are subjected to horrific conditions from birth and during transport from breeder, to broker, to pet stores hundreds of miles from where their life began. The breeding “stock” suffers a constant misery living in small cramped cages often soiled with their own excrement.

A few Midwestern states are home to the largest concentration of puppy mills in the country, and Missouri is by far the worst offender. Many of the operators of these puppy mills hold other jobs and utilize mass-production methods to produce what they and government regulators consider an agricultural commodity. In a typical puppy mill, the dogs are fed in the morning and again in the evening. Cleaning, sanitation and general maintenance are addressed as time permits, usually during the weekend, if at all. Most of these facilities are in rural areas and are family operated to supplement a modest family income. In previous years USDA inspectors conducted at least one unannounced inspection per year at these facilities, however, federal authorities have recently adopted a risk based inspection program. Operators are given the opportunity to correct non-compliant items (technically violations of federal law) that are disclosed during the inspection. If upon re-inspection the violation or “non-compliant item” is not corrected, enforcement action should be taken in an effort to improve conditions at the facility. Inspection policies have deteriorated to such an extent that operators of these facilities can operate indefinitely with repeated disclosure of “non-compliant items.” The emphasis has dramatically shifted from the “welfare” of the animals to commerce. A factor that no doubt has contributed to this phenomenon is the decline in small family farms.

Humane organizations, animal advocacy groups and consumers are outraged at USDA’s lax enforcement of federal regulations as they have prompted substantial growth in the number of puppy mills over the past several years. To avoid the stigma of being called puppy mill facilities, many breeders invested thousands of dollars in facilities that surpassed USDA’s minimum standards. Unfortunately lax enforcement policies have allowed sub- or minimum-standard operators to compete and ultimately diminish profit margins for the better facility operators, forcing many of them out of business.

Today the average puppy mill will house between 75 and 150 breeding animals, most housed in hutch-style cages with wire floors. The fecal matter drops to the ground below and waste accumulates beneath the cage, providing a haven for flies and other vermin. Even with fairly prompt removal of waste, the ground becomes permeated with stench as the urine cannot be raked away. Dogs housed in indoor facilities endure an equally deplorable existence with ammonia vapors and odors permeating poorly ventilated buildings. Rodents, flies and other pests plague the animals almost constantly. Solid surfaces are supposed to protect the legs of puppies; however, as they mature and scout out their surroundings, feet and legs often fall through wire floors. The resulting injuries compound their misery. Their soft coats of fur become soiled with the fecal matter that didn’t drop through the cage, adding insult to injury.

At 8 weeks of age puppies are “harvested” and cleaned up for the trip to the broker. They are bathed to clean up feces and odors they have endured during their brief lives in the puppy mill. Pus is wiped from their sad and scared eyes just before they are shoved into whatever is convenient – with any luck an approved shipping container. Some will perish, and others will be rejected by the broker only to be held back for breeding stock. Many others will be killed for their lack of monetary value and some may even be sold for research. The survivors can be seen at your local pet store, but the emotional scars and irresponsible animal husbandry can bring misery into your home instead of anticipated joy.

If you have any compassion at all for the animals bred and raised under these miserable conditions, stay out of pet stores. Each puppy purchased from a pet store serves an industry with no conscience and virtually no enforcement by USDA. Thousands of unwanted animals of all ages and breeds are euthanized at shelters every day. Adopt and spay or neuter a shelter animal or rescued companion animal, and do your part to help end the plight of unseen thousands housed in puppy mills throughout the country.

Pet stores acquire their puppies from “puppy mills,” literal factories where breeding dogs live their entire lives cramped in filthy cages. While millions of forgotten dogs (and other animals) are killed in our nation’s shelters, the unfortunate dogs in puppy mills are forced to produce litter after litter until they die. Even though our nation’s shelters are overflowing with unwanted animals – an amazing twenty-five percent of which are purebred dogs – puppy mills continue to generate millions of dollars for the unscrupulous pet industry.

In an effort to break this tide of misery and death, IDA is targeting Petland, the nation’s largest pet store chain, and a major retailer of puppies, kittens, and other small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs.

IDA has documented shipments of puppies to Petland stores – they operate an amazing 123 stores in the U.S. and 57 more foreign outlets – from large Midwestern puppy mill breeders and dealers. One Petland supplier, Do-Bo-Tri Kennels, recently surrendered over 140 puppies to authorities in Nashville, TN after the puppies had been left unattended overnight inside a vehicle with no air-conditioning. Charges against the driver were eventually dropped after the dealer agreed to relinquish custody of the puppies.

Puppies are routinely shipped overland by truck or by air as cargo, often traveling hundreds of miles to pet shops across the country. Injuries and fatalities en route to pet stores are common and deplorable, yet they pale in comparison to the conditions their parents endure until their death at the mills. The euthanasia of millions of animals at shelters due to a lack of adoptive families compounds the tragedy of mill animals enduring a miserable existence to satiate the demand for their offspring.

While the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is responsible for inspection and enforcement of regulations pursuant to the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), conditions for animals at these federally licensed facilities range from bad to worse.

Do-Bo-Tri Kennels, a major supplier of Petland puppies, has been repeatedly charged with violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

IDA is looking for former or current employees and customers of Petland

Successful Petland Protest

who have information to share about the poor conditions in which their animals are kept.

Please write to IDA with information.

After 75 weeks of continuous Saturday protests, the Petland in St. Louis (located in Heritage plaza at Olive and Ross), closed on March 31, 2004. We hope this victory will inspire and motivate everyone to keep the Petland protests Campaign going nationwide.

While millions of forgotten animals are killed in our nation’s shelters, the unfortunate dogs in puppy mills are forced to produce litter after litter until they die. Stores that sell puppies acquire them from “puppy mills,” factories where breeding dogs live their entire lives cramped in filthy cages. Even though our nation’s shelters are overflowing with animals–an amazing twenty-five percent of whom are purebred–puppy mills continue to generate millions of dollars for the unscrupulous “pet” industry.

In an effort to break this tide of misery and death, IDA will continue targeting Petland, the nation’s largest pet store chain, and a major retailer of puppies, kittens, and other small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs. IDA is seeking dedicated activists to organize campaigns against Petland in various cities.
If you are interested in joining this campaign, contact:

In Defense of Animals
Director of Investigations
In Defense of Animals
phone: (415) 388-9641
idainfo@idausa.org

Click here for Petland locations and campaign contacts.