Thanks so much to Mary O’Connor Shaver at Columbus Top Dogs and Kelli Ohrtman at the Best Friends Animal Society for this article.

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Many have heard of the USDA (it’s stamped on organic food labels, meat labels, and other everyday grocery store items), and many have heard of puppy mills. But the fact that puppy mills are regulated by the USDA is a little-known fact to most people.

The US Department of Agriculture seems like a strange entity to be in charge of regulating the puppy industry, but that’s how it works. To be clearer, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) is the arm of the USDA in charge of regulating puppy mills under the Animal Welfare Act. There are currently 5,913 dog breeders and brokers with USDA licenses. People often wonder whether there is a list of all the puppy mills in the country. Well, the USDA is the first place to look.

In April, Oprah Winfrey aired an hour-long show about puppy mills, and the same day, the USDA published a FAQ on animal dealers. Note the paragraph below on the left—the first frequently asked question: “who regulates puppy mills?” Answer: the USDA.
**Note that the USDA has since changed the language to read Who regulates commercial dog breeders?

For a list of USDA licensed commercial dog breeders (or puppy mills—call them what you like), click here.

What many people also don’t realize is that under the Freedom of Information Act, we are all entitled to view not just a breeder’s name and address, but their inspection reports are included as well. Curious about a breeder? Order their inspection reports. You can do it online by clicking here.

What’s NOT inspected by the USDA?
-Retail pet stores. The USDA only regulates the supply end—the breeders.
-Puppy sales on the Internet, classified ads, flea markets. NO regulation
-Small-scale breeders who have three or fewer breeding female dogs. NO regulation

70 inspectors for 10,000 facilities
In addition to inspecting and watching over commercial dog kennels, APHIS inspectors are also in charge of inspecting research facilities, zoos and circuses, airport terminals—they are in charge of inspecting the care, handling and housing of everything from dogs to dolphins. This document, published on APHIS’ website, has this to say about the inspectors themselves:

“[Animal Care] inspectors receive special training in the proper care of marine mammals, exotic animals, and animals used in research. Inspectors also receive extensive training in how to conduct inspections at airport terminals, zoos, and commercial animal breeding facilities, among others. APHIS currently has more than 70 AC inspectors in the United States, who are strategically placed where regulated facilities are located.”

The total number of active licensed facilities listed on the APHIS website is 9,883. At first glance, seventy inspectors for nearly 10,000 facilities sounds like a miniscule number of people doing a colossal job but if you do the math, it adds up to about one facility per day per inspector.

What compliance means with the AWA
It’s important to note exactly what inspectors are looking for when they arrive at a USDA licensed kennel. Their job is to make sure breeders are adhering to the minimum standards set forth by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). They can look at a facility with hundreds of dogs in small cages, desperate for human attention, and note no violations.

That’s because the AWA does nothing to ensure dogs are happy, or live a quality life. It’s not written into the regulations, and therefore is not something the USDA enforces. Here are some quick facts about the minimum standards set forth by the USDA:

-Inspections are “Risk-based,” meaning that facilities that meet a certain criteria are inspected “as seldom as once every 2 to 3 years.” ( source)
-Cage size: must be 6 inches larger than the size of the dog, on all sides
-Up to 12 dogs can be housed in one cage
-Dogs never have to be let out of their cages. Breeders only need to have an exercise plan
-There is no limit to the number dogs a breeder can have—many have over 1,000
-There is no age limit for breeding dogs. If a dog is able to produce puppies for ten years, that’s how long they could be in the facility
For the full text of the federal Animal Welfare Regulations, click here.

Bad Kennels Stay in Business
One of the most common complaints about the USDA from animal advocates is that breeders can have repeated and long-standing violations, but continue to sell hundreds of puppies to pet stores. Below are several reports of large, USDA-licensed Minnesota kennels that have multiple USDA violations and dozens of reports of sick puppies sold in stores. Click the links below to see the reports, courtesy of Pet Shop Puppies Inc.

Note that some have even been investigated by local news stations and have been charged with animal cruelty by the state. (**Note, the top of the report includes puppies the breeder has sold, and the bottom includes USDA inspection violations, news exposés and other investigations, if any.)

Wanda McDuffee

Angie & Gerry Wensmann

Kathy Bauck

What all this means, and what you can do:

1.) Support new legislation that will amend the Animal Welfare Act. The Puppy Uniform Protection Act (PUPS) is on the docket for the 2008-2009 session. Click here for more information (**For one example of a notorious kennel that currently does not need a USDA license under the AWA, visit this case on the CAPS website.)

2.) Watch and share the Best Friends Podcast about the USDA and puppy mills: Click here to view. You can also subscribe to the podcast for regular video updates.

3.) USDA-licensed kennels supply pet stores. If you disagree with the way the USDA regulates these kennels, never, ever buy a puppy from a pet store. Share this article and the podcast with others who might not know about the pet store/puppy mill connection.

4.) Test your knowledge of the USDA’s regulation of puppy mills with this online quiz from www.PetShopPuppies.org.

5.) If you know people who don’t understand or believe where pet store puppies come from, print this article and have them take it to a pet store and ask whether the puppies in the store come from USDA-licensed kennels. (The answer—legally—is yes.)

6.) For nine things you can do to help stop puppy mills, visit the Resources section of the Best Friends campaign website.

Great news (from the ASPCA website)…

“Trying to shed its reputation as “The Puppy Mill Capital of the East,” the Pennsylvania Legislature on Wednesday night passed HB 2525, a bill that will improve the lives of tens of thousands of dogs living in Pennsylvania’s puppy mills.

Introduced in May, HB 2525 doubles the cage space required for dogs in Pennsylvania’s commercial breeding facilities, prohibits wire flooring and the stacking of cages, mandates exercise and twice-yearly veterinary exams for all dogs, and requires that animals be humanely euthanized by licensed veterinarians.

The ASPCA has been working with the Governor’s Office and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for over three years to increase enforcement and standards of care for dogs in the state’s commercial kennels. We lobbied for passage of HB 2525 by activating the Pennsylvania members of the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade and by spending much of the past several months in Harrisburg, the state capital, promoting the bill to legislators. Governor Ed Rendell signed HB 2525 into law the day after it was passed.”

The ASPCA website goes on to say this: “Although we are not pleased with some of the amendments that were added to the final bill…This legislation will have an enormously positive impact on the lives of tens of thousands of dogs in Pennsylvania’s puppy mills.”

The Humane Society of the United States also worked hard in getting this bill passed in PA. According to them, “Raids of puppy mills during the last few months – including one last week that is reputedly the largest in state history − have shown how critical this legislation is for the well-being of dogs in less-reputable kennels. Pennsylvania is considered one of the worst puppy mill states in the nation.”

This is a HUGE step towards accepting the reality of and existence of puppy mills, which so many local and state governments avoid touching. If PA can do it, so can Ohio, Missouri and other puppy mill-heavy states.

What do you think about this legislation? Do you think other states will follow suit? Do you think it’s enough to combat the problem of puppy mills?

Thanks to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) for this information (from a press release) and to Mary O’Connor Shaver with Columbus Top Dogs.

Federal lawmakers have introduced a bill that will crack down on abusive puppy mills. The legislation seeks to close loopholes in the Animal Welfare Act that allow Internet breeders to sell puppies without Federal oversight.

“The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund commend federal lawmakers for introducing bills that will crack down on abusive “puppy mills” in the United States — where breeding dogs are often stacked in wire cages for years to produce litter after litter. The legislation will close a loophole in the Animal Welfare Act that currently allows large, commercial breeders who sell puppies online and directly to the public to escape licensing and regulation.

The legislation — known as the “Puppy Uniform Protection Statute” (PUPS), or “Baby’s Bill” in honor of rescued puppy mill survivor Baby who is the subject of Jana Kohl’s new book A Rare Breed of Love — was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday as H.R. 6949 by Reps. Sam Farr (D-Calif.), Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and Terry Everett (R-Ala.). A companion bill was also introduced in the Senate by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.).

The bills also require that dogs used for breeding be removed from their cages for exercise every day. Female breeding dogs in puppy mills are typically forced to live their entire lives in small cages with no opportunity for exercise, no socialization, and little human interaction.

“Dogs are not livestock, and they shouldn’t be treated like a cash crop,” said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The Humane Society of the United States and president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “We are grateful to federal lawmakers for introducing this legislation to curb the worst abuses in the puppy mill industry. It’s a much-needed upgrade to our nation’s laws that protect man’s best friend from cruelty and harm.”

Facilities that breed dogs for commercial resale through pet stores are required to be licensed and inspected under the federal Animal Welfare Act. But thanks to a gaping exception in the law, puppy mills that sell directly to the public are exempt from any federal oversight whatsoever. Unregulated Internet sellers and other direct sales facilities sell thousands of puppies a year to unsuspecting consumers. Due to improper care, their puppies are often sick, leaving outraged consumers with frail, sometimes dying puppies and high vet bills. Meanwhile, the breeding dogs at these facilities often spend their entire lives in constant confinement and deprivation.

“Sadly, finding your puppy online may well increase the chance that you’ll be buying from a puppy mill,” said Sen. Durbin. “Our bill simply requires that breeders obtain a license from the USDA if they raise more than 50 dogs in a 12-month period and sell directly to the public and sets forth reasonable standards of care for commercial breeders. Responsible dog breeders are not the target of this legislation, but hopefully it will put the puppy mills out of business.”

“My work supporting puppy mill regulation goes back to my time in the California Assembly where I championed California’s puppy mill law,” Rep. Farr said. “I think it’s very important that Congress take the time to address issues like animal welfare. These are the kinds of issues that really demonstrate who we are as a society.”

“I’m proud to join with Congressman Farr and representatives of The Humane Society of the United States today as we continue our efforts to ensure that commercial dog breeders are appropriately regulated,” added Rep. Gerlach. “Our bill, the PUPS Act, will close a loophole in current law that allows large breeding operations avoid any and all oversight. I am confident that this bill will not hinder the operation of reputable and responsible breeders. Instead, it is aimed at protecting dogs and making individuals who are motivated by profit over the fair and humane treatment of dogs accountable for their actions.”

The legislation will close the loophole in the AWA that allows thousands of commercial breeders to go unregulated. It will require the following changes to the AWA:

- All dog breeders who sell more than 50 puppies per year directly to the public will be federally licensed and inspected; and
- Dogs at commercial breeding facilities must be given the opportunity to exercise for 60 minutes a day.
- The bill will not affect small breeders and hobby breeders who sell fewer than 50 dogs per year directly to the public, but is crafted to cover only the largest commercial breeding facilities.

Public concern about the inhumane conditions typical in puppy mills is at an all-time high, due to coverage on national television and several large-scale cruelty investigations and rescues from puppy mills this summer that The HSUS and local shelters spearheaded. Earlier this year, the Farm Bill passed by Congress included a new provision to ban the importation of puppies under six months old from puppy mills in China, Russia, Mexico and other foreign countries. ”

Speaking of puppy mills, activists throughout the country came together this past Saturday for National Puppy Mill Awareness Day. Read the USA Today article here and the Best Friends article here.

On September 20th, animal welfare advocates, volunteers, animal-lovers and pet charities alike are supporting organizers from the state of Ohio who are partaking in a very important national event: Puppy Mill Awareness Day.

Puppy Mill Awareness Day makes it easy and fun to help raise awareness with downloadable flyers, lawn signs, sample letters to newspaper editors, t-shirts, buttons and more! On PMAD, you can meet up with event organizers and volunteers to hand out flyers and information to people who need to know the truth about puppy mills and the pet trade. You’ll give out information about pet adoption options (so people don’t go to the pet store!) and basic information about puppy mills. (All the materials are positive and educational.)

The PMAD website also recommends the following activities leading up to Puppy Mill Awareness Day:

- Join a meetup group in your area (or start one). Meet and join others who want to educate the community about puppy mills by handing out flyers, tabling at PetSmart, PetCo and other animal-friendly businesses that don’t sell puppies. If you live in Ohio and want to join the campaign, click here. Visit the PMAD website for a list of currently participating cities.

- Send a Letter to the Editor at your local newspaper about Puppy Mill Awareness Day. You can download a guide and sample letter, as I said above, on the PMAD website.

- Hang a flyer at work, the grocery store, the dog park, veterinarian’s office, groomer etc. There are flyers available for download on the PMAD website.

- Organize a pet store protest in your area. Click here to learn how.

For all kinds of other information and more details, visit the Puppy Mill Awareness Day website.

PLEASE CROSS POST!

This is perhaps one of the most important petitions we can all sign. It calls for a boycott of all Amish products until they stop their inhumane and disturbing practices of running puppy mills.

Thanks so much to Dogster’s For the Love of Dog Blog for this information.

Here’s more information from the Boycott Amish products until puppy mills are discontinued petition.

“To: Amish & Mennonite puppy mills
I will boycott all Amish products until puppy mills are stopped. This is greed in its worst form and this is how consumers make their demands known. I simply will not buy Amish products while this practice continues.”

And before you start saying that boycotting Amish products will affect people who aren’t participating in puppy mills, think again. Amish communities are very closed to and extremely disinterested in what they call the “English.” That’s all of us, btw. Unless their leadership declares puppy mills are off limits, the Amish puppy millers will keep up their dirty work. The only way to convince these puppy millers to quit is to make the whole practice very expensive to the WHOLE community.

I received this email from Wayne Pacelle, author of A Humane Nation (the United States Humane Society (USHS) blog) and CEO of the USHS. Wayne distributed this informative email after Oprah Winfrey last week featured an expose on the horrible puppy mill industry (and problem) across the United States. Her broadcast reached millions across the country, undoubtedly encouraging thousands of people into action.

Wanye released this email to newsletter members on Seven Things You Can Do to Stop Puppy Mills after Oprah’s show aired.

Undercover footage showed dogs in filthy, overcrowded conditions, where they are confined for their entire lives, without human companionship or adequate veterinary care. These dogs are often killed once their reproductive capacity wanes.

The HSUS has been investigating and fighting against puppy mills for decades. With your help, we can advance our fight to stop puppy mills and the tragic consequences of pet overpopulation. You’ve already shown your commitment to help stop puppy mills by signing our Stop Puppy Mills pledge.

Here’s more that you can do right now:

	If you are thinking of bringing a new dog into the family, or know someone who is, request a free copy of our puppy buyer’s guide for information on how to find reputable breeders, shelters, and rescue groups.
	Ask your federal legislators to crack down on puppy mills.
	Get the word out about puppy mills: write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Visit StopPuppyMills.org to educate yourself.
	Download one of our Stop Puppy Mills campaign badges or banners to your own MySpace or Facebook page, blog, or website.
	Did you adopt your canine companion from a rescue group or shelter? Then order our Proud to Adopt care package.
	Download Puppy Mill Cruelty flyers and post them or give them out at your neighborhood dog park, to engage fellow dog owners and help spread the word.
	Help us place advertisements and billboards to spread the word about puppy mill cruelty.

The puppy mill industry will thrive as long as consumers are kept in the dark about the “mass production” of purebred and designer dogs. With your help, we’ll shed light on the cruelty of puppy mills and put them out of business for good. We can’t do it without your help!

 

Thanks again to Wayne Pacelle for this information. Visit Wayne’s wonderful blog for all kinds of information, tips and updates on animals in the news and legislation for animal welfare.

As a Cleveland, Ohio native I like to keep abreast of animal welfare issues locally and regionally.

A friend of mine who owns/runs the Ohio chapter of Russell Rescue Inc. and her own Multiple Breed Rescue recently informed me that Ohio is the second-largest purveyor of puppy mills in the country.

Although sickened I was not surprised.

Wayne Pacelle, CEO of The Humane Society of the United States mentioned in his blog, A Humane Nation last November that Ohio is an “enclave”for puppy mills.  And heart4animals.com mentions that its been over 30 years since an actual amendment to the Federal Animal Welfare Act imposed standards on wholesale breeders. That leaves the door wide open for so-called “dog farmers” to continue the horrid and repeated abuse and neglect of dogs in mills.

Last fall I encountered one of these puppy mills and also found a separate mill dog chained to a garbage heap. Albeit a small one, the mill was for purebred German Shepherds. It was located in “apple country” across the street from an orchard that my sister and I sought out for fresh-from-the-tree apples. We were nostalgic about the apple orchard; it was a favorite Sunday activity when we were kids.

We were having a great time until we became disillusioned at the site of a massive garbage heap in the middle of the orchard. We immediately dumped the apples. The heap had been burned and was filled with old food cans, beer bottles, various metal scraps, burned pumpkins, trash, and paraphernalia that we couldn’t identify.

Our dogs, who were running free, sniffed around and were grossed out so they did a perimeter check. They would normally greet any other person or dog with open paws and wagging tails. When they first sniffed out poor Ruby (as her nametag suggested) on the heap, however, they came back around to us with tails between legs and droopy drawers faces. 

Against my better judgment I approached the dog. She seemed friendly enough and was itching for me to come to her. I was horrified to find her chafed and bloody neck from the choker chain confining her. Her ribs were poking out of her body. She was whimpering. I got the choker off her neck and it was like she hadn’t run free in years. She politely thanked me then took off running through the rows of trees panting away, ears blowing in the wind.

We asked the orchard owners and employees about the dog and they said they didn’t know what we were talking about and it must be a stray. Yeah right.

I immediately called the local chapter of the Animal Protective League (APL). In the meantime my sister and I repeatedly went back to try to take Ruby. We left TONS of food all over the place for her. She just wouldn’t come to us though.

The APL couldn’t get an officer out until two days later. I imagine they were quite busy with similar complaints and they are greatly understaffed in Ohio. The owner wouldn’t call the officer back at first.  The officer just went out there after a couple more days and the orchard owner denied having the dog. The officer persisted and the owner said it was his dog but that he had let her go months ago.

Let her go? More like chained her to the garbage in the middle of the orchard to die of starvation and hypothermia.

We found out the next day after the APL had made an effort to capture Ruby that the owner went out into the orchard and shot and killed her. Ruby, undoubtedly a product of one of the many surrounding mills, had just found freedom again. And he killed her rather than dealing with the consequences. He even showed the officer her body.

As for the German Shepherd “breeder” across the street? We lodged complaints with multiple local animal welfare agencies and groups and no one could do a thing. They are so understaffed and the problem is so rampant here that it’s hard to make a dent in the issue. Those shepherds were chained to a cement pad in the backyard, males separated from females. They howled when a car drove up. They paced around their cages. They had no water and no food. They looked pathetic. It w as obvious that they were either inbred or being used for breeding again and again and again. Why a person would buy a dog from there I cannot understand. Most likely those pups went to pet stores.

I think many animal fanatics subscribe to the theory that pet shops and puppy mills are close buddies. When one buys a pet from a pet shop, or even shops for pet supplies there they are (hopefully unknowingly) contributing to a heartless underground industry that forces dogs to spend their entire lives in small cages on cold cement floors. They are underfed and under-watered and are constantly bred to support “consumer demand” for puppies according to www.StopPuppyMills.com.

Do not be fooled by breeders and websites claiming the best of the best and showing green, lush surroundings and healthy looking animals. It’s usually quite another story if you go directly to a breeder after most of the dogs have been taken. Animals who don’t get adopted are sent to pet stores, left to die, or sometimes even sold to the black market trade for medical laboratory testing (which I will be writing an entirely separate post about soon).

And according to the Humane Society of the United States, websites “allow puppy millers to cut out the middlemen by selling directly to consumers. Not only is this more profitable, but in most states it allows the puppy mill to avoid being inspected by government agencies.”

There are tons of shelters and breed rescue groups that have dogs waiting for adoption. Contact the Humane Society of the United States Companion Animals staff at 202.452.1100 for help finding one. Or visit www.PuppyBuyersGuide.com for help finding a breeder who isn’t running a puppy mill.

If you live locally in Northern Ohio and want to support a local rescue organization, visit www.crazywfarm.com for Russell Rescue Inc. (for the cutest Jack Russell Terriers), and Multiple Breed Rescue, a shelter for all types of breeds. The shelter is clean with tons of open space, and the dogs are very well taken care of.

For more information on the Humane Society’s puppy mill undercover investigation efforts, visit Pacelle’s A Humane Nation, one of my favorite blogs.

Go to www.StopPuppyMills.com to sign a pledge to spread the word about deadly mills. Word-of-mouth is the best and most proven form of advertising and the more signatures the better.

One last thing – never stop at Miller Orchard in Amherst, Ohio for apples, cider or pumpkins.