Puppy mill
[4] The Veterinary Medical Association of the Humane Society of the United States defines the main characteristics of a puppy mill as "emphasis on quantity over quality, indiscriminate breeding, continuous confinement, lack of human contact and environmental enrichment, poor husbandry, and minimal to no veterinary care.
Puppy mill dogs are usually housed in a small, wire cages similar to rabbit hutches and chicken coops.
As the surviving mill dogs grow older, they are more prone to developing respiratory ailments and pneumonia, as well as hereditary defects such as hip dysplasia.
[15] In addition, mill dogs are more prone to having problems with their temperament due to lack of socialization, enrichment, and positive human contact.
[21] The conditions in puppy mills are considered inhumane because all of the dogs are in a small, dirty area which is confined with disease and bacteria.
[3][25] As a result, organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States began to investigate breeding kennels, leading to the passage of the Animal Welfare Act of August 24, 1966.
[citation needed] A high concentration of both puppy mills and breeders has been reported in the states of Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.
[37] The term "puppy mill" has been widely used by animal rights groups in protests against breeders who have substandard breeding conditions.
Critics in the breeder community claim that emotional rhetoric, sensationalism and pictures of dirty kennels are used to justify additional legislation or additional restrictive licensing that travels well beyond the initial goal of removing dogs from truly deplorable conditions,[4] or that attempts to legislate puppy mills would put them out of business.
They argue the laws requiring additional costs in updating and maintaining their facility and licensing would be detrimental to the dogs in their care.
[38] In recent years, state legislatures have passed new laws aimed at eliminating the worst abuses at puppy mills.
In 2010, Missouri voters passed Proposition B, the "Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act", which establishes minimum standards of humane care and limits breeders to 50 intact dogs.
Humane Society of Missouri President Kathy Warnick reacted favorably, seeing a step in the right direction for animal welfare.
[41] Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has responded to the problem of puppy mills in Australia by proposing the Animals Regulation of Sale Bill.
To prevent this a new law is planned banning the sale of puppies and kittens below the age of 6 months in England except by licensed breeders and rehoming centres.
[48] Lucy's Law, which came into effect in April 2020, is intended to prevent puppy (and kitten) farming by banning third-party sales such as in pet shops.
[49][50] Chelsea Vancleve v. Chien Et Chat, Inc. stated, "In 2014, the Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against Barkworks, a Southern California pet store chain with six locations."
They were also making illegal breeder licenses, "fabricating breeding certificates and lying about providing veterinary care" The Animal Defense Fund made a complaint in 2015 that could have turned into a class action.
"Barkworks had taken down the misleading in-store signs and closed four of its six retail stores, and the California legislature had passed a law banning the sale of dogs from commercial breeders.
The following day, Congress urged the USDA to restore the records as part of a report accompanying the agency's 2018 spending bill.
The lawsuit claims that the USDA purposefully has chosen to ignore violations which then go unreported and unpunished which has resulted in not a single penalty filed against a commercial dog dealer since 2017 despite overwhelming evidence of cruelty.
