Puppy Mills contain horror, filth and inhumane practices. In January 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina, a puppy mill house was busted. What the Humane Society of the United States found was atrocious and wrong. Feces littered the floor, and dogs were put in small wire cages with barely enough room to move. Over 100 malnourished and diseased dogs, along with puppies who were weaned too soon, were taken out of that house in Charlotte. This is where you are getting your puppy from if you buy from a pet store.

If you do not know what a puppy mill is, it is a simple concept. A puppy mill is a back-yard breeding site that breeds in inhumane conditions and are usually unlicensed to do so. It is an evil practice that treats dogs as objects for profit, not as lovable companions.

There is a huge difference between a dog being offered for adoption and a dog being sold in a pet store. Most dogs sold in pet stores come from puppy mills. Adoption is always a better answer as you are saving a life, because the dogs usually come from shelters or rescue agencies. Now, some dogs that you can buy from pet stores are from breeders with an honest background or are purebred breeders (normally expensive), but if the store has no information on the background of the dog, or very little, or you find the dog through an ad online, this could be a sign of a puppy mill dog. Usually you are also dealing with a puppy mill seller if they ask to meet in the parking lot or ask you little to no questions about your background or home life. Why is this? Instead of caring about the dogs and whether they go to good homes or not, they only want the profit.

Buying from pet stores also means you are supporting the underground black market for dogs. These dogs are usually ill trained with a variety of problems. The Humane Society of the United States gets thousands of complaints a year from people who buy dogs instead of adopt. However, the only way to truly break the puppy mill market is with the voices of society. If you suspect there is a puppy mill or your friend gets a puppy with a "surprise" case of cataracts or mouth infections, then report it immediately. It starts with you. As a society, we can stop puppy mills if we keep complaining and keep pushing for safe practices. Do it for our furry best friends.

The inhumane practices of puppy mills truly breaks my heart. NO animal should be treated with cruelty and neglect. NO animal should never see the light of day nor feel the touch of a loving owner. It all starts with us. We can break the cycle of puppy mills, so please adopt, don't shop.