Chances are if you love playing with cute puppies you've found yourself inside a pet store such as Petland before. Of course, these puppies are so cute and adorable you just want to take every single one of them home. And if you have taken one of them home, I am not bashing you for it, I mean, after all, you've given a dog a loving home.

But do you know what these cute little puppies lived in before they were put on display in a little box with no blanket? Have you ever really thought about where exactly these puppies even came from before they were put into these windows? Well, it's a fact that 99 percent of pet store puppies have come from a puppy mill. Most people who have shopped for a puppy before really don't know about the conditions they have lived in before they came to the store. Most puppies come in sick, but pet stores just bypass that because they are in it for the money... just like the owners of the horrible puppy mills.

Most likely the dog that you played with at a pet store came from a puppy mill. A puppy mill is "an establishment that breeds puppies for sale, typically on an intensive basis in conditions regarded as inhumane." According to statistics from Madonna at the Mills, there are around 35,000 pet stores in America. Owners of puppy mills make more than $300,000 breeding dogs more than two times a year who spend their whole lives in tiny cages with no human contact. If you do not know what a puppy mill looks like, I encourage you to Google a picture of it. I bet you, it will begin to change your outlook on the cute puppies on offer at pet stores.

According to the ASPCA, approximately 7.6 million pets enter animal shelters each year nationwide. Roughly 3.9 million of those animals are dogs and 3.4 million are cats. Each year, 2.7 million are euthanized. Of those entering the shelters, 35 percent are adopted to their "fur-ever" homes, while 31 percent are euthanized. Only 26 percent of dogs who come in as strays are returned to their homes. Of the kitties entering the shelters, 37 percent are adopted, while 41 percent are euthanized. Less than 5 percent of cats who are strays are returned home.

You may think, "Aren't I saving this puppy when I purchase it at the pet store?" Well, yes, you are in a way "saving" it, but you are also supporting puppy mills by giving them your thousands of dollars for the puppy. Pet stores also charge an outrageous amount of money--$1,000 for a puppy is a lot, and think about all the toys and food you could buy for a shelter puppy whose adoption fee is only about $75.

So the next time you are out shopping and you find yourself in a pet store looking for a puppy, think of the shelter dogs that are awaiting their fur-ever home and help put a stop to puppy mills by rescuing a dog that will most likely rescue you in return.