Many shoppers of The Pittsburgh Mills know the cute little pet store with puppies and other animals on display as you walk past the store front. This store, Petland, is not at all as innocent as you think. In fact, the chain has been caught on multiple occasions for mistreating their puppies to the point that veterinary assistance is useless.

Its no secret that the dogs on display in the stores are not being taken care of properly. However, many consumers do not know the extent of it. The first and most obvious problems are the health conditions that many of the dogs have.

The dogs pictured above are far too emaciated to be healthy. Although the brand uses the tag line, "The health and well-being of our pets comes first for all of us at Petland." What a line of bullshit. There are hundreds of stories out on the internet from people claiming their newly purchased pet is living with a disease or illness, which came straight from Petland. The chain even goes as far as stating, "Petland is proud of its commitment to animal welfare and to the quality of its pets," but does this look like they're sticking to their commitment to you?

There is no doubt that the dogs being sold in these pet stores come straight from puppy mills. Every year, hundred of puppy mills get shut down because of the animal cruelty that goes on in them. Sadly, thousands of dogs suffer and die every year before these mills are even shut down. Stores like Petland purchase dogs from puppy mills for a small price compared to what they are charging consumers from their stores. Actually, customers who purchase dogs from Petland can pay up to six times more than the company paid for the dog. Although it may seem like your just buying a cute little puppy, what you are really doing is helping to keep these stores and puppy mills running. Not only will these businesses continue, thousands of more dogs will continue to suffer because of consumers' uneducated purchases.

No body wants to see any dog have the life these dogs do. By purchasing even the smallest item from Petland you are helping to keep these puppy mills open. However, you shouldn't just simply sit around and wait for the abuse to stop. By reporting animal abuse and bad living conditions to the police when you see it, it will help to take down the chain of stores and mills one by one. Although we have a long way to go by attacking one store at a time, each store that is no longer able to buy from puppy mills can stop hundreds of animals from the abuse, sicknesses, diseases, pain and terrible living conditions thousands of animals go through everyday.