In today’s society, we are blind to many things when it comes to pet stores. One of the biggest things that pet stores hide from us is where they get those adorable puppies that we love so much. The harsh reality of it is that they get the puppies from puppy mills. As of now, there are over 10,000 puppy mills operating across the United States breeding dogs endlessly in harsh conditions just to make some cash off of people buying their dogs in pet stores. At these puppy mills, the dogs are kept in horrific conditions like being trapped in small cages for their entire life, receiving the minimal amount of food and water required by the AWA (Animal welfare act), and becoming soaked in their urine and feces. The reason the dogs are treated this bad at the puppy mills is due …show more content…
The dogs most frequently rescued from these puppy mills are old females who no longer can produce, puppies who are sick, and dogs who are injured or disabled in some way. These dogs are most commonly rescued because the owners don’t have a use for them and were planning on getting rid of them in his or her way but, since someone wanted them, they were given away. That doesn’t mean that all puppy mill owners are willing to give away the dogs they no longer want but, there are some that will. In my opinion, I do not have an issue with people owning a lot of dogs for breeding and selling the puppies for money. The problem I have is that the AWA standards for these breeding facilities aren’t high enough to consider the dog's health, safety, and well being. I also have an issue with the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) because they are supposed to be enforcing the regulations but, they apparently aren’t doing a good enough job considering there are still many puppy mills getting away with not following the AWA