Puppy Mills: Misery FOR Sale - inhumane treatment of dogs and puppies in so-called 'puppy mills'

Animals, Sept, 2000 by Pamela H. Sacks

Meanwhile action on other fronts has engendered controversy within the dog world itself. Last May the Doris Day Animal League filed a lawsuit against the USDA, claiming that it fails "to halt cruel and inhumane practices in puppy mills throughout the United States" by exempting dealers who sell directly to the public. "The facts are that a hobby breeder can be just as rotten a protector of animals as a large commercial breeder," says Holly Hazard, the league's executive director. "People have told us they have seen dogs starved, puppies frozen in the snow, and sick puppies, all brought to the attention of USDA officials. Their reaction is, `We're sorry. We don't cover it.'" Not surprisingly, the lawsuit has raised the hackles of breeders who view themselves as sources of well-bred and well-socialized pets.

Virginia Rowland, president of the Massachusetts Federation of Dog Clubs, notes that the USDA cannot adequately investigate the wholesale operators, much less people with a couple of breeding females. Those familiar with the law say that because the USDA'a authority falls under the Interstate Commerce Act, it has no power to regulate retail dealers. Hazard, for her part, maintains that while the federal agency's first priority must be the wholesale mills, the language of the law does not differentiate on the basis of breeder type.

As the analysts assess responsibility for the nation's puppy problem, they are finding no shortage of culprits. Some advocates say that the AKC, which keeps the nation's oldest record of lineage for dogs, must shoulder a share of the blame because its certificates have often gone to poorly bred mill puppies. The AKC, which holds that it functions as a registry and cannot guarantee the health or quality of a puppy, nevertheless appears to have responded to some of the concerns by introducing routine kennel checks and DNA testing for frequently used sires.

"Inspection has definitely come more to the forefront of our organization in the last three years," says AKC spokeswoman Nancy Matlock. In an illustration of the pressures involved, those moves have prompted a sharp reaction from the Missouri Pet Breeders Association, which sent a letter to its members this year recommending that they no longer apply for AKC registration papers.

While all this plays out in the background, business is still booming at the neighborhood pet store. The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council estimates that 3,700 of the nation's 11,500 pet shops sell 300,000 to 400,000 puppies a year--and according to the HSUS, 90 percent of these puppies come from out-of-state mills. "I've seen a lot of them come in," says MSPCA law enforcement officer Zita Macinanti. "They sit in airports and then get to the pet store and sit in the back room terrified. Then they're put up for sale, and people think they're cute little puppies." Even sadder, she says, are the ones that do not make it into the window. At one store she saw puppies with cropped ears still bleeding. At another, she found several so ill with parvovirus that they had to be put to sleep right away.