Here's what it is (it's different in Word).
Puppy Mills
www.stoppuppymills.org
Puppy mills are mass breeding facilities, selling 300,000 to 500,000 puppies every year. The puppies are sold to the public via the Internet, newspaper ads, at the mill itself, or to brokers and pet shops across the country.
Known problems of puppy mills include over-breeding, in-breeding, lack of food and water, little or no contact with humans, abuse, overcrowded cages, and the brutal killing of unwanted animals. To the unknowing customer, this often means buying a puppy facing horrible, sometimes deadly, health problems. Many puppies from puppy mills often have serious behavioral problems, like “cage fury” where the dog runs in circles to relieve boredom.
Unfortunately, many dogs spend their entire lives living in mills. The reason? To produce more puppies. These “brood bitches” are repeatedly bred, and either abandoned or brutally killed once they can no longer produce more puppies.
Thousands of puppy mills exist in the United States of America. Many states have rules for mills, such as animals must be provided with food, water, shelter, and veterinary care, and that a female can be bred no more than twice a year. But many mill owners break these rules.
Pet Shops: They aren’t helping any
PIJAC (Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council) estimate that around 3,500 to 3,700 of the 11,500 to 12,000 U.S. pet stores sell cats and dogs. PIJAC estimates that 300,000 to 400,000 puppies are sold each year by pet shops, while the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates 500,000
Purebreed registration papers only state the recorded lineage of a dog. Accuracy of the reported lineage cannot be guaranteed. The American Kennel Club (AKC), the most widely recognized purebred dog registry, readily notes that it "is not itself involved in the sale of dogs and cannot therefore guarantee the health and quality of dogs in its registry."
Over-population
Puppy mills have helped America’s over-population problem. That is, they’ve helped euthanize more and more animals every year. 11,000,000 dogs and cats are needlessly euthanized every single year. Their only fault? Not having a home. Puppy mills do add to the problem. For every mill dog sold, a shelter dog is euthanized. Every 9 seconds, an animal is euthanized. We have human stupidity and puppy and kitten mills to thank for that.
www.itsmeowornever.org/homeless.html
www.justonelitter.com
www.stoppuppymills.org