Puppy Mill Facts || Campaign Updates || Resources || What You Can Do

Pet stores acquire their puppies from "puppy mills," literal factories where breeding dogs live their entire lives cramped in filthy cages. While millions of forgotten dogs (and other animals) are killed in our nation’s shelters, the unfortunate dogs in puppy mills are forced to produce litter after litter until they die. Even though our nation's shelters are overflowing with unwanted animals – an amazing twenty-five percent of which are purebred dogs – puppy mills continue to generate millions of dollars for the unscrupulous pet industry.

In an effort to break this tide of misery and death, IDA is targeting Petland, the nation’s largest pet store chain, and a major retailer of puppies, kittens, and other small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs.

IDA has documented shipments of puppies to Petland stores – they operate an amazing 123 stores in the U.S. and 57 more foreign outlets – from large Midwestern puppy mill breeders and dealers. One Petland supplier, Do-Bo-Tri Kennels, recently surrendered over 140 puppies to authorities in Nashville, TN after the puppies had been left unattended overnight inside a vehicle with no air-conditioning. Charges against the driver were eventually dropped after the dealer agreed to relinquish custody of the puppies.

Puppies are routinely shipped overland by truck or by air as cargo, often traveling hundreds of miles to pet shops across the country. Injuries and fatalities en route to pet stores are common and deplorable, yet they pale in comparison to the conditions their parents endure until their death at the mills. The euthanasia of millions of animals at shelters due to a lack of adoptive families compounds the tragedy of mill animals enduring a miserable existence to satiate the demand for their offspring.

While the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is responsible for inspection and enforcement of regulations pursuant to the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), conditions for animals at these federally licensed facilities range from bad to worse.

Do-Bo-Tri Kennels, a major supplier of Petland puppies, has been repeatedly charged with violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

IDA is looking for former or current employees and customers of Petland who have information to share about the poor conditions in which their animals are kept.

Please write to IDA with information.