Do you ever wonder where all those cute puppies at the pet store in the mall were before and how they got there?
Most of the puppies that end up being sold to pet stores were once being bred in unsanitary conditions in a puppy mill. Puppy mills are places where puppies are bred in mass quantities and sold to pet stores.
 Puppy mills can breed ten to a thousand puppies at once, often times in unsanitary conditions.​ Photo provided by Flickr.com.Â
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Many of the puppies being bred in puppy mills have more psychological problems such as anxiety, aggression, and fear. They can also develop more health problems due to insufficient food, water, and veterinary care. Â
Puppy mills will continue to operate until we stop supporting them. Buying a dog from a store that receives their animals through a puppy mill supports the puppy mill industry.
Instead of adopting from a pet store, go to your local animal shelter and adopt a rescue animal. Adopting a rescue can help open up a spot at the shelter for another animal to fill. Also, it saved your animal from the possibility of being euthanized if they don’t get adopted soon enough.  According to NBC Chicago, some animals stay at the shelter for six to eight weeks. Adopting a dog from an animal shelter helps fight against puppy mills and their inhumane practices.
When looking into buying a new furry friends, adopt a rescue animal and change that animal’s life by giving it the love and care it deserves.