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Pet stops are a very popular place to shop for young puppies and other animals of your choice. There is a pet store on almost every corner in every cit. And it is difficult to resist that cute and desperate looking puppy caged up waiting to be taken to your house. But before you make this decision you really should know a little bit of information about these pet stops and the origins of the puppies they sell.

Ever heard of a puppy mill?

Do you know where most of these puppies actually come from that you see being sold in pet shops? There are certain breeding centers that have high-volume puppy production which sells them to pet shops, which then is sold then sold to you, of course. They are called "puppy mills" and are probably the most repulsive form of dog breeding practices that I have ever witnessed in my entire life.

My Disclaimer: Let me be clear on one thing up for you: Not every pet stop gets their puppies from puppy mills, but enough research has been conducted to find that a large majority of shops in the USA do in fact use puppy mills as their resource for pets to sell to the public.

So, what exactly are puppy mills?

To put it in easier terms, a puppy mill is a farm that is found most often in the Midwestern part of the United States. These farms actually breed animals for money and they mostly breed dogs. That may not sound that cruel but imagine these puppies being bred in high volumes and mistreated in the same way that cattle or chickens are. Now I'm not saying that all farms that breed dogs are like this ' I'm referring to the majority.

If that doesn't give you a disturbing vision, then imagine cages stacked upon cages with these small adorable little puppies, all suffering and being ignored. Again, I'm not talking about all farms. Now picture rows and rows of these dog filled cages, all with very minimal human contact and the only care they are getting is enough food and water to survive. You can easily find photos by doing research on the Internet which would absolutely break your heart.

What is so horrible about buying a puppy that originated from a puppy mill?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking home one of these puppies, and it is definitely a positive choice to make. No, I'm not contradicting myself; I'm just shedding a little light on the subject of puppy mills. On the other hand, many of these dogs have what is called Early Stress Syndrome (ESS) and may grow up to be extremely nervous and frightened dogs which are very hard to instill confidence when training them. Of course there are exceptions to the rule with these puppies, however, before you spend your hard-earned money just make sure that you understand that there is to know about where your puppy came from when considering buying one from a pet stop.