Oprah Exposes Puppy Mills: But is America Listening?

It seems that anything Oprah turns her attention to these days is bound to not only get exposure to millions of people, but to engender action. The featured topics are vigorously discussed around the water cooler and in homes, organizations receive donations from around the world, and authors are instantly catapulted into the rarified stratosphere of the Times Best Sellers list. Careers are made, causes championed, and wrongs exposed. So when I heard that Oprah was going to discuss puppy mills, I was thrilled.

The show centered around an undercover investigation by reporter Lisa Ling, who had used hidden cameras to obtain footage of the conditions and practices of various puppy mills. It was horrific. Puppies were crammed into cages with wire flooring, stacked one on top of another. Many looked sick, frightened, and downright miserable. There was plenty of barking and fighting, and of course, plenty of breeding. Females were bred every heat cycle until they were no longer viable. Many were then shot. Replacements were brought in. And the beat went on. Pups were sold, cleaned up, and displayed in pet stores around the country, where the general public would ooh, aah, and fork over wads of cash for the adorable, wriggling bundles of fur.

From the expressions on the faces in the audience, it was clear that many had no idea this type of puppy factory even existed. I’m sure many home viewers were shocked as well, not having realized what they were supporting when they brought adorable Fifi home from that trendy pet store at the mall. Of course, many dog professionals, rescuers and enthusiasts have known about this atrocity for years. The problem is that not only does no one seem to be doing anything about it on a national regulatory level, but the general public, who could easily shut the mills down via lack of demand, seem instead to be shutting their eyes to the problem.

Many years ago I taught group classes through a local pet store. From the time I started, I knew puppies were being sold. Each pup had an index card posted on its glass case indicating the breed, the price, and the breeder. In my ignorance, I truly believed that the pups came from legitimate breeders; after all, it disclosed the breeders’ names and locations, and the manager had assured me that unlike other pet stores, these really were breeders who he had an arrangement with and who he knew personally. But over time I began to notice that the same breeders’ names showed up again and again. A place that breeds that many different types of dogs and those sheer numbers is not a caring breeding facility; it is a puppy mill. Although I cut ties with the store, I was embarrassed to have been so easily duped. But the experience did help me to understand how the public is fooled on a regular basis. Many pet store environments are nice, clean, and downright cheerful. The dogs are groomed, adorable, and seem happy and friendly. But while it’s true that some of the pups have lovely temperaments and are healthy as little horses, many, due to genetics, early experience, or conditions at the mill, are ill and/or have an unsuitable temperament for the average pet-owning home.

It’s one thing not to be informed, and quite another to be aware and knowingly justify buying a dog from a pet store. I got a call just two days after the Oprah show aired from a woman wanting training for her five-month-old Chihuahua. She’d recently purchased him at a local pet store. In the course of our training session I mentioned as gently as possible that while her puppy was wonderful, I wondered whether she was aware that over 99 percent of dogs sold in pet stores actually come from puppy mills. I expected shock, or at least mild surprise. Instead, she said, “Oh, I know. But I felt like somehow I was saving him by buying him.” Sure, it’s true that she was saving him from sitting in the pet store window a while longer, and maybe missing out on some socialization. But what she was really doing, like so many others, was enabling the puppy mill industry to keep churning out pup after pup.

Sadly, that’s exactly what we, the dog-buying public, have become: enablers. And it has to stop. “Oh, but he was so cute!” just doesn’t cut it anymore. Impulse buying is no excuse to support the atrocities that are happening behind the scenes every minute of every day. For every adorable pup sitting in that window, there are a hundred others lying in their own filth, suffering. Supply and demand rules our capitalistic society, and if we all stopped purchasing pet store puppies, the demand would dry up. Problem solved. And it’s so easy! We don’t have to take to the streets in protest; we don’t have to donate money; hell, we don’t even have to pick up the phone. All we have to do is stop purchasing pups from pet stores. There are plenty of wonderful, healthy, deserving puppies and adult dogs sitting in shelters and rescues across the country who would love a good home, many of whom will be euthanized if one is not found. For those who want a purebred pup, there are breeders who care about their breed, and plan litters carefully and sensibly. With these options, knowing what we know, there is no excuse. It’s time for dog lovers to stop ignoring the puppy mill atrocity and do something about it.