Right now, millions of adult dogs are suffering on the "production line" in America's puppy mills. Their sole purpose is to breed and make money for their owners. They live in tiny, wire-bottomed cages, in squalid conditions, with little human contact and often no veterinary care. It is no life for man's best friend.

Meanwhile, roughly 11,000 animals are euthanized in America's shelters every day.

The goal of Best Friends' Puppy Mill Initiatives is to create a world of No More Homeless Pets by fighting against puppy mills and irresponsible breeding. Our campaign team saves lives by holding peaceful demonstrations at pet stores that sell puppies from mills, educating consumers about the inhumane conditions in puppy mills, encouraging people to adopt rather than buy pets, and advocating for better laws to combat puppy mills.

Please join us in working toward a day when all of America's pets have what they deserve: good care, safety and love from a family of their own.

How Best Friends fights puppy mills:

Education: Educating consumers about the horrors of puppy mills increases awareness and decreases the demand for puppy mill puppies. When consumers learn the truth about puppy mills and pet stores that sell them, they make informed choices. We reach thousands of people through our peaceful demonstrations, action kits, printed materials, volunteer-staffed booths at events around the country, humane education in schools, public service announcements, podcasts and websites. Best Friends action kits give you the tools to help stop pet stores from selling puppy mill dogs in your community, making it possible to reach more people than ever.

Decrease in puppy sales in pet stores: Most dogs sold in pet stores are from puppy mills. In 2008, Best Friends launched its first Puppy Mill Initiatives local program in Los Angeles, aimed at stopping the sale of puppies from irresponsible breeders in stores and increasing adoptions. We have since expanded our efforts throughout the country.  We advocate switching to a humane model, encouraging stores to stop selling pets from commercial breeders and to have rescued pets available in the store for adoption. Best Friends targets the issue from multiple angles: We conduct peaceful demonstrations in front of pet stores, investigate puppy suppliers, and work with local governments to clamp down on puppy mills.

Pup My Ride: In some areas of the country, dogs are killed by the thousands either because they're no longer productive breeders for puppy mill operators or because they were unlucky enough to land in an overpopulated shelter. In other parts of the country, shelters and rescue groups can't provide enough of those types of dogs to keep up with demand. The answer? Pup My Ride: A Best Friends program to get dogs out of shelters and puppy mills and into areas where they are most likely to find their forever homes. We deliver the pups to local partners with highly successful adoption programs capable of finding homes for many dogs at a time.

Some transports focus on the forgotten animals, produced for the pet shop trade, who don't make it to retail outlets. These include older breeder dogs and puppies with "defects" in the eyes of the mill owners. Other transports focus on rescuing dogs from overcrowded shelters in locations where their breeds simply aren't popular.

Puppy mill busts and legislation: When possible, Best Friends helps prosecutors, state departments of agriculture, sheriff’s departments and humane societies to close the worst puppy mills. We have helped thousands of dogs get out of puppy mills in several states. In addition to closing puppy mills, Best Friends works with state, city and county governments to better regulate commercial breeding in order to prevent puppy mills.  With the help of our partners and members, Best Friends is doing this work in many states.

Collaboration with others: Best Friends employees work with people around the country to fight puppy mills. Here are some of the ways we do this:

• Assisting groups with closing down or prosecuting puppy mills when violations are found
• Promoting other groups’ events, demonstrations and petitions through our website
• Calling on Best Friends members for help during rescue situations
• Helping individuals report suspected illegal puppy mills to the proper local authorities
• Helping organizations find proper placement for dogs removed from puppy mill busts
• Giving funds to organizations for specific projects or cases

How can you support Puppy Mill Initiatives?

• Never buy a puppy online or in a pet store or from classified ads.
• Adopt your next dog or puppy from a shelter or rescue group.
• Have your dog spayed or neutered.
• Support stronger dog breeder laws.
• Stage your own peaceful pet store demonstration.
• Become a Best Friends volunteer.
• Donate to the Puppy Mill Initiatives.

For more information

If you want to know more about Puppy Mill Initiatives, e-mail puppiesarentproducts@bestfriends.org.

Puppy Mill Initiatives is part of Best Friends’ mission to bring about a time when there are No More Homeless Pets.