At Oasis Animal Rescue and Education Center, our role in the Durham region community is to ensure the protection and care of any domestic animal that is abandoned, displaced or homeless.

By building awareness of industries that make a detrimental contribution to the lives of domestic pets, we can work towards preventing future problems.

Last week as we were preparing information on puppy mills, we were disappointed to learn that a puppy mill was uncovered in Clarington. With hard work and the power of social media, perhaps one day we can stop these puppy mill businesses from existing.

The following is the first of our three blog posts highlighting
the “no love” world of puppy mills.

Puppy mills are a big, dirty business.

You’re buying a new puppy from your local pet store, which is big and airy, well stocked, and surprisingly clean. The staff are helpful and, seemingly, knowledgeable. The dog comes from ‘Canadian Breeders’ and the salesperson assures you the puppy is registered with the CKC (Continental Kennel Club).

It all sounds very impressive, and ultimately, what does it matter? What do you know, or care, of dog registries? The sale was a done deal the minute you cuddled that wiggly fat body and looked into those trusting puppy eyes. What could go wrong?

A better question would be: what has already gone wrong?

A lot, as it turns out. For starters, the beautiful new family member you bought at a pet store is from a puppy mill. Not might be from a puppy mill; is from a puppy mill.

For the uninitiated, puppy mills are factory farms whose sole purpose is to breed puppies. Adult dogs live in overcrowded and often filthy conditions. Confined to tiny cages, they’re malnourished and bred relentlessly in living conditions that, not surprisingly, also breed disease and pain.

As a commodity, the unfortunate inhabitants of these hellish mills are valued only for the amount of profit they provide their unscrupulous owners. There’s no love here – no happy rambling walks, no doggy treats, no ‘man’s best friend’ bond between human and dog that we so arrogantly take for granted. (Great for us, it seems – not so great for them.) Thousands of innocent dogs in North America live their short lives out in wretched conditions, breeding litter after litter to subsidize the profit margin at your local pet store.

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Part 2 of our Puppy Mills Are A Big, Dirty Business looks further at the CKC – Continental Kennel Club. Are their initials deceiving?

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 Photos courtesy of tejasanimalrefuge.ca