Photo: We Animals 

Behind the wagging tails of beloved family pets lies a grim reality: every year, 2.6 million puppies are born in the United States in cruel breeding operations known as puppy mills.

These large-scale businesses are essentially dog factories that prioritize profit over animal welfare. In many cases, dogs are kept in overcrowded cages, without adequate food, water, or veterinary care. Often conditions are filthy, disease runs rampant, and puppies are sold to unsuspecting buyers with hidden health problems.

For mother dogs, the suffering is even worse. These sweet animals, who often start breeding at just a little older than puppies themselves, are treated as nothing more than breeding machines, forced to produce litter after litter with no rest. Typically confined to small cages for their entire lives, they rarely feel grass under their paws or experience basic kindness. Once their bodies are worn out and they can no longer reproduce, many are euthanized, sold at auctions, or left to languish in animal shelters.

What makes this cruelty even worse is that the American Kennel Club (AKC)— the nation’s largest and most recognized dog registry — helps legitimize and sustain puppy mills.

In animal shelters in the United States, 359,000 dogs are euthanized each year, 25% of them being purebreds, many of whom originate from puppy mills. With an estimated 10,000 puppy mills operating across the country, the problem is particularly rampant in states like Missouri and Iowa. Missouri, in particular, has ranked as the state with the highest number of puppy mills in the Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States) Horrible Hundred Report for 12 years in a row.

The Horrible Hundred Report lists 100 problem puppy breeders and dealers in the United States. Their most recent report found that at least nine of the worst puppy dealers have sold dogs to Petland, which means unsuspecting dog lovers around the country are buying puppies born into these horrific breeding operations.

The 2024 Horrible Hundred Report also found that the American Kennel Club has ties to more than 20 of the worst puppy mills in the country — shameful for an organization that claims to be a champion of dog welfare and whose motto is “Everything we do we do for the dogs.” This is far from true.

The AKC gains revenue from registering puppies and litters, regardless of how or where the dogs were bred, and has opposed numerous laws across the country that would improve protections for dogs in commercial breeding operations. Many Americans falsely believe that if their dog is “AKC-registered,” it must come from a reputable breeder. Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth.

The AKC should be ashamed for helping to prop up this cruel industry. If they truly care about dogs, they must immediately stop registering dogs from puppy mills and take a stand against unethical breeders.

Take Action Now

Please join Species Unite in telling the AKC it is time for them to cut all ties with puppy mills and stop enabling this cruelty.

Further Action:

The best way to take a stand for dogs is to adopt, not shop, when you next expand your family with a new companion animal. Across the United States, hundreds of thousands of purebred dogs are waiting in shelters for forever homes — along with countless mixed-breed dogs, equally deserving of love. You have the power to make all the difference for a wonderful dog in need and help end the system of cruel overbreeding that puts so many dogs in jeopardy.