Puppy farms or mills produce dogs under poor welfare conditions with inadequate socialization, health care, and maternal care, causing lifelong welfare consequences for the dogs they produce.
Puppy farms cause welfare harm at multiple levels. Breeding dogs live in chronic deprivation with inadequate space, social contact, and veterinary care for their entire productive lives. Puppies are weaned too early and miss the critical socialization window leading to lifelong fear-based behavioral problems. Health problems from inadequate veterinary care and infection control cause suffering in individual puppies and devastating heartbreak and expense for their buyers. The suffering is compounded by the deception involved in selling puppy farm dogs as healthy, well-socialized pets. Consumer decisions about where to source dogs are a critical lever for reducing the commercial incentives driving puppy farming.