IntroductionBuying a puppy from a pet store could be one of the most phenomenal moments of a life. Unfortunately, puppy mills sell their malnourished dogs to pet stores. Puppy mills are huge kennels where purebred puppies are crowded into unsanitary housing without food. Dogs who have done nothing wrong to this world do not deserve to live in these conditions. The number of puppy mills is increasing and must be stopped by adopting dogs from shelters, not buying puppies from pet stores, and implementing stricter laws. General Information As more and more dogs are sold, puppy mills get bigger and bigger. One of the main reasons puppy mills have become such a big problem is the high demand for dogs. People have a high demand for purebred dogs (Patience Coster, 34-35). Asking for a certain type of breed will encourage puppy mills to flourish. This will just allow them to make more money. Since high demand gave puppy mills a reason to work, dogs began to be sold online. Buying a dog online can get you scammed. You will not know the condition of the dog until you receive it and pay for it. Puppy mills began to spread all over the world. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that there are as many as 10,000 puppy mills in the United States. In each puppy mill there can be over 1,000 dogs. This represents a total of 10,000,000 dogs living in unfair conditions. Of these 10,000 puppy mills, only 2,000 to 3,000 are breeders approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (Puppy Mill FAQ, www.aspca.org). This only represents 20%. It's really impossible to keep track of them all and know how many there actually are. Pet stores are just as guilty as puppy mills. Pet stores will...... middle of paper...... or don't end up making it. Elizabeth Parker said in her book Paw Prints in the Sand: “A dog is not a thing. One thing is replaceable. A dog is not. One thing is disposable. A dog is not. A thing has no heart. A dog's heart is bigger than any "thing" you can own. (Parker, Paw Prints in the Sand) Works CitedCoster, Patience. Animal rights. New York: Rosen Central, 2013. Print “Laws That Protect Dogs in Puppy Mills.” PHAC. Internet. March 13, 2014. “Puppy Mill FAQ.” PHAC. Internet. March 14, 2014. “Why You Should Never Buy a Puppy Online.” PHAC. Internet. March 13, 2014. Yount, Lisa. Animal rights. New York: Facts on File, 2004. Print.