Attention Dog Lovers: 5 Reasons Why the Puppy Mill Crisis Affects Us All, and How You Can Be Part of the Solution

SAN DIEGO, July 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Uptown Puppies believes that breeders and buyers shouldn't be the only ones with a say in the dog breeding industry. What about the puppies?

Once upon a time, buying a puppy was a simple affair?if slightly inconvenient. Your family would pile in the car, visit a couple local breeders, and bring home the cutest puppy. The internet changed everything.

Now, buying a new dog means sorting through online listings, often choosing dogs you've never met in person from people who could be down the street or across the country. With that distance and anonymity, bad breeders and unethical puppy mills are flourishing.

The Internet has given these businesses countless outlets and marketplaces to peddle their unhealthy, mistreated animals. Dogs and dog-lovers suffer for it. What's worse, the puppy mill industry is probably a lot bigger than you think...

Over 2.2 million puppy mill dogs are born every year.

Of these sickly, poorly raised animals, countless wind up in animal shelters or are abandoned by their owners, leading to rescue overcrowding and eventually being euthanized.

There are more than 10,000 puppy mills in the United States.

That's an average of 200 per state, meaning you may live right down the street from one.

The AKC loves (and profits from) puppy mills. 

It's estimated that nearly 80% of the AKC's profits come from puppy mills. Purebred puppy mill dogs can easily be registered with the AKC for a fee, providing a false sense of security for dog buyers and a fat paycheck to the American Kennel Club.

Puppy mill dogs are far from "cheap."

Although a major draw of puppy mill pups is that they're inexpensive, these dogs are overwhelmingly sickly and poorly bred?leading to major health complications, behavioral issues, and an average of $5000 in extra vet bills for their owners.

Puppy mill dogs die young.

Few things in life are as painful as losing a beloved pet, but that's exactly what mill dog owners are forced to deal with far too often. Puppies raised in mills are plagued by health problems and are taken from their owners far too soon.

We need your help.

The Internet might have created an environment where bad breeders can thrive, but the Internet also gives us a solution.

We love dogs, and we love the people who love those dogs, too. That's why we decided to create a place where ethical breeders and dog businesses are rewarded for their love and care, and where awesome families (like yours) can find the perfect puppy with zero doubt about the health and happiness of their dog.

We provide a free MatchMaker service that helps connect dog-seeking families with the best puppy matches from our nationwide network of loving, ethical, and strictly vetted businesses and breeders. In fact, less than 10% of applicants are admitted to the Uptown network.

Every puppy's family adopt through our network is another dog who won't know the misery of a puppy mill, and helps put us one step closer to a world free of unethical breeders.

SOURCE Uptown Puppies