Oprah had a wonderful show on April 4th, about what exactly goes on in Puppy Mills. It highlighted how buying a purebreed or mixed-breed puppy at a pet store or Internet site often supports a cruel industry.  The reason is because these pets are from puppy mills.  Puppy Mills is an operation that forces "breeder dogs" to produce litter after litter to support the demand for puppies.  The puppies may have a variety of diseases and illnesses.  Some puppies die within weeks of purchase.  The puppy mills are nothing new, they have been around for decades. Life is particularly bad for "breeding stock," dogs who live their entire lives in cages and are continually bred for years, without human companionship and with little hope of ever becoming part of a family. These dogs receive little or no veterinary care and never see a bed, a treat or a toy. After their fertility wanes, breeding animals are commonly killed, abandoned or sold to another mill. The annual result of all this breeding is hundreds of thousands of puppies, many with behavior and/or health problems.

Oprah had a couple on her show Lisa Ling and Bill, and they actually went out an investigated what happens in these puppy mills. They had a hidden camera and alot was shown in detail.  According to the Humane Society of the United States, there may be as many as 10,000 puppy mills operating across the United States.  Many of the dogs that are born in puppy mills end up in pet stores, or are sold on the internet. What puppy mills are doing is not legal. Lisa and Bill visited many puppy mills.  They found Lab puppies' mother in a small mud-filled pen.  Her teats are swollen because of the many litters of puppies. In another puppy mill they find 30 to 40 dogs in wire-floored rabbit cages stacked to the ceiling in a room that reeks of urine and feces. The worst thing they witnessed at one if the breeders' property is that he has dogs running on wheels in fan casings. Bill says. The contraptions look like big gerbil wheels. "[The breeder] claims that it's good for them because they get exercise," Bill says.At another breeder's facility, Lisa and Bill see outdoor cages that house scores of Pomeranians. Not only have those dogs probably never been out of those small cages, it's likely that they remain outside even in bad weather and could die from exposure.
The outcome is that Bill rescued dozens of dogs that he and Lisa visited in puppy mills. One reason puppy mill owners keep their dogs in such conditions is cultural. "They don't regard dogs in the same way that others may. They believe man is to dominate animals," Lisa says. "A number of them didn't seem like they realized that what they were doing was inhumane because in their culture … that is what they're supposed to be. And the fact is, there is a market for puppies in America." Thanks to Oprah, the cruelty of puppy mills is being brought into the spotlight. Oprah says "If you are thinking about adopting a new pet, make your first stop the local shelter or animal rescue office. "You can find any kind of dog you want, any age you want, at a shelter or rescue,"