A new website, called The Precious Puppy, is Uncle Bill's in disguise, though the site never mentions Uncle Bill's by name.  They use all of the common puppy-peddler ploys to market their wares to unsuspecting Internet customers.  But those cute puppies in your web browser have a sad history, a history Uncle Bill's and other Internet sellers will never tell you about.  When visiting the site, you will notice that:

• Their puppies are for "adoption," not for sale.

• If you want to read "testimonials" you are taken to a page that asks you to submit a testimonial.  If/when they add actual testimonials, seldom will these contain the full contact information so that you can speak with other customers directly.

• Instead of telling you who their breeders are, they attempt to convince you that their breeders are not puppy mills.
• There is always a large selection of puppies.
• The puppies are dressed up, posed with props, or have ribbons and bows in their fur.
• The parents of the puppies are never shown, nor are the cages they will live in for their entire lives.

• The site claims that the term "puppy mill" is used by animal rights activists to further their agenda and garner public support.  In truth, the term is used to differentiate between responsible dog breeders who would NEVER sell their puppies to pet stores, never caring about the future of the puppy.  "Responsible" breeders take responsibility for the puppies they produce and their dogs are not their "cash crop." 

• The site gives its own definition of the puppy mill, quite simply saying that it is a breeder that doesn't provide for the needs of their dogs.  What exactly do dogs need to survive?  Food, water, and shelter from extreme conditions.  As long as these needs are met, dogs will produce puppies and puppy mills seldom give consideration to the emotional needs of dogs. 

• The site acknowledges that dogs are social animals, but makes no connection to the human/animal bond.  They state that dogs need other dogs, and in a puppy mill situation, that's exactly what they get, a barn or shed crammed full of other dogs, with little or no human contact, and most certainly no human companionship. 

• The site recognizes the need for veterinary care, but in an ingenious stroke of the keyboard, they have turned the veterinary needs of the breeding dogs, into an excuse for selling sick puppies.  Puppy mill dogs suffer from a variety of illnesses that go untreated on a regular basis.  They lack grooming, nail trimming, dental care, and in many cases, they are not treated for genetic conditions, such as mange, hernias, heart murmurs, etc.

• The site states the puppy mills are "criminal organizations."  Is that true?  Sadly, in most cases it is not true.  Puppy mills, even those regulated on state and federal levels, need only to provide the three basic needs of survival - food, water and shelter. 

• The site also refers to the exercise needs of dogs.  To illustrate how inhumane the exercise requirements in federal licensed puppy mills are, we offer up this proof:  The USDA regulations require that dogs be given exercise.  They determined that in order to meet the exercise needs of dogs, a puppy miller must provide a cage that is double the minimum standard.  The minimum standard is an equation that measures the length of the dog, and then requires the breeder to allow SIX INCHES more cage space than the length of the dog.  Furthermore, USDA decided that two dogs in the same cage was considered "exercise" and therefore each dog only needed that six inches of space to meet the exercise requirement.  Lastly, for those breeders that didn't want to double the cage size, or put more than one dog in a cage, USDA requires that they have an "exercise plan" on file, though there is no requirement that the plan be followed, and no way to know if a breeder is following the plan.

Puppy mills are real, they are legal, and there are thousands of them operating within the law in this country.  NEVER buy a puppy without seeing the conditions it is raised in, and the life the parents of that puppy must live.  As the economy continues to decline, many pet stores are using online sales tactics to peddle their puppies and even more consumers are duped into thinking their puppies come from humane and "reputable" sources.  Uncle Bill's and other pet stores in Indiana already have the "home field" advantage in their state because of the lack of laws to regulate them, but Internet sales extend their advantage even further.  Consumers living in other states where "puppy lemon laws" may exist to protect them (note, THEM, not the adult breeding dogs that suffer in mills around the country) do not apply, because the prevailing law in litigation is the law in the state where the seller lives. 

Even armed with the above knowledge, many people that purchase puppies from pet stores report that their purchase was based on the fact that pet stores simply can not LIE or DECEIVE the public.  Indeed, there are several fair-business laws on the books meant to protect consumers, but let's really look at the claims pet stores make.  Are they lies?  Are they deceptions?  Or do they simply rely on the consumer's ignorance and the pet stores own interpretation of what breeding dogs should be treated like?

They claim to visit breeders' facilities.
Translation-- We do this so that you, the consumer, will never know the truth.  By telling you that we visit facilities, you put your trust in us, never knowing that our criteria is based on making money, not ensuring that dogs live humanely.  We don't like it if customers ask us if they can visit a facility, and we seldom give the location of the breeder.  Our business depends on keeping you in the dark about the true horrors of puppy mills!

They claim breeders must provide proper sanitation.
Translation-- Our breeders must hose down the urine and feces that falls between the wire-bottom floors that breeding dogs live in their entire lives.
 

They claim dogs must be given adequate space.
Translation--Dogs are confined to cages that can provide as little space as 6 inches longer and wider than the length of the dog and 6 inches above its head. It is not required that the dogs ever leave their cage.
 

They claim dogs and puppies must be healthy.
Translation-- Dogs must be healthy enough to produce puppies, meaning they must have a healthy uterus and at least one testicle.  Puppies need to be healthy enough to get out the door of the store.
 

Breeders must "partner" with a veterinarian.
Translation-- USDA requires a veterinarian of record must be one file at the breeders' facilities.  This nice little clause saves our breeders tens of thousands of dollars in veterinary expenses and most certainly any hint of animal cruelty or neglect.  When USDA passed the buck on health care to a single page document that a paid veterinarian could sign, it eliminated any requirements that breeders must follow to provide even the most basic of health needs for dogs.
 

Breeders must keep records and practice breeding protocols. 
Translation-- ...but little does the public know that these records are never required to be passed on to them!  Furthermore, breeding "protocols" are established by common practices seen in livestock. 
 

Breeders must be in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. 
Translation-- And our business thrives on our customers knowing absolutely nothing about this 40 year old law that does nothing to protect animals.  The law, in short, gives puppy mills the right to abuse animals!
 

Breeders are judged on competency, not on the quantity.
Translation-- Just don't bother to ask us about the competency of the dogs, or how they feel about being crammed, hundreds to one small building, and bred repeatedly until they die!
 

Breeders must address situations that arise.
Translation--  The consumer will never see the conditions breeding dogs are kept in, so there is no risk of addressing those situations.  They will also never see all of our sales records, they'll never see the same dogs' names coming up over and over again on different litters of puppies churned out every 6 months. 

PLEASE DON'T BE FOOLED BY ONLINE PET STORES.  THEY ARE JUST A FRONT FOR PUPPY MILLS AND INDISCRIMINATE BREEDERS!