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For decades, there has been an alarming lack of data surrounding the pet acquisition industry, specifically as it relates to the dog breeding and sales sector. Once Bailing Out Benji realized this was an issue, we began to widen our scope of research away from just tracking the breeders who sell to pet stores. For years that was the nationwide focus for most in this space, but we knew that by taking a deeper look into the commercial dog breeding and sales world, we would be able to find measurable ways to track progress and make suggestions on areas that need attention. We began tracking state-licensed pet breeders and dealers, in addition to the USDA facilities that we had been tracking. We also expanded our work to cover online brokering websites and facilities that supply dog brokers, to provide a fuller picture of the issues that the commercial dog breeding world faces.
After analyzing 5 years’ worth of data on licensed dog and cat breeders (both federal and state) and 3 years of data on which breeders are supplying pet stores, we feel confident that we have the most conclusive results in the industry.
Through our research, we have been able to determine what the current national averages are for licensed breeders who have violations, licensed breeders and brokers who supply pet stores, licensed breeders who supply brokers, and licensed breeders and brokers who sell through online brokering websites.
This research is the first of its kind and is unique to our organization, while all of the data could be independently verified through research requests.
NATIONAL AVERAGES FOR THE COMMERCIAL PET INDUSTRY
[41%] of the licensed breeders we are tracking have state or federal violations in the last 5 years. This number is based on the data of 4,445 dog and cat licensed breeders across the United States (both federal and state).
[36%] of the licensed breeders who supplied pet stores in the last three years had state or federal violations. This number is based on the sales data and inspection reports of the 1,946 dog breeders that are currently selling to pet stores. Reflected separately from this data is reporting on breeders who supply brokers who then resell to pet stores.
[34%] of breeders that we have found to be supplying dog brokers in the last three years had state or federal violations. This is preliminary data and does not reflect every breeder who sells through brokers. We are continuing to track this part of the industry and will update the statistics if and when meaningful fluctuations occur.
[63%] of puppy stores that we are tracking over the last three years have purchased puppies from breeders or brokers with violations. This number is based on the 542 puppy stores that we have linked to breeders and brokers. Missing from the data are the stores that share owners and don’t receive shipments directly.
[42%] of the licensed breeders we have found to be supplying online brokering websites or online marketplaces had state or federal violations. This is preliminary data and does not reflect every licensee who sells through online brokers. This number does not reflect all licensed or unlicensed breeders that are selling through brokering websites. We are continuing to track this part of the industry and will update the statistics if and when meaningful fluctuations occur.
While this initial report is regarding national averages, our research team has the capability of comparing states and individual businesses to those numbers to determine which states and communities need attention in order to protect animals and consumers.
Missing from this data: There is an alarming lack of focus on the online brokering world and, subsequently, the unlicensed breeding world. Our nonprofit is currently tracking thousands of unlicensed breeders and is in the process of auditing more than 20,000 online sellers from 3 brokering websites. Once we have more conclusive data to share, we will reflect that information accurately.
Obtaining the information and maintaining our database of businesses associated with dog breeding and sales is extremely costly. If you found this information helpful, please consider making a donation to help our nonprofit continue our work!