Behind every puppy for sale is a breeder, but most buyers never find out who that breeder is or how they operate. Some keep a few dogs at home. Others keep dozens, or even hundreds.
We track 10,687 dog breeders nationwide, and are currently auditing 100,000 breeders selling online. A typical breeder with an active USDA license keeps about 29 adult dogs for breeding, and most of them sell to pet stores. Breeders with only a state license, or no license we could find, mostly sell directly to families online.
Not every breeder is a puppy mill. But whether you’re buying a puppy or working to change the laws, it helps to know how the industry actually works. Below is what we’ve found so far, and these numbers will grow as our research continues.
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“Puppy mill” is not defined in federal statute, but it is a well-established term with a widely cited definition from a court case. In Avenson v. Zegart, 577 F. Supp. 958, 960 (D. Minn. 1984), the court described a puppy mill as “a dog breeding operation in which the health of the dogs is disregarded in order to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits.”
The term is regularly used for a breeding operation that puts profits and volume ahead of the welfare of the parent dogs and puppies. However, no licensing agency has a label, definition, or license type for a puppy mill. These agencies only recognize licensed and unlicensed commercial breeders.
This label can be applied inconsistently. Some groups call every USDA-licensed breeder a puppy mill, with mixed opinions on state-licensed breeders, while others reserve it for facilities with documented welfare violations or examples of cruelty and neglect. Bailing Out Benji publishes facts and data about breeders and how they sell in order to provide as much independently verifiable information as possible.
Not on its own. A USDA license means a breeder is required to meet the minimum standards of the Animal Welfare Act and can be inspected, but those standards are basic. About 29% of the active USDA breeders we track were cited for at least one violation in the past five years. You can look up a breeder’s inspection reports on the USDA’s inspection search.
In general, breeders with more than four breeding females who sell puppies sight unseen, such as to pet stores, brokers, or buyers online, need a USDA license. Breeders who only sell directly to buyers who come see the puppy in person are usually exempt. Some states also require their own license, and the rules vary from state to state.
It varies a lot. A typical breeder with an active USDA license keeps about 29 adult dogs for breeding, while a typical state-licensed breeder keeps about 15. Of the licensed breeders where we have a count, 271 keep 100 or more adult dogs.
Ask for the breeder’s full name and any USDA or state license numbers, then look them up in our Breeder Directory and on the USDA’s inspection search. Ask to visit and see where the parents live. If a breeder will not let you visit, only meets in parking lots, or always has many breeds available, take that as a reason to slow down.
Our research team documents breeders using USDA and state licensee lists, USDA inspection reports, health certificates, and public records requests. These numbers reflect the breeders we have documented so far, so the true numbers are likely higher.
