©Bailing Out Benji 2025
All research and information was done by Bailing Out Benji and must be cited as such when shared or quoted!
To view the rest of our CVI data, click here.
When looking to buy a puppy, it is extremely important that families make sure they aren’t supporting a cruel or inhumane facility. Unfortunately, in the pet industry, there is an alarming lack of transparency about where puppies are born before they arrive at their forever families. Because of the secrecy, it is easy for customers to get scammed into buying puppies that originated from subpar facilities. Those purchases often result in high vet bills and sometimes even the death of a new puppy.
Pet stores play a big part in enabling subpar facilities to stay in business. According to our 2025 research, 36% of the licensed breeders who supplied pet stores nationwide in the last three years had state or federal violations. For these reasons and more, it is so important that families do their research before they buy!
We recommend that families start their search to find a humane breeder here. If you are planning to buy from a breeder directly, a pet store, or online, please make sure to look into the breeder to ensure that your puppy’s parents aren’t living a substandard life.
Below you will find a list of Illinois puppy stores and the noteworthy facilities that they source from.
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Even though Illinois passed statewide laws pertaining to puppy stores, there are currently 5 that are still in operation, seemingly outside of the following laws:
225 ILCS 605/3.8) Sec. 3.8. Prohibition Sourcing of dogs and cats sold by pet shops; recordkeeping.
(a) A pet shop operator may offer for sale a dog or cat only if the dog or cat is obtained from an animal control facility or animal shelter, located in-state or out-of-state, that is in compliance with Section 3.9.
(815 ILCS123/15-5-16)Sec. 15-5-16. Prohibition on secured loans for canines and felines.
No person or entity shall make a secured loan for the purchase of a canine or feline. Any secured loan made for the purchase of a canine or feline is null and void. This Section shall apply prospectively and shall not apply retroactively.
(815 ILCS 405/29.5)Sec. 29.5. Prohibition on retail installment transactions for canines and felines.
No retail seller shall enter into a retail installment transaction for the purchase of a canine or feline. Any retail seller, including his or her assignee or successor in interest, who enters into a retail installment transaction for a canine or feline has no right to collect, receive, or retain any principal, interest, or charges related to the retail installment transaction and the retail installment transaction is null and void.
©Bailing Out Benji 2025
All research and information was done by Bailing Out Benji and must be cited as such when shared or quoted!
To view the rest of our CVI data, click here.
** If you bought a puppy from any of the pet stores in Illinois and are wondering where they were born, please send us an email! Even if the store is not listed above, we have data on IL stores that have since closed or gone humane.**
This research can be extremely costly, please consider making a donation to help us continue exposing the puppy mill industry. Every dollar helps us!
