Pennsylvania Puppy Mill Raid

A raid on a puppy mill in Pennsylvania has turned up approximately 800 animals living in dirty, over-crowded conditions. Elaine Skypala of the Pennsylvania SPCA described the scene:

There are dogs that are just piled on top of each other, running loose in kennels that are not secured. They're wet. We saw no food and water in most of the kennels. It's hard to breathe in some of the rooms. The smell is so bad.

The quote from the puppy mill's neighbor is particularly insightful:

People keep coming to these places and buying these animals or going to pet stores and buying these animals. They're just as much to blame as this man and this woman in this house

Some argue that the solution is to avoid pet stores and to buy animals from "responsible" breeders. Squalor and neglect aside, whenever someone buys an animal from a breeder or a store, that's another animal who will die in a shelter. No matter how lovingly the breeder cares for the animals, it doesn't change the fact that millions of unwanted animals are being put to sleep in shelters every year.

Link: What is a Puppy Mill?