How Many Puppy Mills are in Indiana? The Number Will Shock You!

Recently on Facebook, I came across an infographic that startled me a bit. As you know, I am a dog lover, and have two dogs myself, both of mine are rescues. It's become a bit of a passion of mine to raise awareness about the benefits of rescuing a dog. But this is a great visual of why you should consider rescuing your next best friend!

My two rescues! (Melissa/WKDQ)

There's a group on Facebook called Bailing out Benji, and they are dedicated to raising awareness about puppy mills, and taking down as many as they can.

The thing that makes it hard to take down puppy mills is the fact that they are 100% legal when licensed by the state department of Agriculture or USDA. Because dogs are considered "livestock" they are able to get away with keeping many dogs in deplorable conditions to breed them relentlessly so they can sell the puppies to pet stores.

I saw this infographic being shared on on Bailing Out Benji's facebook, and it shocked me. Look at these numbers, over 200 puppy mills in Indiana alone, and over 6,700 adult dogs trapped in puppy mills.

According to Bailing out Benji, if you are buying a puppy in a pet store or from a website that ships directly to you, you are more than likely supporting a puppy mill!

I reached out to Bailing Out Benji for more information on puppy mills, and the information they sent me was shocking.

Indiana currently has over 200 puppy mills, with around 6,700 adult dogs trapped. These numbers came directly from the USDA inspection reports. Sadly, Indiana also has almost as many puppies being born in these mills and sold to the public through pet stores and online websites.
Since 2014, Indiana has 4 puppy mills on the Humane Society of the United States' "Horrible Hundred" puppy mill list. This list is compiled after reading through inspection reports of every USDA licensed commercial dog breeder in the country and listing the ones with the worst violations

Now if you're like me, seeing this information is shocking, and your first thought was "how can I help??" Here's how you can help stop puppy mills. First of all, sharing the message about puppy mills and raising awareness, about this issue is one of the easiest ways you can help. The second way is to adopt your next dog through a local rescue. If there's a specific breed you're looking for, PetFinder.com and AdoptAPet.com are great resources to help you find what you want. The third way is to donate and help organizations who are actively working to shut down puppy mills like Bailing Out Benji.

We have many great rescues in the Tri-State area, here's a few of them!

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