Unmasking a Puppy Mill—A Family’s Story
The Initial Contact
On November 4, 2019, Stop Online Puppy Mills received a distressing email from a woman who had purchased a puppy online via PuppyFind.com. She arranged to meet the breeder in a parking lot to finalize the transaction. However, when she saw the dog, she immediately realized it wasn’t the puppy she thought she was buying.
The puppy appeared much older than expected, and when she asked the breeder if there had been a mix-up, he assured her there was no confusion. The dog, described as “smelling like death,” was in visibly poor condition. Reluctant to leave the puppy in the man’s care, she paid for the dog and took it home.
Veterinary Findings
The woman brought the puppy to her veterinarian, where more alarming discoveries were made:
The puppy was closer to eight months old, with a full set of adult teeth.
The provided vaccination and shot records were fake and did not match the puppy’s age.
The puppy had been neutered, but not through proper veterinary methods, raising serious concerns about its origins.
Connecting the Dots
Angered by the situation, the woman began to investigation. She monitored the breeder’s PuppyFind.com page and conducted online research, including searches on the Better Business Bureau and social media platforms. Her efforts uncovered a disturbing pattern:
Other families shared similar stories, reporting fake paperwork, improper neutering, and puppies that didn’t match their descriptions.
The breeder used multiple aliases and listed different towns as his location.
The same photos of puppies were reposted with altered names and ages to attract buyers.
In one instance, the woman found a photo of the exact dog she had purchased being advertised again, confirming the breeder’s deceptive practices.
