“The US Department of Agriculture joined state and local authorities yesterday in probing a tractor-trailer fire that killed dozens of puppies in Lowell on Monday afternoon after a thousand -mile journey from the Midwest to New England pet stores.” (The Boston Globe)

The August 14 truck fire that killed 60 puppies en route to Northeast pet shops is just the latest in a string of horrifying incidents involving puppies transported for resale. In 1992, 66 puppies being shipped from the MO-based Do-Bo-Tri kennel were confiscated from a truck near Pittsburgh. In 1997 100 puppies were discovered in a truck wrecked outside of Bridgeport CT. Possibly the most highly publicized incident, in 2000, involved 147 puppies abandoned in a locked truck after an accident. The drive sought medical attention without notifying anyone about his cargo. Four of the puppies died before they were discovered.

It’s no coincidence that all these incidents involve long distance transport of puppies from the Midwest to the east coast. According to statistics compiled by Nopuppymills.com up to HALF A MILLION puppies are sold annually in pet shops. 21 states account for 89% of these retail sales and more than a fifth of these half million puppies are sold in the tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT).

A large proportion of these buyers are well educated individuals in fairly high income brackets. Ironically, these are the same dedicated dog lovers that that persistently donate thousands of dollars to groups like PETA and HSUS. This dichotomy is not due to any sort of information disconnect. It is simply another manifestation of our society’s immediate gratification mentality. These customers want a puppy right now and they have the financial resources to deal with inevitable problems that crop up down the road. And when they do encounter the health or behavior problems common to pet store puppies, they typically react by blaming the purebred fancy rather than the far less visible commercial dog breeding industry.

Over the years, I have had numerous frustrating conversations with buyers fitting this profile. Even when they are confronted with direct evidence of the industry their purchase supports, they will rationalize. Not only do they refuse to accept the idea that third party sales are an anathema to genuine dog breeders, they cling to the fantasy that their puppy was “locally homebred.”

In addition to the well known chain retailers, numerous upscale puppy boutiques flourish in the northeast. Needless to say, these establishments invariably represent their puppies as coming from sources characterized as highly reputable local breeders. As bizarre as these claims may be, they are accepted at face value by countless customers that should know better. The steep price tags attached to these pet shop puppies ($750-$2000) should encourage caution rather than reckless impulse purchases. But the phenomenal growth of this niche market shows this not to be the case. The newest entrant into the upscale puppy market is “Woof & Company” based in Boston, a self described chain of lifestyle stores offering puppies and luxury range dog accessories. Woof and Company’s pet supplies may indeed be exclusive “top of the line” merchandise, but their puppies are obtained from exactly the same major supplier as other pet shops. Nopuppymills.com reveals that 93% of pet shop puppies originate in eight different states known as the ‘puppy belt” with MO accounting for 52% of them. 71% are bred in MO, KS, OK, and IA.

We would label these commercial dog breeding operations as puppy mills. The United States Department of Agriculture classifies them as class A dealers. And they are responsible licensing, inspecting and regulating approximately 5000 of them in addition to all of the nation’s zoos, circuses, and research facilities. Not only is this a nearly impossible task for 110 USDA inspectors, it is also nearly impossible to believe that only 5000 kennels are annually producing upwards of 500,000 puppies. In fact, a large number of commercial breeders operate under the radar, unlicensed and unregulated. Their practices and conditions rarely come to light because they never come in direct contact with the eventual buyers of their puppies. This is not necessary; thanks to the USDA Class B commercial dog dealers, federally licensed to purchase, house and transport puppies for resale.

The majority of commercially bred puppies are brokered to retail outlets by class B dealers responsible for acquiring them from breeders and shipping them to retail outlets. By far America’s largest puppy broker is the Hunte Corporation, located in Goodman, MO, the company involved in the recent truck fire. Afterwards, a Hunte company spokesman described the situation as “beautiful healthy purebreds that were on their way to quality retailers in the Northeast.”. We will leave that debatable statement for another article.

But let’s take a look at the Hunte Corporation. Founded in 1991, Hunte brokers approximately 85,000 puppies per year to more than 300 domestic and foreign retailers. According to the company’s website, puppies arrive at their facility at 8 weeks of age- the minimal legal age that puppies can be sold. (Many experts contend that a large portion of these puppies are actually more like five weeks old, sold with backdated registrations to comply with federal regulations) Once at the facility, they remain for one week before continuing their thousand mile trek to the East coast.

“The business has six full-time on-staff veterinarians to provide the best quality care for the puppies”
                                    states Hunte’s website. “The health and quality standards for the puppies are unparalled in the industry. In addition
                                    to the 24/7 veterinarian monitoring system, Hunte emphasizes two other standards:

1. State-of-the-art air quality technology that insures outdoor-quality fresh air environment indoors with controlled
                                    temperatures;

2. Stress-free environment policy that highlights both physical and operational procedures to ensure a nurturing environment.

[…] We will not accept sick puppies and we will not ship sick puppies.”

Despite the well publicized “sterling conditions and top notch staff” there appears to be an incredibly high mortality rate for puppies housed at this facility for only a week. In 2003, Hunte was cited by Missouri Department of Natural Resources for violating the Clean Water and Solid Waste Management Law for burying more than 1000 pounds of dead animals per acre per year. Regardless of the breed, it takes a lot of 8 week old puppies to make up 1000 pounds. I guess these would be classified as Hunte’s “Grade C” puppies.

Only the better quality “Grade A” puppies are earmarked for shipment to retail pet shops. Lower quality puppies and those refused by retailers are classified as Grade B. A large percentage of those eventually end up for sale on internet sites or flea markets such as the Canton Flea Market in TX- the largest and oldest continually operated flea market in the United States. Neither of these venues offers the enormous profit margin of pet shop sales.

Obviously, Hunte has a vested interest in quality control “When my wife Gina and I founded The Hunte Corporation, we pledged to help professional breeders, pet retailers, veterinarians, and other members of our industry provide the highest quality puppies available.” Not long ago, they unveiled the newest branch of the business, Hunte Kennel Systems & Animal Care Supplies. This is unquestionably an ingenious business model, allowing them to derive profit from both their supplies and their buyers.

And there is no question that Hunte has profit potential. Since 1991 they have bought out several of their notorious
                                    competitors like Sundowner and Do-Bo-Tri. Over the last three years the USDA has loaned the company over four million dollars
                                    for upgrades, to purchase equipment, restructure its debt and provide working capital for expansion. The corporation has grown
                                    from ten to 258 employees and the present 80,000 square foot facility will soon be expanded to 135,000 square feet. The company’s
                                    founder is well aware of his fortunate circumstances. "Today we have 35 times the number of employees and 35 times the revenue
                                    we had back in 1991," said Andrew Hunte. "We have been blessed by God and this industry is dedicated to God."

 Hunte and his employees may be “Blessed by God” but regrettably
                                    that blessing does not extend to the millions of wretched dogs responsible for their financial success.