Chicago Pet Stores Linked to Puppy Mills
Most pet stores rely on Puppy Mills to supply their stock of pooches, the Humane Society of the United States did an investigation identifying Chicago Pet Stores Linked to Puppy Mills. We strongly recommend adopting pets from a reputable rescue (not a pet store). If you decide otherwise, please do your research before adding a furry friend to your family. Puppy mills breed misery, don’t fund the misery.
The initial article can be found here on the Humane Society Website and the full report can be found here. It was released to the public in December of 2012 and the details in the full report are disturbing. Don’t be fooled, often times pet stores will tell consumers what they want to hear just to sell a puppy (i.e. they are not from puppy mills)… it’s only a business to them as it is with the puppy mills.
In summary, these pet stores in the Chicagoland area were directly linked to poor pet conditions and purchasing their pooches from puppy mills.
- Collar and Leash Boutique (1345 N Wells Street in Chicago, IL)
- Puppy Parlor aka Pooch Parlor at 4707 Main St in Lisle, IL
- Pocket Puppies at 2479 N Clark St in Chicago, IL
- Happiness is Pets at 1542 Ogden Avenue in Downers Grove, IL
- Happiness is Pets at 15 W Golf Rd in Arlington Heights, IL
- Furry Babies at 152 Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale, IL
- Furry Babies at 2352 Fox Valley Center in Aurora, IL
- Alsip Home and Nursery at 20601 S. LaGrange Rd in Frankfort, IL
- Hug-A-Pup at 4950 W Irving Park Rd in Chicago, IL
- Top Dog’s Puppy Store at 6919 W Grand Ave in Chicago, IL
- Puppies R Us at 3404 N Ashland Ave in Chicago, IL
- Pet Luv Center at 8057 S Cicero Ave in Chicago, IL
There are many other Chicago pet stores linked to puppy mills that are not on this list. The report states they found that about 80% of pet stores use dogs from puppy mills. Many of the puppies that come from puppy mills are sick due to the poor living conditions and lack of care. These medical issues are never spoken of and unknowingly to the new family, pass on to them. Please read the full report for details on the poor conditions they found at the pet stores above in addition to the condition in which they saw the puppies. Rescues provide not only healthy and loving puppy and adult dogs but the support of an animal advocate, complete with answers to all the pooch questions you may have throughout his or her life!
If you are looking for a pet check out our list of ROMP Rescue’s adoptable pooches here and a list of other available rescue dogs of all ages and breeds via PetFinder here.
Another word of caution, don’t be fooled by someone posing as a breeder either. Some red flags that a ‘breeder’ is actually a front for a puppy mill or a backyard breeder: if they have multiple breeds available or if they are willing to ship a pet. A real breeder has immense knowledge for the breed, takes pride in it’s pooches, and focuses on quality (not quantity). There was a large backyard breeder busted on the south suburb of Chicago a little while ago as well.
