Animal businesses that breed dogs for profit like to sell the public on the idea of small breeders and family-owned pet stores—but don’t be fooled. This is a multimillion-dollar industry that stays afloat by exploiting animals. And now, our government is lending them a hand.

The Small Business Administration recently released a list of businesses that received funds under the federal Paycheck Protection Program. This money was intended to help small businesses affected by COVID-19, but the list reveals that some major pet industry players received hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars in federal “relief.”

While the list didn’t include exact figures, we do know ranges:

• $2-5 million went to a New York facility that breeds dogs for laboratory use.
• $2-5 million went to the corporate office of a chain of puppy-selling pet stores.
• $1+ million went to a Florida-based pet retailer that cites having no employees.
• $150,000-$300,000 went to two commercial brokers—businesses that buy puppies from breeders in bulk and transport them to pet stores—in Iowa and Missouri.
• $150,000-$300,000 went to a Virginia company that processes predatory puppy leases.

These businesses are part of an industry built on cruelty and lies. The federal government should not be using taxpayer money to bail them out.

You can stand up for dogs across the country and fight back against puppy mill cruelty by taking the Barred From Love pledge.