Powerful Photo Shows Just How Tragic Life Is For Puppy Mill Dogs

<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/HSUSPuppyMills/posts/960562870630673" target="_blank">Facebook/HSUS</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/HSUSPuppyMills/posts/960562870630673" target="_blank">Facebook/HSUS</a></p>

This single, emotional photo proves that life in a puppy mill is no kind of life at all. The Humane Society of the United States uploaded a photo on Tuesday showing a dog in a file cabinet drawer - which happens to be the same size as the cages in which many puppy mill dogs spend their lives. And the worst part? What these puppy mills are doing is 100 percent legal.

"Imagine condemning a dog to live her entire life in a space the size of a file drawer," HSUS posted along with the photo. "This is the amount of space (6" longer than the dog) in which USDA-licensed breeders can legally confine their animals."

That means that even legal, USDA approved commercial breeders can (and usually are) forcing dogs to live in tiny, cramped cages, often stacked one on top of the other.

Dogs are forced to birth litter after litter of puppies who are then whisked away to be sold at pet stores, while their moms and dads live out their lives in tiny cages, never even going outside.

So when you hear a pet store insisting that their puppies come from USDA-liscensed breeders, that doesn't mean they don't come from puppy mills, or that there isn't unimaginable cruelty happening behind the scenes.