Puppy Mill Pipeline - 2026 Animal ForensiCon with Shalimar Oliver
The 2026 Animal ForensiCon in Orlando, Florida
Humane World for Animals' Case Manager, Shalimar Oliver, gives up a brief description of the puppy mill pipeline and how consumers can protect themselves if they become victim of this trade.
Transcript
Dr. G:
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:All right, back to interviewing an OG.
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:Previously speaking about large volume,
large scale, cases, here's Shalimar Oliver
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:talking about the puppy mill pipeline.
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:Welcome back.
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:Shalimar Oliver: Hey, G.
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:Dr. G:
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:So how about, I mean, if anybody
wants to hear about your extensive
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:history, they can go back to that
other episode, but just a quick
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:recap of what it is that you do.
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:Shalimar Oliver: Um, I am one of our
case managers in animal crimes and
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:investigations, so we work with local,
state, federal, all the authorities all
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:over the country, and we want to support
them with their animal cruelty cases.
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:So...
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:Dr. G:
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:So your discussion today was
something that I have had multiple
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:episodes on- Yeah ... because as
you well know, I hate puppy mills.
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:And unfortunately, Ohio is way up there.
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:Shalimar Oliver: Yeah, you are.
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:Sorry.
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:Dr. G:
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:I know, right?
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:Shalimar Oliver: Such a shame.
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:Dr. G:
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:So let's start first with basics.
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:What is considered a puppy mill?
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:Shalimar Oliver: Uh, you think
of quantity over quality.
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:So you've got a mass ton of dogs that
are in the pet trade, then they're being
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:bred solely for the purpose of being
in the pet trade and to make money.
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:Uh, and then those dogs themselves
are obviously living in pretty squalid
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:conditions 'cause there's too many
for people to ca- take care of.
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:Dr. G:
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:And the, the pipeline basically is
just, uh, descriptive of the, from
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:point A to point, well, Z, I guess.
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:Mm-hmm.
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:So what, what is it that, what
do these go- dogs go through?
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:Shalimar Oliver: Yeah, I mean, they start,
as, as you can tell, like, they're the
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:adults that are in these facilities.
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:Um, and they have their litter of puppies.
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:Those puppies are weaned often too
early, and they're put through these
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:transports, uh, either to brokers,
to pet stores, what have you.
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:Uh, and being removed from their
mother too early at that age,
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:they're so immunocompromised that
by the time to- they get to where
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:they're going, they're sick.
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:Sometimes they're, they're dying, and this
is what gets reported to us, and so we
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:have to figure out how to work with local
investigative agencies to tackle them.
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:Dr. G:
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:Obviously, it's a real big issue, a
problem for the dogs, but it's also
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:a problem for the consumer, right?
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:Shalimar Oliver: Mm, 100%, yep.
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:Dr. G:
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:So how...
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:Are there any, any laws or any
resources or any ways that a consumer
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:can file a complaint or do something
if they end up with one of these dogs?
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:Shalimar Oliver: Yeah, uh, certainly.
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:We have, uh, a puppy buyer complaint
form on our website at humaneworld.org.
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:So it makes it easier for people, they
don't know what they're doing, they
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:don't know what to do, where to go.
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:We can help and work with them and guide
them on where they need to report given
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:their con- their, their situation, 'cause
every situ- situation is different.
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:Um, and so we might refer them
to a Department of Agriculture,
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:we could def- refer them to
an attorney general's office.
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:It's gonna depend.
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:And we, that, in, in that time, we
wanna figure out, well, wait, is
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:there also an issue that needs to be
brought to law enforcement's attention?
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:And that's where we come in to
share that information and offer
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:them the help to do these cases.
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:Dr. G:
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:If anybody in the audience wants to
learn more about puppy mills, what
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:they can do, how they can avoid,
what resources should they look into?
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:Shalimar Oliver: Oh, humaneworld.org.
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:We have an entire incredible team that
solely works on puppy mill-related issues.
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:And so in our website, there's
a puppy mill drop-down, and
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:you can go into that section.
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:They've got statistics,
facts, information nationwide.
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:Um, you can pick your state
and find relevant information.
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:You can see, uh, you know, different
research that's been done, statistics that
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:have been collected, uh, signs to look
for, how to find a responsible breeder.
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:'Cause people don't know.
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:They just, they want that puppy,
and they don't realize what's behind
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:those closed doors and what's,
what can inevitably happen, uh, and
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:they get that sick or dead puppy.
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:Dr. G:
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:Excellent.
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:Well, thank you so much for the
presentation, and as always, thank
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:you for everything that you do.
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:Shalimar Oliver: Love you, G.
