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.

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.