The Humane Society of the United States provides this definition of puppymills: "Puppymills are breeding facilities that produce purebred puppies in large numbers. The puppies are sold either directly to the public via the Internet, newspaper ads, at the mill itself, or are sold to brokers and pet shops across the country."
AAS would not include the word "purebred" as many puppymills are breeding popular crossbreeds that are not AKC or CKC registered.
The Canadian Kennel Club definition: The members of the National Companion Animal Coalition(NCAC),consisting of;the Ministry of Agriculture,Canadian Kennel Club,Canadian Veterinary Medical Association,Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council,Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and the RCMP have developed the following agreed upon definition of a "puppymill".
...A puppymill has been defined by the NCAC as a high-volume, sub-standard dog breeding operation which sells purebred or mixed breed dogs, to unsuspecting buyers. Some of the characteristics common to puppymills are:
Note: These conditions may also exist in small volume or single-breed establishments.
A puppymill is any place or person or business that:
And/or keeps the dogs and pups:
Puppymills generally breed pure-breds or popular mixes and charge several hundred dollars to a thousand dollars per pup. Many puppymills are registered with the Canadian Kennel Club.
A backyard breeder is a person who:
A backyard breeder does not include the family or person that breeds the family dog once and keeps the pups in the house with them, making sure the pups are well-socialized and healthy, does not give away or sell the pups until they are 10-12 weeks old, and carefully screens prospective adoptors, making several homes visits and refusing a pup to unsuitable people.