Breeder: Aden Yoder Jr
Address: 30833 Township Rd 213
City, State, Zip: Fresno, OH 43824
USDA License: 31-A-0663 (license under the name “Junior Yoder”)
Date and time of CAPS Investigation: 6/28/26, about 1400
Weather at time of investigation: 77°F and cloudy
Number of dogs and puppies noted in 04/10/26 USDA inspection: 21 dogs and 7 puppies
Aden Yoder Jr is a Canine Care Certified (CCC) breeder.
Commercial kennel design
Yoder’s kennel was placed behind a barn, which was behind his residence. The kennel building had indoor/outdoor runs on two sides. Above the outdoor runs, the roof extended out further than on the rest of the building. I saw eight kennel runs on the east side of the building, and I could only see three runs on the west side. All the runs had wire walls, concrete floorings, doggie-doors to access their indoor portions, and were about four feet wide. The eastern runs appeared to be about six feet long, while the western runs were about ten feet long. No dogs were visible when I viewed the facility.
Exercise yards appear unused
There were three exercise yards by the kennel, and all of them appeared unused. Two were sectioned off entirely with wire fencing. A third yard, located on the west side of the kennel, was fenced on three sides but closed in on the fourth side by the elevated concrete platform of the western runs, which was about the same height as the fence. A set of stairs led from the middle of the platform to the western exercise yard. All three of the yards had tall green grass in them, including along the fencelines, where dogs would usually wear down the grass if the yards were being used. Also, there were circular devices standing up in the yards, as if they were meant for dogs to run through them. Around these, the grass was full and tall and not worn, as though no dogs were using them or any areas around them.
The only worn area was outside the kennel door and near the platform, indicating heavy human traffic in that area. This area, which was fenced-in and ran along the east side of the kennel, had grass on the east side, including along the fenceline, indicating that it was also not used as an exercise yard.
Evidence contradicting claims by The Canine Care Certified Program
The Canine Care Certified (CCC) program is a voluntary national certification for dog breeders, created by the Center for Animal Welfare Science at Purdue University. CAPS believes that the purpose of the program is primarily one of marketing: to increase the sale of puppies online and in pet shops by whitewashing the commercial dog breeding industry.
While the CCC program may sound impressive to those who are not familiar with the pet shop and puppy mill industry, and while conditions at some of the dog breeding facilities may be improved as a result of certification, the breeders who participate in the program still run commercial breeding facilities that mass produce dogs for resale—puppy mills. Dogs are still living in livestock conditions and used for breeding to produce puppies that are sold at pet shops and online. The puppies are often transported to brokers, such as Missouri-based Pinnacle Pet (which is closely aligned with the CCC program). After spending several days at a brokerage facility, puppies then get transported to pet shops all over the United States and even to other countries. Some breeders sell puppies through the online broker PBT Marketplace but then must find transport services to get those puppies to pet shops.
The above-mentioned broker Pinnacle Pet also runs a “dog adoption agency” for “retired” breeding dogs called A Dog’s Dream. But nowhere on the website for A Dog’s Dream does it say that the “rescue” is run by a puppy mill broker and is located across the street from the brokerage facility. Though there are clues that the nonprofit is industry-run, such as this statement on its website: “Your support matters the most to us! Without avid dog lovers like you, the pet industry would be at a complete loss.” Their list of supporters includes Pinnacle Pet, Pinnacle Vet Clinic, Petland Charities, and two Oklahoma Petland stores. The website also has a page about the CCC program with a link to Purdue’s CCC website.
CCC’s website states that one of their “Standards Emphasis Areas” is on “Housing,” noting the importance of “quality and quantity of space, temperature and air quality, outdoor access, exercise area, and quarantine.” Yoder’s primary enclosures only give dogs enough space to take a few steps before having to turn around again. His breeding facility purposefully blocks the dogs’ views of other dogs and has walls that block the runs from the property’s front. This does not constitute a focus on “quality and quantity of space.” It’s the design of a commercial puppy mill, made efficient for purposes of cleaning it and for keeping it secret from the outside world.”
The CCC website states, under “Puppies & Juveniles,” that puppies receive “socialization” and that there is “care and training for juvenile dogs.” There is no way that Yoder socializes and trains every puppy he weans and sells by eight weeks of age, nor does any commercial breeder.
The CCC website states, under “Behavioral Wellness,” that dogs are given “Problem prevention, training, socialization, enrichment, exercise, handling, and positive caretake interactions.” I have never seen any commercial breeder take time to socialize, train, and play with their dozens of dogs. Yoder’s kennel is designed for efficiency of cleaning and breeding, not for socialization and training.
The CCC website states, under “Staffing & Caretaker Education,” that they require an “Evidence-based approach to staffing numbers” and “Requirements for Continuing Education.” This is a nonsensical claim. Very few commercial dog breeding facilities employ people to work at them. Facilities like Yoder’s are designed to be cleaned and maintained with minimal effort to avoid having employees.
The CCC website states: “Like you, we love dogs. We want to support good breeders and end “puppy mills.” Canine Care Certified™ helps breeders meet high standards for welfare and helps ensure that puppies come from a kennel where dogs are treated well.” This is a misleading statement. Yoder’s facility, because it commercially breeds dogs for profit, is a puppy mill. Furthermore, keeping dogs in pens without enrichment of any kind is not what the public thinks of as treating dogs “well.”
Breeder is connected to the following stores:
Furry Babies (a pet shop with locations in Aurora, IL, Lombard, IL, and Portage, IN) has a YouTube video showing Yoder as one of the chain’s breeders. Yoder is identified by his USDA license number in the video. Yoder is also listed on the Furry Babies website as a breeder, as of the time of this report in 2026. The video shows French Bulldogs running around grassy yards, playing with Furry Babies employees.
Evidence contradicting store’s claims
I visited the two Furry Babies stores in Illinois in March of 2025. I was told that the stores didn’t buy from puppy mills, and that breeders’ dogs are allowed to run and play at will, having access to grassy yards where they are free. The exercise areas of Yoder’s kennel appeared unused, and certainly were not worn down, as they would be if dogs regularly used them. In addition, Yoder’s kennel is one in which dogs are bred for profit, which is the definition of a puppy mill.
The Canine Care Certified and Bailing Out Benji Illusion
The nonprofit Bailing Out Benji (BOB) acts as a front for the puppy mill industry by promoting Canine Care Certified breeders. BOB states that many CCC breeders are Amish, and BOB states on its website: “The Amish breeders that are behind the Canine Care Certified program are truly trying to set themselves apart by meeting standards that far exceed USDA regulation …” BOB visits CCC facilities and promotes them as not being puppy mills. At the same time, Petland stores market their puppies as coming from CCC breeders to increase sales. It’s a major contradiction for BOB, a nonprofit that supposedly fights puppy mills and claims to discourage the public from buying puppies at pet shops, to be promoting CCC—the same program that is promoted by Petland and financially supported by Petland Charities. The 990s of Petland Charities show large grants to Purdue Research Foundation, which funds the CCC program. The Purdue Foundation’s 990s fail to list their grant recipients. While they no doubt have a long list of recipients, which they can include on a separate page, their lack of transparency is troubling.
