DAVIE, Fla. — Over the years, minds have changed when it comes to rescuing and adopting animals instead of purchasing pets.

We have also proven that spay and neuter procedures really do decrease the homeless pet population.

But there is a hidden problem that is propagating puppies every day, and you may not even know about it.

Annalyn Fair and her family are always on call to foster puppies and dogs saved from puppy mills, or the amateur version known as backyard breeders.

“They’re just using them for puppies that they can make money off of,” said Fair.

She has been fostering a goldendoodle named Sky.

The big girl loves giving hugs, even to people she is meeting for the very first time.

“She was pretty attached to us from the start, but I think that’s because she lacked human interaction,” said Fair.

And that’s because she has been used and abused as a puppy-making machine.

“They had her for four years, they had her since a puppy,” said Rori McKinnon from Good Karma Pet Rescue. “They don’t look at it as a pet, so its business.”

McKinnon builds relationships with police officers who bust backyard breeders.

“The Miami police officers will reach out to us, because they are animal advocates also, so they get these calls, that you know, the neighbor called and they hear the dogs barking next door,” she said.

She also gains the trust of the breeders in hopes of rescuing the animals and ending the non-stop breeding cycle they are being used for.

“So they go to investigate and they find that they were breeding doodles, Frenchies in the backyard, because they keep them in cages so they go in, they report them and say you have to get rid of them within 24 hours,” said McKinnon.

The pups they save are in bad shape. They have never been vetted or groomed or given vaccines, and they are covered in feces. Many have never touched grass.

“Why are these dogs and these puppies kept in cages their entire lives? Because they don’t want them in the house,” said McKinnon. “They’re not pets, they don’t want them pets, they do it for the money and they just overbreed and overbreed and overbreed.”

Local 10 News has been there when breeders or hoarders have dogs cramped in cages and puppies are just seen as dollar signs.

“I would say every couple months (we rescue dogs from backyard breeders),” said McKinnon. “It’s that often.”

Good Karma has more than 200 volunteers. They save hundreds of neglected and abused animals, but the cycle is so hard to break because they say the breeders are not getting caught.

Broward Animal Care and Miami-Dade Animal Services both require permits and records for breeding, along with mandatory exercise, vaccines, microchips, and a limit of one litter a year.

Violations result in civil penalties and citations, but these operations intentionally avoid registration. They are not licensed, so they are almost impossible find or track down.

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