Animal Abuse : Puppy Mills

Even more disturbing, most of these puppies do not receive the correct attention or affection from the very things they love the most; us. They don’t get to run around and exercise the way dogs were meant to. Their well-being is not important to the facilities. Increasing the profit is the sole focus and goal. Because of this, puppies are repeatedly born sick and their life expectancy is decreased. As terrible as this is, these are the very real and disturbing circumstances for puppies living in puppy mills; if you’d even want to call it that. They should be shut down completely, and banned by the government throughout the nation.

Some people may think that buying a pet from a pet store is essentially rescuing an animal from one of these places, and while it may be true, it is only supporting the industry and allowing it to continue with these horrible practices. I will now be explaining what we can do to stop these practices.

A: Pet mills put money and profit, before the health of the animals they are breeding. Animals from these mills are usually living in disgusting conditions, and not getting the medical care that they need (Sheeter, n.d.). Because of this, the animals can get very prone to sickness, and have behavioural problems. They are left in small crates, squished together, have terrible diets, and dirty water (Sheeter, n.d.). A lot of dogs have been neglected or abused and have had little attention, interaction with humans or other animals, or obedience trainings. They were not treated with any sort or respect or appreciation or care, and they deserve that. The mums of the puppies are caged and constantly bred until they no longer can, they do not get

The history of puppy mills started in the World War 2 era. After the the crop failure in the midwest the number of purebred dogs began to increase in the 1950’s. Many families went to a pet store instead of going to a shelter to find their loving pet. The farmers had used the puppies for additional income or as a cash crop, which resulted in the first puppy business. The farmers housed the puppies mostly in chicken coops or rabbit hutches. The farmers also would use things like old refrigerators and rabbit cages to put the puppies in. Most of the veterinarian care and food nutrition were not available to the puppies. “When the 1960’s came along a concern about the pet store happened, mainly because the puppies were being sold from the puppy

“Puppy mills create misery for dogs and pain for the unwitting purchasers of the animal, and they indirectly deny suitable homes for animals in need.”- Wayne Pacelle (President of the Humane Society of the United States)

Puppy mills should be banned in the United States for their action. There has been a couple of states who have decided to regulate puppy mills. It depends if the state enforces the law and if the consequences of breaking that law are great enough to stop puppy mills. According to Kim Evans, an agency of the USDA: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has failed to enforce the humane care and treatment of animals at all puppy mills required by the Animal Welfare Act after an inspection. The inspector states that "stronger enforcement actions are needed for serious or repeat violators because the monetary penalties were often so low that violators regarded them as a cost of business." (5). Since the USDA has failed to enforce the humane care of animals in puppy mills through law, puppy mills should be banned. If a person was caught with a puppy mill of the unacceptable standards listed in the previous paragraphs, they will have prison time. Not a fine. This inspection has shown that repeat violators regard the fines for their violations as a cost of business. In the article called Pets, there is a chart that shows violations and how many times they were violated in the years of 2006-2008. The chart shows that the violation of bad housing facilities they are a total of 4,744 violations. Also, there is a total of 3,537 violations for not providing adequate veterinary care (Evans

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) describes puppy mills situation to be overcrowded, unsanitary, without adequate food, water, and veterinary health care. Female dogs are even bred at every opportunity without a rest to maximize profit (“Puppy Mills”). Dogs are kept locked up in wired cages, stacked on top one another and sometimes their excrements are not properly monitored. Thus, this leads to unknown genetic disorders and poor genetic quality which makes it difficult for the dogs to live for a long time. In the end, it will cause a lot of stress and problems for the family down the road due to the dogs’ health. Many people who are unaware of these living conditions often tend to overlook their puppies neglect and suffering. When purchasing a new pet from a pet store, many people do not wonder where their pet may have come from, instead, they are more engulf in their excitement to bring home a new family

One of the most disturbing problems out of many, in puppy farming, is the nightmarish conditions in which the dogs are kept. These innocent animals are kept in constant confinement, packed together in ridiculously small cages. As well as living in cramped conditions, they are also neglected by their “caring” breeders, and have almost no human contact until they leave the farm. A lack of human contact can lead to many problems, such as aggressive behaviour, and extreme antisocial behaviour. In a recent news article, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) shut down a puppy farm in Carlow, Ireland. Inspectors described the scene as “appalling and horrific”. The ISPCA also reported that “dead animals were strewn around the premises,” and the animals that were not dead were in urgent need of attention. This harrowing report sickens me and highlights the exact reason why puppy farming

Puppy mills usually house dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without adequate veterinary care, food, water or socialization. In order to maximize profits, female dogs are bred at every opportunity with little-to-no recovery time between litters. Puppy mill puppies, often as young as eight weeks of age, are sold to pet shops or directly to the public over the Internet, through newspaper ads and at swap meets and flea markets.

Puppy mills have been in the United States for many years, they are underground run organizations so they are not easily monitored by animal control units. Puppy Mills are places where purebred dogs are kept in small confinements, are severely neglected and are forced to mate until their bodies cannot handle it anymore, which then they are inhumanely killed. The puppies then are sent off to pet stores, leaving the bitches and studs there to continue the abusive cycle. Animal rights activists are trying to find ways to expose the breeders who run the puppy mills and encourage the public to not buy puppies from pet stores because puppy mills are who supply them with the puppies that are for sale.

http://www.economist.com/node/17468228 This link tells about the extremely vague laws towards puppy mills, the eye witness says that

There are many reasons why puppy mills are considered very cruel facilities. One being that the dogs in the facility are kept in very confined cages with multiple other dogs, meaning they live in their own excrement. Adult dogs are bred until they cannot breed anymore and then they are put to death or discarded. Many of the dogs suffer from malnutrition or starvation because of the lack of and unsanitariness of the food. This leads to the dogs getting sick; the dogs receive little or no veterinary care. Also, puppies are taken from their mothers at a very young age meaning most of them suffer from behavioral problems.

The other side of the story comes from the pet store owners who sell puppies. “They say preventing pet shops from selling dogs won’t stop the operation of puppy mills, which could just sell to consumers directly, either online or in person. Taking out the middleman, they say, just removes another layer of protective oversight for the consumer. (Hoffer) . Outlandish as it sounds some “pet lovers often cite that, for them, buying a dog at a pet store is easier than dealing with breeders, who are sometimes labeled as “overprotective,” asking potential owners to fill out papers, sign contracts, and outlining what the new owners can and cannot do with their dogs.” (Lotz). For a pet lover to not appreciate that someone else can want to make sure that their puppy is going to someone who will take care it seems hard to believe and, honestly I would question that person’s true commitment. I know that some rescues want to make sure that you have a fenced in yard (or a security fencing of some sort), that your children are old enough to handle a dog, and you do sign a contract agreeing that if you ever do decide to get rid of the dog you will return it to the rescue. All of these stipulations seem fair and in the best interest of both the family and the dog.

However, cutting off the relationship between pet stores and breeders is not efficient method to save dogs. Instead, it will make the problems become severer because of the disordered dog trade marketing. In fact, regulating the dog trade law of pet stores can be the key to fail puppy mill industry.

Puppy mills mass produce dogs without regard for their safety, health, mental health and any regards for their life. To maximize potential profits female dogs are bred nonstop with little or none recovery time. Dogs in puppy mills are usually kept in cages with wired flooring causing injury to the dog 's paws and legs. (Puppy Mills) The puppies that come from puppy mills are prone to physical birth defects and genetic diseases from birth. (Puppy Mills) Some are Heart disease and different types of respiratory disorders. When the puppies arrive at the pet stores and their new homes are usually rampant with diseases and parasites. (Puppy Mills) From a result of puppies being forcefully removed from their littermates and mothers at an extremely young age of around eight weeks, they suffer from emotional and behavioral issues