Structural Functionalist Theory Of Society

In addition to pet owners being irresponsible with breeding practices, some owners believe that they can breed the animals for a profit. They do not take into consideration the moral or

Many American households own a pet, but their pets may have originated from a cruel background. Especially dogs, for many of them stem from one of the ten thousand puppy mills located across the United States. Puppy mills are large commercial breeding facilities that specializes in maximizing profit over the welfare and conditions of the animals. Animals live in unsustainable conditions which they are provided with the minimum amount of food, water, exercise, shelter, protection, and veterinary care; yet, these animals are forced to continue breeding for the sake of providing beautiful pets for our own personal expenses. The government should step in to advance regulations and inspections of large commercial breeding facilities because old rules no longer fit the current time anymore. For us to take home a new healthy family member, we should all know it comes from a safe place.

An animal shelter is a place where stray, lost, abandoned, or surrendered animals, mostly dogs and cats and sometimes sick or wounded wildlife, are brought. Animal shelters are essential in the United States because of inattentive pet proprietorship and uncontrolled breeding of animals. People often get pets without a full understanding of the time, money, and space that they require. Regrettably, that recurrently results in pets being abandoned or abused by these owners. Apart from accountable breeders, owners should spay or neuter their pets to stop the serious overpopulation problem, which is happening in the United States. Shelters do not treat or stop the problem of unwanted pets but without them the stray pet population would be astronomical. There would be more problems with disease spread and an increased incidence of stray animal-induced injuries. A shelter should also be a domicile where animals could be benign and feel loved and taken care of; not just a drop off. The shelter in my community tries to do their best with their animals, but I feel that the shelter needs to be able to do their jobs better and for the animals to feel comfortable.

Finally, many animals that are declined from limited admission shelters are dumped on city streets and in rural areas creating the potential for uncontrolled reproduction and thus creating more homeless animals. Overall, opponents of the no-kill shelter philosophy see it as misleading and possibly harmful to the management and wellbeing of stray animals.

While I was there I asked one of the workers that have daily contact with these animals about what she thought about puppy mills and what would be a way to avoid them and the specialty about adopting a dog/puppy from the shelter. When I was talking to the worker Kayla Kirkpatrick she told me that “adopting a puppy/dog from the shelter gives that animals a second chance in life” replied Kirkpatrick. I would strongly agree with that statement because when an animal gets a second chance to them that means being able to start a new life with people that they can actually trust. I asked her another question on what she thinks about puppy mills in response Kayla said that “they are an animal's number one nightmare, because they don't understand what's going and when the end is coming near, because it's so to hold on any longer.” After speaking to Ms.Kirkpatrick I realized now that after talking to kirpatrick that animals are just like people and desire better and that they are not just a profit or yard ornament. on Ms.Kirkpatrick's request and everybody she works with would love to see people adopting from the shelter than

In the United States, 2,000 to 3,000 puppies and kittens are born every hour, yet only one out of ten of these animals will find a permanent home. The remaining animals will be left to fend for themselves on the streets, abandoned and lonely, with only about one year to live. Even with the rate of animals who will not find a home already, people are still determined to run puppy mills which increases that number, even if it is breaking the law. Puppy mills are bad because they keep the puppies under bad conditions, many of the dogs they breed get diseases and defects, and it can lead to animal abandonment and neglect.

This article presents the effort to shut down all puppy mills. So far 88 cities small and large have shut down in effect to this. These puppy mills include cats, rabbits, and other small breeds as well. Phoenix is known to be the first city to have a pet store challenge to put a ban on puppy mills. Other cities such as New York City and Salt Lake City have taken a stand against puppy mills as well. As more consumers learn more about the puppy mills, they as well are wanting nothing to do with them. Although many changes are being made some of the local laws still allow small breeds and animals from the animal shelter to be sold. Pet stores now have the option to change to a ‘humane business model’ which allows them to work with shelters and

There are an estimated 10,000 puppy mills in the United States alone (HSUS), and a single puppy mill can house anywhere from ten to one thousand breeding dogs (ASPCA). Puppy mills are unethical by design - they are designed to produce puppies as fast as possible without concern for either the pups or the mother. The conditions in puppy mills are often deplorable. In the case of the puppy mill that was raided, pups were separated from their mothers at incredibly young ages, the rooms were filthy, and the breeding dogs and pups alike suffered from diseases and malformations (Solotaroff). As stated in both Solotaroff and the ASPCA’s articles, in many puppy mills, dogs are housed in tiny, cheap cages, are unable to interact with anyone, and are generally neglected. Female dogs can be bred indefinitely,

Another important part of the problem are the businesses that contribute to the population of pets, the dog breeders, sometimes called puppy mills. The Oxford Dictionaries defines a puppy mill as “an establishment that breeds puppies for sale, typically on an intensive basis and in conditions regarded as inhumane” (“Puppy Mill,” 2015). The Friends of Animals (2013) Web site, gives some definitions of what a puppy mill is from an animal lover’s point of view. The housing for dogs is small pens and in which they may never have the chance to touch the grass in their lifetime. Veterinary care for the breeding dogs is a minimum to increase the profit from the sale of the puppies. Most of the puppy mills are located in central states, where Adams (1991) explains that the large factory chicken farms have taken over the local farmer’s cash crop of chickens resulting in the farmer breeding dogs for their cash

To begin with, we need to know what’s the main differences between these two spaces. And, it’s basically profit, ways of taking care, and the probability of death. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, known as ASPCA for its initials, many pet stores sell pets from puppy mills, which is a large-scale commercial dog breeding facility where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs. Stopping to buy cats or dogs from pet stores will make run out of business this cruel industry. Although many people believe that pet stores will be bankruptcy for not selling animals, the truth is, that pet stores’ major income comes from selling cloth, food, toys, and supplies for pets. On the other hand, shelters are establishments, especially supported by charitable contributions, that provides a temporary home for dogs, cats, and other animals that are offered for adoption (Dictionary). In it, pets are well treated with proper veterinary care and food. However, after a period of time, pets that are not adopted are KILLED.

We have all been there- strolling through the local pet store, staring into the eyes of the sweetest, most cute, puppy you have ever seen, a thin sheet of glass being the only barrier keeping you from a brand new snuggly pet. It is not easy to look past those sweet eyes and little paws- especially in today’s society. American consumers have made the production of these attractive looking puppies unfortunately a normal part of the addition of a new furry friend to their family. Actually, so “normal” that almost 90% of dogs in pet stores are from puppy mills (Buyer Beware: The Problem with Puppy Mills and Backyard Breeders, Paws 2017). Society overlooks the conditions these puppies have come from.

Structural functionalism is a macro level approach to study sociology (Browning, 2015). Structural functionalists believe social consensus is what holds society together; social consensus being a condition in which most members of the society agree on what would be good for everyone. Structural functionalists view society as a web of social structures, each structure being functional to fulfill it’s own needs, but dependent on all other structures for survival (Vago, 2012).

Functionalism is a consensus perspective, whereby society is based on shared values and norms into which members are socialised. For functionalists, society is seen as a system of social institutions such as the economy, religion and the family all of which perform socialisation functions.

Functionalism is seen as a macro-scale approach to society; it sees society as a whole rather than looking at parts of it. Due to this, functionalism sees society as a body (organic analogy), all the institutions work together to make society. This is particularly useful when observing society in order to understand the way in which it functions and the way in which all the institutions (organic analogy: organs within the body) work together to sustain society as a whole. Functionalism being a macro-scale approach is therefore seen as a strength as it allows functionalist sociologists to observe society, and its institutions, as a whole.

Functionalist theory is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. It can be argued that the functionalist theory has made a significant contribution to the study of society. It originates from the work of Emile Durkheim who suggests that social order is possible and society remains stable due to the functioning of several institutions. Everything has a specific function in society and society will always function in harmony. The main institutions studied by functionalism are the family, the education system, religion and crime and deviance.