preview

The Doggie in the Window Essay

Good Essays

The Doggie in the Window

It’s Saturday afternoon, and you are walking down main street doing a little window shopping, when you come across a pet store. As you peer into the window, you see a cute and cuddly puppy just sitting there staring at you, pleading with you to buy him. So you think, “Why not, we could use a new member of the family, and this would be a great surprise.” Buzzzzz! Wrong Answer! The problem with pet stores, is that most of them get their puppies from puppy mills. Puppy mills are commercial mass-breeding facilities, located mainly in the Midwest, that churn out litters of puppies to sell to pet stores. The cute puppy that you see sitting in the window, is probably another product of a puppy mill. Puppy mills are …show more content…

“Crusted, oozing eyes, raging ear infections, mange that turned into a mass of red scabs, abscessed feet from the unforgiving wire floors - all were ignored or inadequately treated. The collar on one Labrador retriever had not been adjusted, as the dog grew, and had become embedded in his flesh. Sadly, many of the old mother dogs had gone mad from confinement and loneliness” (Pet Stores and... 1). They circled frantically in their small cages and paced ceaselessly back and forth. Unfortunately, these are the conditions in hundreds of puppy mills across the United States. Laws offer little protection and are poorly enforced by the Department of Agriculture.

By the time the puppies are taken away from their mothers and shipped across the country to pet stores, many of them suffer from ear infections, bronchial illness, and serious congenital health problems. Some of these health problems include hip deformities, epilepsy, and vision or hearing problems” (Pet Stores and... 1). People then find out that the puppies they have paid hundreds of dollars for, also need thousands more for veterinary care. Once the puppies reach the pet stores, this hellish trip continues. “A employee of Petland, a national chain of pet stores, reported the puppies arrived in boxes, caked with

Get Access