Puppy Mills

Have you ever heard of a puppy mill? Do you picture a mother dog cuddling with her puppies? Do you picture little adorable dogs playing around with children who are most likely to buy them? Well that is the opposite of a puppy mill. Puppy Mills are dangerous and cruel places for all animals, and particularly dogs and cats. If we want to stop this horridness, we must act now!

Puppy mills are commercial dog breeders who breed constantly. Female dogs are kept in breeding areas. Puppy mill workers breed the mother dogs until they can no longer reproduce. When this happens the females are auctioned off or killed. In a year all of the puppy mills in the U.S make over 5 million puppies. On average, 2 million puppies are sold, meaning that the remaining 3 million are drowned, buried alive, or beaten to death. Some female dogs are stored away to be bred. Others are sent to shelters which are already overcrowded, this results in the killing of many animals. Best Friends Animal Society has shown that more than 50% of dogs and cats at shelters come from puppy mills.

Many people buy dogs and cats over the internet, or at pet stores. When you do this you are most likely buying a dog from a puppy mill. Pet stores often work with puppy mills, and get many of their pets from them. Research shows that dogs and cats that are bred in puppy mills are more likely to be unhealthy since they are pure bred, and do not live in sustainable conditions. Pet stores have to take weeks to clean up these puppies, and get them looking healthy again. Animals bred in puppy mills are most likely to have fears of cages or leashes, this can take years of therapy to solve. Still others are afraid of being petted because they are used to being hit.

Although it may be hard to stop these inhumane mills, we can still act now! Out of 13,000 puppy mills in the US, 3,000 have been shut down. This is a great start but if we want to stop this terribleness, we must act more, and now!

According to PETA, an animal rights group, many puppy mills don’t even check with the government before opening up shop (this is extremely illegal). Although some do check, and get a registration, these mills are most likely to never get caught. They have a permit, and the government will not surprise them with their visits. Puppy mills are careful and break laws only when government officials or people who can get them in trouble are not there. Many people have not seen what these mills are capable of. But someone definitely has.

In a coffee shop, Hillary Clinton was sitting with a crowd of women with her. Many were discussing important matters, but one woman in particular was talking about puppy mills. She asked Clinton what she thought of these mills, and what should be done. Mrs. Clinton, a dog lover, answered her question directly and to the point.

“I share your concern with these mills,” Clinton responded. “From everything I know about them, they really are terrible places for any animal, and particularly for dogs and cats.” She added, “we need to do more!”

Hillary Clinton is right. With the right mindset, we can change the world from the inside. But doing nothing won’t work. We need to be tough and stop what is wrong! And, we can only do that if we never give up! We must stop the cruelty put toward animals by puppy mills.

Bibliography

“Puppy Mills.” Best Friends Animal Society. https://bestfriends.org/advocacy/ending-puppy-mills

“Puppy Mills.” PETA. https://www.peta.org/issues/animal-companion-issues/pet-trade/puppy-mills/

Kaplan, Thomas. “Hillary Clinton: Puppy Mills Can Be Cruel.” NY Times. Sept. 7, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/09/07/hillary-clinton-puppy-mills-can-be-cruel/?searchResultPosition=1