Puppy Mills
First, it is important to define Puppy Mill. According to
Wikipedia, a puppy mill is "a commercial
dog breeding facility that is operated with an emphasis upon
profits above animal welfare and is often in substandard conditions
regarding the well-being of dogs in their care. Similar types of
operations exist for other animals commonly kept as pets or used as
feed for other animals. The term can be applied to operations
involving other animals commercially bred for profit, e.g. "kitty
mills."There are an estimated 4,000 puppy mills in the U.S. that
produce more than half a million puppies a year. Commercial kennels
may be licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) which may inspect the kennels routinely."
To say that the USDA "may inspect the kennels routinely" is
laughable, except it isn't even close to funny. The USDA does
oversee puppy mills, but they do not routinely inspect most puppy
mills and they certainly don't have standards that any animal lover
would consider humane. Dogs are being mass produced as if
they are tennis shoes or t-shirts, the only problem is these are
living, feeling, sensitive creatures that feel pain, heartbreak and
suffering when not treated with love and respect and given a home
to be nurtured in, unlike an inanimate object. If you
buy a dog from a pet store, you are buying a puppy mill
dog. Period. End of story. Regardless of what the pet store
wants you to believe, they are getting their dogs from companies
and breeders who are breeding and selling dogs purely for profit
and who don't put the animals' needs first and foremost. You
are not "saving" that dog from the pet store, you are putting money
back in to an industry that exploits animals for cash.
The great news is, you can help by doing (and not doing) some
simple things:
- never buy a puppy from a pet store, online or from the
newspaper.
- adopt your pets from legitimate rescue groups that spay/neuter
the pet before adoption.
- tell your friends and family about puppy mills and ask them to
do the same.
To learn more about the fight against puppy mills,
visit Best Friends' website and check out their Puppies Aren't Products campaign.