The shame of Puppy Mills

Born to questionable parents into inhumane, dirty and crowded surroundings. Raised like a crop, and subjected to the minimum care necessary to keep them alive, beset by disease, parasites and hunger, a puppy born to a puppy mill breeder has a bleak existence.

Then shipped at a young age to a mass commercial retailer, crammed into another small cage, and receiving minimal care, they are sold like commodities to unsuspecting new owners. Along the way they will be handled by numerous wannabe window shoppers, and tended to often, not always, by  persons whose only stake in the entire process is their paycheck. These are the formative years of a new life from a puppy mill.

At each turn, the young puppy may somehow experience hope, or excitement, that they have found a home, only to once again be relegated to the small crowded cage to sleep with their parasites.

When this weak and in need soul is finally sold, it is often to an owner that either does not have the resources to care for them, or who lacks the will to do so. Often impulse buys, often for children, the new puppy fortunately does not know what a bleak future  may lay ahead.

But, just as often, the new puppy is sold to a loving and nurturing family. A family that will invest the time, money and love that it deserves. But, it is a weak puppy. Ravaged by disease and poor conditions from birth, the new owners may not realize what care it really needs until it is too late.

To watch a person, family, or especially a child, bond with their new friend, lavish it with care and affection, and welcome it unselfishly into their lives, and then experience the heartbreak of losing that new friend weeks or maybe months later to an unidentified disease, is to know one more of the horrors of puppy mills.

We need to stop bringing living, breathing, sentient beings into this world, only to peddle them for the almighty dollar. We need to stop the abuse. We need to end the suffering of both these creatures, and the people who eventually welcome them into their lives and hearts.

We need to stop Puppy Mills, and we need to shut down the commercial retailers who support them.

While there is a place for legitimate breeders. Puppy mills are illegitimate. They exist, not for the lives they create, but only for the profits they generate. With all the millions of abandoned and unwanted pets overflowing shelters and rescue organizations, there is no reason for puppy mills to exist, and there is no reason for pet stores to sell their product.

Do not do business with pet stores that sell commercial Dogs and Cats. Do not buy Puppy Mill Puppies. Do not support this ongoing travesty.

Most responsible Pet stores do not sell these commercial pets. Instead, they  support rescue organizations, and make space and resources for those organizations to seek out responsible and loving new homes for abandoned and neglected animals that are already out there. These are the stores we should support. Research before you commit to any puppy. Find out where it came from, and why. Visit Shelters, and adoption centers. Most shelters and rescue organizations have already taken whatever measures are required to ensure the health of their charges.  Never the less, have your new dog or cat checked out. Most organizations require this as part of the adoption process. They will also require spaying or neutering.

And, above all, remember a new pet is a LIFELONG commitment. If you are not ready to make that commitment, you do not need a new pet.

Let’s do what we can to stop this. Below is a link to the Humane Society’s investigation into PetLand – one of the most flagrant abusers.

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/puppy_mills/timelines/petland_investigation.html

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