STOP Puppy Mills!
June 17th, 2010I found this awesome article about putting puppy mills out of business! I feel very strongly about this issue. While I don’t technically know if Alice is from a puppy mill, after all of the things that I have read I cannot imagine ever buying a dog. There are far too many dogs out their that need love and affection. Please read and share with your friends and family.
Putting Puppy Mills Out Of business
Puppy mills is a expression that is often used to describe places that bread dogs continually in poor conditions for monetary profit. Sadly, these places do exist, since breeding dogs is a multimillion dollar business.
Brokers get pups from these mills while the pups are between four and eight weeks old, and this implies taking the pups away from their mothers at a especially young age. The broker will keep the fresh puppies for a short while in an effort to “fatten them up” prior to sending them off to a farm someplace to live in a grimy little dog crate devoid of veterinary care or shelter from the elements.
The female pups are forced to start breeding from their first heat cycle at a very young age and from then on they breed devoid of break between new litters. This continual breeding puts a large amount of strain on the female dogs, and when they are too worn out to breed any longer, they’re terminated. It is bad enough that these females are forced to breed until they are worn out and destroyed, but what’s worse is that the methods used to terminate the dogs are commonly horrible and inexpensive.
In puppy mills, the dogs are almost always kept in little, cramped cages for their whole lives. Because these small cages are typically made with wire bottoms, the dogs’ feet can suffer from permanent damage. Additionally, in these tight quarters, parasites and infection are common.
Because puppies are so highly desired, it is these types of companies that frequently provide puppies to pet stores. More than half of all puppies purchased from pet stores become ill shorty after being bought, according to a study done in California, and it is probable that puppies obtained from pet stores develop problems because of inadequate living conditions prior to the pet store.
Putting these puppy mills out of business can be done by numerous ways.
Choosing a dog that is no longer considered a puppy is one method of stopping these mills. There are many advantages to adopting a mature dog as opposed to a puppy including the fact that you already know how big they’re going to get, what their personality will be, and if they’re already house trained.
Buying from legitimate, qualified breeders is another method to stop the puppy mills. These sort of breeders treat their pups like a member of the family and care for them in the best possible ways. The breeder can give you some background about the dog, its parents, health circumstances, breed genetic disorders, and so forth.
Similarly, you can adopt pets from local humane shelters or rescue homes.
One more step is to spay or neuter your pet to prevent overpopulation. This also keeps puppy mills from responding to ads for “free pups” to supply them with new female dogs to continue their operations.
One of the biggest things you can do is to spread the word about these puppy mills and educate other people about their terrible operations.
My favorite shelter is Southern Hope Humane Society.
