Puppy Mills are Evil

For the last several days, we've been baby sitting two dogs for my sister-in-law's family while they're off at Disney World. Now, Judy and I have always had dogs. We're no strangers to the requirements of our canine friends. We're also big advocates of rescue dogs, and we've always gotten our animals from rescue organizations, the pound, etc. In our view, it's just the responsible thing to do, and we've gotten some great dogs that way.

One of the dogs we're watching is Sparky, a one-year-old Australian Shepherd that was purchased at a pet store, and originated in a puppy mill. Sparky's a sweet dog, but, because of the way he came into the world, he has issues.

If you're not familiar with the concept of puppy mills, these are large-scale dog-breeding facilities that produce puppies as quickly as possible and sell them to pet stores, creating a number of problems for the dogs and their owners.

Before going any farther, I think it's important to differentiate between puppy mills and legitimate breeders. Puppy mills are a high volume business that treat dogs as commodities, with no care for the animal's welfare whatsoever. Legitimate breeders, more often than not, specialize in a specific breed of dog, and are concerned with producing good, healthy dogs for responsible owners. While I personally think that there are more than enough good dogs out there, in pounds and shelters and foster homes, to satisfy every potential dog owner, I can't really fault the legitimate breeders. At least they're concerned with the health and well-being of the dogs they produce.

Not so the puppy mills. Imagine an area crammed with cages, each one holding more dogs than it comfortably should. Imagine that the cages are filthy and not well maintained. Imagine that the dogs aren't given enough food or water, aren't exercised, aren't provided with proper veterinary care, and aren't given any love or attention. Now imagine that when the puppies are born, they're left with their mothers for only a very short period of time - a healthy dog stays with his mother for at least eight to ten weeks  - and is then ripped away so that the mother an go into heat again as soon as possible, to be transported and sold, if they're "lucky" enough to survive. Often, these dogs are sold as purebreds, although the lax and indiscriminate breeding practices at puppy mills makes it almost impossible to guarantee this. If you don't see the above as cruel and horrendous, imagine what the reaction would be if people were routinely treated like this. In fact, substitute people for puppies in the description above, and it's tragically parallel to the way that Africans were brought to this country at the height of the slave trade. Ripped away from their families with no regard for their happiness, stored in filthy, overcrowded conditions with minimal food and water and no medical care, and then sold to people who saw them only as property. Dogs are thinking, feeling creatures. If we wouldn't treat people that way, why should we subject dogs to that kind of treatment?

The result of these mass breeding practices is, sadly, dogs that are doomed to a life that is difficult, at best. Right out of the box, they start with two strikes against them. Because they were torn away from their mother's side at such an early age, these dogs tend to be badly socialized with both other animals and humans. We see it clearly in Sparky. He's a sweet dog, but incredibly fearful of strangers and more than a little neurotic. He's also been very hard to train, and, at a year old, still isn't housebroken. He's failed puppy training classes several times, often on the basis of poor socialization skills. These aren't traits that typically endear a dog to a new family, making the poor animal's life even harder. Additionally, dogs from puppy mills tend to be more prone to health issues later in life. It's a bad situation all around, and one that should not be tolerated. Like I said, Sparky's a great dog, but he's obviously badly damaged.

In these so-called "enlightened" days of sensitivity and compassion, we like to think of ourselves as socially aware and, especially in America, champions of justice for all mankind. We invaded Iraq ostensibly to liberate the Iraqi people and give them a better life full of hope, prosperity and freedom. We went into Vietnam for many of the same reasons (at least that's what we were told. Whether that's truly the case or not is entirely another discussion). But we turn a bind eye to the suffering of innocent animals. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those PETA whackos who want to call fish "sea kittens" so that no one will eat them, or who believe in a totally vegan lifestyle. I believe in the food chain and am happy to participate in it. But there's no excuse for wanton cruelty for no other reason than blind profit. The practice of puppy mills is reprehensible, and should be stopped. Period.

 

There are plenty of places to go for more information about what goes on at puppy mills, and how to stop this cruel, inhuman and barbaric practice. Two good places to start are the Humane Society and the ASPCA. But if you really want to help change things, and eliminate this hateful, obscene practice, start by talking to people about puppy mills, urging them to boycott pet stores, and begging them not to buy puppies over the Internet. I encourage people to have dogs; they're wonderful friends and wonderful companions, and make a great addition to the family. If you're interested in a specific breed, try the rescue organizations. A Google search using the breed term and the word "rescue" should give you plenty of options. Or go to the local dog shelter or pound. There are a lot of great dogs there that really need a good home. These difficult economic times have seen a marked increase in the number of abandoned and released dogs, as people are forced to move from houses into apartments that don't allow pets.

Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.