Puppy Mills

Many people think of their dogs as their children. Imagine if your child was in an adoption agency and forced to have children over and over again until they could not anymore, and then being killed. This is what it is like in a puppy mill. Why are these puppy mills allowed to do this to living things? What possesses someone to want to do these harmful acts to puppies? Being a dog lover, I find the deplorable conditions in puppy mills disgusting.

Inbreeding, disease, and slaughter house are just a few words to describe the conditions in puppy mills. Puppy Mills are large-scale commercial dog breeding operations. Profit is priority over the well-being of the dogs ("ASPCS Website", 2010). Mills house up to 1000 dogs at any one time and separated into tiny cages. Female dogs are bred continuously until their bodies fail; then killing her. The puppies are then sent to agents who pass themselves as reputable dog breeders; pet stores purchase the dogs for very little and sell them to the consumer with a 1000% markup as healthy purebred dogs. I purchased my puppy from "We Love Pets" in Media, PA, and chances are, my dog came from a puppy mill. It is very hard to believe this, but there are signs that we get every once in a while, leading us to believe Brutus came from a puppy mill. He is taken to the vet regularly and has no major health issues, which we are thankful. But why is Brutus scared of the basement? At first, this did not seem like a big issue, but lately, after researching puppy mills, makes us think that he was in a tiny cage somewhere in a basement-like atmosphere.

Why are puppy mills allowed to remain operable, or able to open back up after being shut down? Puppy mills bring in thousands of dollars with little overhead cost to the mills; making closing puppy mills a difficult task. Producing an approximate one million puppies each year, it is a billion dollar business. Many of the puppies, however; are sick, diseased, or have genetic ailments causing them to die in a short amount of time. The dogs are also inbred, causing a massive amount of congenital defects expensive to treat; usually ends in death (Neil, 2010). The millers kill any dog that cannot breed anymore considering it a liability and unmarketable. No law exists that states running a puppy mill is illegal. The laws pertaining to the operation of dog kennels only regulate the minimum care for the dogs. However, these regulations are lax and rarely enforced because of understaffing of the Animal and Plant Health Inspectors; the organization responsible for enforcement. "Unfortunately, puppy mills are a low priority to them and they attempt to 'educate' instead of prosecuting the operators. Their regulations are extremely lax and in no way ensure humane treatment to the dogs living in these establishments," says Bob Baker, a longtime animal advocate and a member of an ad hoc committee advising Gov