Horror of puppy mills part 1

While some may come from reputable breeders, the majority come from puppy mills. Puppy mills are large breeding operations in it for money. Period. They give no regard to the well being of the puppies or the parent dogs. In fact, the mother is simply a “puppy making machine, whose whole life is devoted to giving birth with no rest in between litters. Mothers, kept either outside in the freezing cold or blazing heat or squeezed inside unsanitary spaces. They may never even feel the warmth of the sun on their face and get no exercise. They are never given love, human affection a toy or a warm bed. These dogs are given only enough food and water to remain alive. One word sums up the life of a puppy mill mother “Misery”. The saddest part of this for Mothers is if they are barkers. There is a procedure called “Debarking”. The puppy millers jam a pipe down the dog’s throat and bang on it several times to sever the vocal cord. This is done without anesthesia. Debarking can result in tissue regrowth and scarring which in turn can interfere with swallowing, cause gagging and even death. After the dog is unable to breed, she is killed.

 

As for the puppies, they are kept in unsanitary cages with wire floors often resulting in injury to their legs. These puppies have no socialization. They are transported to pet shops as young as 8 weeks old (sometimes younger) and if 3 out of 5 puppies make it to the pets shops alive, the puppy millers find this to be a victory. They typically arrive at pet shops with fleas, heartworm parvovirus, kennel cough, diarrhea to name a few ailments. These puppies will most likely have serious life long health problems such as eye and ear kidney or heart disease, blood disorders hip dysphasia and more.

 

Missouri, being the largest puppy mill area of the country is closely follow by Lancaster Pennsylvania, also known as “The Puppy Mill Capital of the East”.

 

You can help in shut down these appalling businesses by not purchasing a puppy from a pet shop. If you do, make sure you are able to meet the parent dogs (most times this will be impossible because the parents are still at the mill), view the facility (this will be unlikely because chances are these facilities are in  a different part of the country) and get health records although most of the time these records are falsified.

 

A reputable breeder will always let you view their facility and meet the parent dogs. In fact, a reputable breeder will want to interview you to make sure you’ll be a fit “pet parent” for their loved puppies. They will also want to match personalities with you and your new companion.

 

Next time you see those cute little puppies in the pet shop, remember where they came from and how the parent dogs literally gave their lives for them.

 

Want to learn more about how you can help puppy mill dogs?