Exposing Puppy Mills

Puppy mills have been in the United States for many years, they are underground run organizations so they are not easily monitored by animal control units. Puppy Mills are places where purebred dogs are kept in small confinements, are severely neglected and are forced to mate until their bodies cannot handle it anymore, which then they are inhumanely killed. The puppies then are sent off to pet stores, leaving the bitches and studs there to continue the abusive cycle. Animal rights activists are trying to find ways to expose the breeders who run the puppy mills and encourage the public to not buy puppies from pet stores because puppy mills are who supply them with the puppies that are for sale.

Puppy mills began after World War II when farmers were desperate to find ways to make money, after the widespread farm failures (AmeriDogs NP). Farmers began their mills with low income and already run down living conditions. The dogs were housed in chicken coops and rabbit pens, where they were denied veterinary care and socialization to humans or other animals (NP). The Farmers weren't educated on how to properly take care of the dogs they were housing leaving the animals sick, emaciated, and very unhealthy. Eventually the animal welfare act passed in 1966 which outlines specific minimum standards of care for dogs, cats and some other kinds of animals bred for commercial resale (Stop NP). After this, animal rights organizations were able to shut down some of the puppy mills that were in bad conditions, but shutting down all puppy mills throughout the U.S. would be an impossible task. Now there are many organizations dedicated to shut down as many puppy mills as possible.

Although there are laws that try and regulate puppy mills and make sure that the animal welfare act is not being violated, there are far too many puppy mills then investigators to accurately inspect the facilities (PETA NP). In America there are well over 1,000 research facilities, over 2,800 exhibitors, and about 4,500 dealers that are supposed to be inspected each year to make sure the living conditions are ok and the animals are being treated humanly (NP). There are three APHIS sector offices with approximately only 70 veterinary inspectors who are supposed to inspect these facilities. This meaning that there are only 70 inspectors to cover over 8,300 facilities (NP). If America wants to start seeing a change in the way these dogs at puppy mills are being treated, there needs to be a fight for more investigators, a boycott to stop buying puppies from pet stores, and more exposure of local puppy mills.

The torture that the Dogs endure at these puppy mills is clearly Animal cruelty. Very often the dogs that live at the puppy mills are covered with matted, filthy hair, their teeth are rotting and many of them get ulcers in their eyes, some of the dogs jaws rot because of tooth decay (Prisoners NP). Many of the dogs lose feet and legs due to fighting with the other dogs they are crammed in a cage with or by getting their paw stuck on the wire floors (NP). Often there is no air conditioning or heat so in the summer they die of heat stroke