As I was sitting having my afternoon tea and toast and watching Oprah, I almost threw up when I saw their exposure of the "Puppy Mill" problem in America. Apparently most people don't even know these puppy mills exist. Puppy Mills or puppy farms are large scale breeding facilities and also exist for cats and birds as well.
Puppy mills are used to pump out the puppies as quickly as they can and are often sold through pet stores. The puppies that make it to the pet store are lucky and usually get bought, however its the older dogs that live in the puppy mills that suffer. Female dogs spend their WHOLE lives in cages and constantly breed. Some are kept indoors with never seeing the sunlight, some are kept outdoors with no protection from the weather conditions, some don't even know how to walk as they are crammed in with other females and males and most never receive human affection which lead to temperament disorders. Basically these animals are bred for profit and the animals suffer. No words can really describe the conditions these animals are kept in until you see for yourself.
Male and female dogs are killed after they are deemed useless and many die in their cages from infections, pneumonia, hip displacia. Responsible breeders produce healthy animals with good temperament and are proud to produce a good product. These "puppy mills" however, are kept in such a state that animals are left in their own waste and never receive veterinary care nor proper diet needs.
90% of pet stores allegedly buy their products from puppy mills. Of course, this is debated a lot by "hobby breeders" saying that not all places are this way and other excuses.
Basically, to avoid giving money to these businesses, please, adopt from a shelter!! I cannot stress this enough. If you are wanting a pure bred animal, do your research. Make sure you find out exactly where the animal comes from and do not buy if you think the conditions are unsatisfactory. Something NEEDS to be done. THOUSANDS and thousands of unwanted animals are kept in shelters and killed if they are not homed, so please, open your hearts and adopt from a shelter.
You can help by visiting these websites and signing petitions online.
http://www.thepuppymill.com.au is the website of a documentary that was made and is not just a typical animals rights video. Please check out this website
http://www.stoppuppymills.org
http://www.awarenessday.org
http://www.nopuppymills.com
http://www.prisonersofgreed.com
7 comments:
There is an old advertising slogan "Puppies aren't just for Christmas" which holds so true.
I don't have an animal companion (or 'pet' as so many others call them) because I realize the responsibility involved in time, space, emotions and finances. That doesn't make me callous, I think it makes me more real - animals are treasured beings and, when they live with you, true dependents. They are not trendy pieces of fluff.
So with you on the puppy farm issue.
Sadly puppy mills are not an american thing, they are alive and well in australia, especially those little 'boutique dogs' maltese, spaniel crosses..
I support a woman who has Cordelias Canine Rescue. Her take on puppy farms is & what they are trying to do is here
Even if you cant take on a rescue dog, you can donate money, sponser a dog, raise awareness (as you are doing) talk to friends you know are looking for a dog.
So many people reacted badly when I said Chels was getting spayed with comments that I could 'cross her with a mastiff and make heaps' not uncommon.. my reply was the last thing needed was more unloved Danes...
Great post V!
ps, thanks for the links I will go check them...x
Yes I just found out Abbey, I was doing some research and found out more about the problem in Australia. Just so sad it really makes my blood boil. I will check out that link and thanks so much for your reply. Oh and thank you so much for getting Chels spayed, I can't stress enough how important desexing a pet is :)
MG, thats a really good perspective to have. Thank you so much for supporting me with this issue and even if you don't have a companion animal yourself, I believe its always good to know about these issues so you can raise awareness with friends and so on. Thanks for the comments guys x
Couldn't agree with you more!! All five of our danes have been spayed/neutered, and while they are all beautiful to me, I certainly realize they are not "show quality or good breeding stock", because of their coloring, build, or because of the deafness & blindness issues. So it just amazes me all the times people approach me and ask if I've bred them or would be interested in doing so. Um, no thanks moron!!
I got really aggrevated with a friend of mine that bought her dog from a pet store... ugh!, don't get me started!!
Pita woman good on you for having your beautiful danes desexed. At least when people ask you about breeding you can inform them as to why you chose to desex them and so on. Its such a frustrating thing, I bought my two dogs from a pet store when i was 7. What did I know, I was just a little girl. I still love them all the same but its good to be informed of cruelty such as this. Thanks for your post!
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