Puppy mIlls
- Ashley Steinkoenig
- Sep 12, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 4, 2019
According to the Humane Society, a puppy mill can be defined as "an inhumane, commercial dog breeding facility in which the health of the dogs is disregarded in order to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits." In other words, it's the type of place you see on the sad dog commercials with Sarah McLachalan's "Angel" playing in the background.
Puppy mills are all over. They can be found online and in stores. At least 10,000 puppy mills are estimated to exist in the United States. Often, you aren't even able to tell at first when a business is a puppy mill.
In the United States, about 47% of households have at least one dog, and out of that 47%, only 30% come from shelters or rescues. This means that the other 53% of dogs must come from independent breeders, stores, or other types of breeders. While buying from a pet store may seem safe, breeders that give their puppies to stores frequently mass-produce dogs in order to get profit. This means that they are taking the same dogs, and forcing them to give birth to litters of puppies continuously. Not only are the mothers being abused by doing this, but the dozens upon dozens of puppies produced are neglected. Dogs that come from puppy mills are physically and psychologically impacted. Even months after they are purchased, dogs that come from puppy mills can develop illnesses. These diseases can easily spread to other dogs, too. People that buy from pet stores or other puppy mills typically end up with a large vet bill. While it may seem just as bad to buy a beaten down dog from a shelter, you are preventing puppy mills from getting business. The less that people purchase from mass breeders, the more likely they are to shut down.
Next time you are thinking about getting a dog, make sure to be really careful where you get it from. Steer clear of pet stores, such as Furry Babies in the Chicago area. If you are buying from a store, make sure it's through a shelter or other type of animal rescue. Ask breeders lots of questions and check for signs of neglect. Dogs can benefit humans in so many ways, we need to make sure we are doing everything we can in order to keep them healthy and safe.
Wow, I never really thought of this that way. It's interesting that so many inhumane treatments of animals aren't really talked about, and I'm glad you have shed some light on this problem. I'll make sure next time I get a dog, it'll be a rescue.
This blog post is very informative and interesting. I had no idea how many puppy mills there are or even what a puppy mill is. I feel more educated and I understand how these work and why people should get more rescue dogs. A close friend of mine has multiple rescue dogs and now I understand how much of a positive impact this has. When I get older and want to get a dog, I will try to get a rescue dog to prevent abuse in these mills.
Reading this blog made me upset of how people treat animals. I really would have never guessed people would hurt and harm animals in this kind of way. The evidence you provided made me gasp mainly because everyone is ok with this happening. I hope one day society will treat these animals better.
I found this blog very interesting because I did not know what puppy mills are. After reading this I now know what really happens in some dog breeding businesses. The statistics that you presented were very surprising and eye opening to me. When I get another dog I want to adopt or rescue to help prevent dogs from getting abused in some puppy businesses.