Greed: Causes And Effects Of Puppy Mills
Prisoners of Greed
Not too far from a house, a barn sits off in the distance. Inside the barn, it is crowded with cages. Row after row, stacked on top of each other, are cages with dogs inside of them. Dogs crying for attention or crying out in pain. Inside that barn, there are tens of hundreds of dogs being bred and born consecutively. This is what a puppy mill looks like. Puppy mills are large-scale commercial dog breeding operations where profit is placed above the well-being of animals. To help put this cruel treatment of animals to an end, we need to look at the causes and effects of puppy mills, and what you can do as an individual. Puppy mills are a widespread problem. “There is an estimated 15,000 puppy mills in the U.S. alone, …show more content…
“Pet stores are the primary sales outlet for puppy mills and are essential for keeping puppy mills in business” (“About Puppy Mills”). Many mills sell to pet stores without the required license. Some pet stores, like Petco, have made a change to rescue animals instead of buying them from puppy mill farmers. They contact local animal shelters to get homes for animals on death row. Petsmart gets all of their animals from mills. Breeders of puppy mills breed dogs without consideration of genetic quality, which causes many problems for the puppies. Illness and disease are common in dogs because puppy mill operators often fail to apply proper husbandry practices that would remove sick dogs from their breeding pools. However, as a result of careless breeding, puppies can be born with many congenital and hereditary conditions. Such as epilepsy, heart disease, kidney disease, hip dysplasia, luxating patellas, endocrine disorders (diabetes, hyperthyroidism), blood disorders (anemia, Von Willebrand disease), deafness, eye problems (cataracts, glaucoma, progressive retinal atrophy), respiratory disorders, giardia, parvovirus, distemper, upper respiratory infections, kennel cough, pneumonia, mange and intestinal parasites. Puppies often arrive at pet stores and homes with diseases or other problems because of the inhumane conditions of the puppy
Not too far from a house, a barn sits off in the distance. Inside the barn, it is crowded with cages. Row after row, stacked on top of each other, are cages with dogs inside of them. Dogs crying for attention or crying out in pain. Inside that barn, there are tens of hundreds of dogs being bred and born consecutively. This is what a puppy mill looks like. Puppy mills are large-scale commercial dog breeding operations where profit is placed above the well-being of animals. To help put this cruel treatment of animals to an end, we need to look at the causes and effects of puppy mills, and what you can do as an individual. Puppy mills are a widespread problem. “There is an estimated 15,000 puppy mills in the U.S. alone, …show more content…
“Pet stores are the primary sales outlet for puppy mills and are essential for keeping puppy mills in business” (“About Puppy Mills”). Many mills sell to pet stores without the required license. Some pet stores, like Petco, have made a change to rescue animals instead of buying them from puppy mill farmers. They contact local animal shelters to get homes for animals on death row. Petsmart gets all of their animals from mills. Breeders of puppy mills breed dogs without consideration of genetic quality, which causes many problems for the puppies. Illness and disease are common in dogs because puppy mill operators often fail to apply proper husbandry practices that would remove sick dogs from their breeding pools. However, as a result of careless breeding, puppies can be born with many congenital and hereditary conditions. Such as epilepsy, heart disease, kidney disease, hip dysplasia, luxating patellas, endocrine disorders (diabetes, hyperthyroidism), blood disorders (anemia, Von Willebrand disease), deafness, eye problems (cataracts, glaucoma, progressive retinal atrophy), respiratory disorders, giardia, parvovirus, distemper, upper respiratory infections, kennel cough, pneumonia, mange and intestinal parasites. Puppies often arrive at pet stores and homes with diseases or other problems because of the inhumane conditions of the puppy