Puppy Mills
Puppy Mills also called Puppy Farms are a global atrocity. They are everywhere. The people who own and run them are ruthless, cruel, soulless and without remorse. It is a business and a big one world-wide. The dogs endure a life of appalling misery, neglect, cruelty and eventual death. In a puppy mill when a dog draws it’s final breath – it is a blessing.
NOTE: Some Pictures or Content May be Graphic or Disturbing To Younger or Sensitive Readers
Puppy Mills represent: Profit Over Health, Cruelty, Kindness and Compassion.
These dogs – in their lifetimes – never receive vet care, kindness, sufficient food and water or proper shelter. They freeze in the winter and boil in the summer. They live in confined wire cages, usually stacked on top of each other. The dogs below are subject to the constant dripping of urine and fesces into their cages from the dogs above. Many dogs can be crammed into a single cage while they are pregnant and waiting to give birth. These dogs never have a name and are often ear tagged in similar fashion to cattle. In the worst puppy mills, noisy dogs are de-barked by having a steel rod shoved down their throats to crush their vocal cords.
A female dog is bred during her first heat – usually at 6 to 7 months of age. She is really still a puppy herself. She is bred twice a year for 5 to 7 years and when her poor, worn out body can no longer produce puppies – she is starved to death, drowned, hung or shot.
I remember watching an Oprah show on puppy mills a few years ago. One of the guests had brought a really sweet little dog to the show. She had shiny, fluffy fur and a dazzling personality. She only had 3 legs. She had been rescued from a puppy mill. When asked what had happened to her, the viewers learned that her leg had been caught in the wire floor of her cage, so the puppy mill owner just cut off her foot with a pair of tin snips. The puppies from these hell hole mills are often the outcome of a pairing of mother to son or a brother to sister. Many puppies, once sold to a well-intentioned person at a pet store or on-line, develop serious illnesses as they mature because they are the offspring of such unhealthy parents.
Mexico and Asia are rife with puppy mills and in North America – Missouri is the worst state for puppy mills. In Canada – Quebec leads our walk of shame. It is estimated that in Montreal alone that there may be as many as 800 dog breeding operations.
Global estimates for dog deaths in puppy mills are between 4 to 5 million animals a year. At the low end – to put that number into perspective – that is 11,000 dogs a day or one death every 8 seconds. Is this the best we can do for Man’s Best Friend?
Here’s How To Help
1) Never buy a dog in a pet store.
2) Don’t buy a puppy or a dog on-line from an unknown source.
3) Don’t try to find a home for an unwanted pet online. It may be used as bait.
4) Adopt – don’t shop.
5) Speak out when you witness or suspect abuse anywhere.
6) Act locally within your community to help dogs in need.
7) Act internationally by signing petitions for respected organizations.
8) Learn about Kitty Mills and Rabbit Mills.
9) There are mills where creatures are born to be live food for bigger animals.
Like dogs the world over – Puppy Mill Dogs just want to love and be loved. Let’s Work Together To Set Them Free!
