Puppy Mill Essay

Everyone wants that cute little brown and white puppy in the cage with its 5 siblings, but do you know where it really came from? Puppy mills are becoming more and more popular and also raising concerns, with good reason. In this essay I will highlight negative effects of puppy mills and 3 main ways they can be prevented.

Puppy mills are places just for breeding mass quantities of dogs. Just like a factory making cars, they try to produce as many puppies as quickly as possible. or every time they come in heat and are able to be bred. The female dogs are usually a popular breed of dogs most people desire to have. The breeder sells the puppies and that’s how they make a profit.

Puppy mills can leave all dogs involved with serious health issues

both physically and emotionally. The University of Pennsylvania has studied puppies after living in these mills; their research found that puppy mill dogs struggled long after leaving the facility. (Lou J). The study showed puppies were more timid, aggressive, or even showed depression more than a puppy growing up outside of a mill.(Lou J.) I think a way we could stop this problem would be to require dog breeders to maintain a permit to breed puppies. A dog is worth more if it is registered so I think organizations like the AKC should require breeders to have a breeding permit before registering their animals. In order to obtain this permit I believe they must first have their facility inspected and certified a safe place for dogs. This would make for a safer environment for the dogs and hopefully less emotional issues that they have to deal with. This would only take care of the environmental conditions though; there are still many other conditions the puppies face.
Everyone knows veterinary care is expensive. Most puppy mills do not seek veterinary care for the animals because they have so many and do not provide adequate health care for them. Without their vaccines, puppies are subject to a lot of potentially fatal diseases one of the most common being the Parvo virus, which, if not treated, is deadly to puppies and highly contagious. Parvo attacks a dog’s digestive system and causes it to die from dehydration. It travels through the ground, so any other puppies that would be in the room with a dog infected with parvo would be very likely to get it. Another health effect the puppies face due to their living conditions is intestinal parasites or worms. Breeders make more money off of puppies that are registered. I think that in order to insure healthy dogs and dog breeding practices, a dog owner should have to show proof of veterinary care for the animal before being able to get it registered. This would insure that the puppies have been seen by the vet and received essential shots they need to build immunity and better prepare them for a healthy life. The puppies aren’t the only ones that suffer from these conditions though.
The mother dog, or dog used for just breeding, suffers negative effects from living in these conditions as well.

The dogs that are just used for breeding are more often than not very unhealthy. They suffer from malnourishment, caused by improper feeding and always trying to care for their young. Breeding over and over again can make the dog more prone to cancers and other deadly diseases. The USDA monitors farms and puts regulations on the animals used on them. I think that humane societies or animal act organizations should put requirements on dog breeding facilities as well. That require veterinary care, and the number of times a dog can healthily be bred. There are thousands of dogs in shelters being euthanized because they cannot find homes for them, and then there are people breeding dogs like a factory. I think more dogs should be spayed and neutered to reduce the possibility of this happening. Before adopting a dog out of a shelter I think it should be spayed or neutered. To help prevent puppy mills I thin people should be more considerate as to where they get their dogs from. If people quit contributing to puppy mills and buying dogs from them they will not have any business. Some people may think it will be expensive to take measures to stop puppy mills and fix more pets but I believe the end result will be well worth

it.
I think puppy mills should be banned and more should be done to enforce the bans against puppy mills. This would stop them completely. They can cause life-changing effects on all animals involved and do not take into consideration the animal’s wellbeing. I have shared some of the negative effects, but there are many more than just the psychological, health, and mother dog’s health that are involved with these puppy mills. It’s not fair to any of the animals involved and I think some of these measures should definitely be taken to improve the life of these animals.