Thursday, November 3, 2011

Puppy Mills: Torture for the puppies

When people think of buying a dog, the first thing they tend to do is rush to the nearest pet store. The cutest puppy in the shop is picked and brought home. But what people don't realise is the torture those little babies might have been subjected to. The puppy may as well be from a 'puppy mill'

Many of you reading this, might wonder what 'puppy mills' are. A puppy mill is as the name suggests a place where dogs are bred for profit, or to put it in more 'crude' terms, it is a 'puppy making factory'. The health of the parents and puppies is rarely given any sort of importance at such places. The whole focus of a puppy farm is on the profit they make.

So why is this bad for society?

In most parts of the world, there are a number of abandoned and homeless dogs. Many of these end up being abandoned by owners who can no longer take care of them. However, there are some who are simply put out on the street because the puppy mill owners do not think they are 'profitable'.

The dogs are kept under very cramped and unhygienic conditions. It is not a surprise then that many of the puppies end up with illnesses and ailments. These puppies do not fetch a high price, and are therefore neglected by breeders.

Apart from general health, puppies brought up in puppy mills have a very unbalanced social life. They live in cramped cages in the mills and therefore find it difficult to mix and mingle with other dogs or even people.

The psychological trauma that the animals go through at such places, is unimaginable. Can you try and think about how you would feel, being caged up either indoors or outdoors all the time, and constantly being expected to breed? The lack of food, water and fresh air only make matters worse. When the dogs are old and can no longer reproduce, they are again let out or simply put to death! If they get rescued, it takes them nearly a year or 2 to get comfortable and feel 'safe' around humans again.

This is why people are trying to file petitions world over to ban puppy mills. This is just another form of inhumane behaviour that has grasped the world! People who claim to be animal lovers, and therefore rush to a store to buy a puppy, should remember that they are in-turn funding this industry.

Puppy mills are a reality that people need to accept and change. The cute dog in the store has had a traumatic past. If people turn to adoption and rescue centres to buy pets, these puppy mills will slowly close down.

Next time, I will be writing about why in some countries, the 'bear dance' is being banned, and why in some places it already has been!