The Shame of Puppy Mills

As a long time animal rights activist I am staggered by my own ignorance when it comes to animals at a pet store. Sometimes ignorance once the bliss has been shattered, turns into mind numbing guilt. To know what happens in the lives of these animals, dogs and cats alike, is to know the true depths of human cruelty. Anyone who owns a dog knows that the nature of these wonderful companion animals is to be clean, able to stretch its legs, eat, drink and be a companion. How happy is that animal when you get home?
To see the horror of a puppy mill is to see what a human will do to make money at the expense of a living creature. I am not talking about all breeders, but to be honest, the whole thing makes my skin crawl. Considering how many companion animals are put down every year - what on earth are we breeding for?
Anyway, most of these animals are put into tiny crates (wooden with tall sides) so their entire world is these wood walls or small wire crates. They are stacked on top of each other. So we have six to eight dogs in a crate stacked from floor to ceiling. Feces and urine splatter down to the ones below. Feces can get to be knee high on a human being. The females are bred every six months regardless of health, until they are bred out at which time they are killed. These animals never know a kind human touch but they know a cruel one. The dogs get very vocal, which of course, the millers don't like. Punishment is swift and harsh. Veterinary care is non-existent. The millers care for these animals. One yorkie I saw on www.puppymillrescue.com website has a severely broken jaw. She wasn't yawning, that is, I'm sorry was, her permanent condition. She was put to sleep because she had been so badly treated and the treatment was so painful no one could stand to cause her any more pain. Her teeth were rotted. Terrible abuse, neglect (some of these mothers are frost bitten, have untreated eye infections so bad their eyes are hanging like plums from the socket, hair so matted that the dog can't defecate, urinary disease, twisted legs, mange, skin diseases that have eaten away half the dog's face). Then there is the mental state of these animals. They are normally locked away from the "main house" - like in a shed or barn, because the smell of ammonia is absolutely suffocating. Now when I say suffocating, I mean, you cannot breath. Your eyes and lungs burn. Your flesh burns. And these animals live in these conditions - day in day out, month in month out, year in year out. When someone new enters these places the noise level reaches deafening, unless the miller is accompanying that person. Then the silence is horrifying. They cower. They shiver. They pee and defecate all over themselves in absolute terror. Most do not have any kind of water or feeding bowl. They do not see day light. Those that do, are unfortunately exposed to the elements with no shelter whatsoever.
Do the research - google puppy mill. Then read. The USDA is supposed to monitor these places, but they do not. The only way to get rid of these places is to stop buying from pet stores. Any pet stores. Do not do it! Go to the Humane Society or the SPCA, look until you find the dog you want. Go to http://www.petfinder.com ,type in the kind of animal you are looking for, the age, sex, and area you live. You will find tons of animals looking for homes. There are breed specific "rescuers" out there as well. If you want a particular kind of dog - boston terrier, greyhound, german sheppard, really any kind, there will be an organization to help you.
But whatever you do, do not ever go into another pet store and buy an animal. You might be saving that one, but you are increasing the demand and in turn, forcing an increase in the supply. We are supposed to be protecting these loyal beings, not allowing others to torture them. Please do what you can to end the puppy mill industry.