The Horrors of Puppy Mills

For a long time, dogs have been considered to be companions for the majority of families in the United States. However, in the modern-day, people have shifted their focus from doing justice to these animals to making them money artifacts. Dogs, mostly puppies, have been victims of injustices in most parts of America. Puppy mills have grown in popularity in recent years as the puppy-selling industry seems to be profitable. However, the conditions at which most the puppies are kept together with their mothers are poor to such an extent that they contract many sicknesses due to the poor environment in which they live in. This fact, therefore, means that these commercial breeders aim at making greater profits from the puppies without any considerations of their lives at the first place. Moreover, most of these puppy mills are run without licenses, making them illegal (Dionne 1).

This paper, therefore, tries to analyze some of the studies from different sources or cites on how they view the subject of puppy mills and the business behind them. The essay will delve into analyzing and critiquing three articles: Puppy Hell: The Horrors of Puppy Mills by Dionne, Mary-Jo, Not a Wonderful Life – Puppy Mills by Best Friends Magazine, and The Dog Factory: Inside the Sickening World of Puppy Mills by Solotaroff Paul.

Summary and Critique

From the articles, more has been explored, discussed, and even revealed about the puppy mills. More specifically, the ones that are located in the states of North America. Although most of their conditions are poor, puppy mills are still legalized in almost every state in the country (Dionne 1). More often, the dogs, regardless of their ages, are confined in smaller cages, which even limit their movements and which do not enable them to interact and play together. Just like human beings, these creatures need companion, play and even receive that good care that every individual would expect. This, however, is not the case in these puppy mills, because some of the dogs have never seen the outside of their cages, leave alone basking in the sun. Moreover, most of these puppies are raised in poor environments and later sold to pet stores and brokers at high costs. Something sad with the puppy mills is that, once the dogs are unable to produce or bear the puppies, they are destroyed, because the breeders feel like they have no use in their businesses. Additionally, when these puppies are transported to the pet stores and sold online, the buyers do not always have the idea of the conditions in which the puppies were raised. Some of them end up buying sick puppies, which force them to incur high costs in their treatments and even provision of food (Best Friends Magazine 34). However, some of these puppies find themselves in the puppy shelters when the buyers realize that the costs of managing them are higher than they expected. In addition to that, a relatively higher number of dogs living in the shelters is killed every year because there are few individuals who are always willing to adopt them. On the contrary to that, there are responsible breeders who keep few breeds of dogs, most often less than four, compared to the puppy mills, which keep more than 20 breeds of dogs in their locales (Solotaroff 1). These reputable breeders, however, consider the health and welfare of the dogs instead of the profits that can be made. In fact, their main aim is always to adopt the dogs, so that they can be saved from the severe environments they live in. Back to the irresponsible dog-breeders, these individuals try as much as they can to make the outside of their cage houses to be smart so that no one can ever imagine on the business that is going on inside the buildings. Only taking several steps closer to such buildings would reveal to one the reality going on in them, which can be predicted by the noise and barks coming from the inner and darker rooms (Best Friends Magazine 33).

Also, internet marketing of the puppies has created many problems compared to the advantages that come along with. More fraudulent things are done through the internet by the irresponsible commercial breeders whose core objective is business and nothing else, regardless of the circumstances at which it is done. Some of the operators of the puppy mills continually change the names of their websites so that they can attract more customers to purchase their puppies. Others go to the extent of taking pictures of young and good-looking puppies in very nice environments and posting them on their websites claiming that they have them up for sale. Buyers who find themselves in this trap, however, receive some relatively different dogs from the ones that were advertised. Moreover, these puppies with better health are used over and again to continue luring more customers into the website (Solotaroff 1).

However, due to the suffering that dogs go through, the government through its diverse bodies and even some private organizations have decided to solve the problems that seem to be increasing rapidly in this business. The Constitution supports the rights of the animals, and, therefore, people found to have broken them should face the law. Therefore, had it not been for the shelters available for protecting the abandoned dogs, the number of dogs dying each year would double as of those being born compared to current statistics where the number of those born is relatively equal to the ones dying in the shelters. Moreover, it has taken the efforts of some well-wishers and good-hearted people to save the lives of the dogs. As such, people have been forced to open dog ranches so that they can rear those abandoned in the streets or even villages. In this regard, the process requires high amounts of money, because most of the dogs are always found to be either sick or having some malnutrition problems. Additionally, campaigns have been called to stop individuals from buying puppies from the mills so that the latter can be brought into termination. Individuals who are in dire need of puppies are advised to adopt them because there are many dogs in the shelters which are readily available for adoption. Other than the specific individuals and governmental organizations, many non-governmental organizations have also come up to protest and launch campaigns against the cruelty being conducted on animals. These organizations suggest that even to those individuals who are in need of adopting dogs should go through some strict processes so that the health and wellbeing of the creatures are taken into great consideration (Solotaroff 1).

Nevertheless, there are some of the points in which the articles agree with each other, while in others there are differences arising. First and foremost, all the three articles precisely agree on the issue that the dogs in the puppy mills face many injustices from the commercial breeders whose main aim is to make profits (Dionne 1). They further state that dogs are currently seen as cash crops because they are better sources of income; higher profits are always guaranteed irrespective of the environment in which animals live. Some individuals have even gone to extents of neglecting their jobs so as to work on their poorly-managed dog ranches or rather puppy mills. Secondly, the articles have all called on for a campaign for people to cease purchasing puppies from pet stores and the wholesale brokers. They are claiming that once the puppies that are bought have their origins traced back to the puppy mills, the chances of them contracting several sicknesses and even dying are relatively higher (Solotaroff 1). Therefore, to avoid all these costs of paying the veterinary officers high cash to attend on the animals, individuals should just opt for the best and free method, which is the adoption of the dogs. The adopted dogs are always found to be healthier and cannot develop other complications in the future. They further stated that avoiding buying puppies from the mills would reduce the number of dogs that are relocated into the shelters every year, which would completely clear the number if the considerations are followed to the latter. However, these articles seem to differ on the actions that should be taken on the individuals who are found to be doing the injustices to the creatures. Two of the articles (The Dog Factory: Inside the Sickening World of Puppy Mills and Puppy Hell: The Horrors of Puppy Mills) support the idea of taking the criminals to court and later imprisoned or fined heavily while the other article states that such individuals should be educated on the rights of the animals and some other things concerning them instead of being punished (Dionne 1).

Therefore, after finding out how the different articles have tried their best to analyze and provide their critiques on the matter concerning puppy mills, I can then generate my stand easily using their information and the knowledge that I possess when it comes to treatment given on animals, especially the dogs (Solotaroff 1). A clear understanding has been created by the authors in the three articles. Nonetheless, every creature has its own rights that should not be violated lest the violator faces some charges. The other creatures like human beings have the rights to be happy, interact and do many other things because they too have senses. However, humans have greater senses than other beings; thus, they have the mandate of taking care of others and creating an environment that is conducive around them. Consequently, individuals who are found to be harassing the creatures, most particularly the dogs, should be highly penalized. This, therefore, means that ignorance is what leads their way, and that should then be terminated by use of the law (Best Friends Magazine 30).

Conclusion

Therefore, dogs should be taken good care of as even the law recognizes their presence in the society and provides their rights. Strict laws should be set and the government should ensure that they are implemented so as to save the lives of the innocent creatures from the jaws of the hungry hyenas, whose aim is only to make profits. The government in cooperation with other non-governmental organizations and even specific individuals should also consider putting regulations in place to aid in the processes of adopting the dogs. More importantly, campaigns and advertisements should be conducted on the importance of stopping the cruelty and injustices against dogs, and, therefore, individuals found to be breaking the set rules later on should face the law.

Works Cited

Best Friends Magazine. Not a wonderful life-puppy mills, Published Nov/Dec 2013, puppymills.bestfriends.org. Accessed 11 Nov. 2015.

Dionne, Mary-Jo. Puppy Hell: The Horrors of Puppy Mills, 2017: Published on August 11, 2017, http://moderndogmagazine.com/articles/puppy-hell-horrors-puppy-mills/269. Accessed 11 Nov. 2015.

Solotaroff, Paul. The Dog Factory: Inside the Sickening World of Puppy Mills, Published on January 3, 2017, http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/the-dog-factory-inside-the-sickening-world-of-puppy-mills-w457673. Accessed 11 Nov. 2015.