Puppy mills aren't often associated with happy, healthy, and well treated animals. Even people who do not have a strong background or knowledge on puppy mills generally make the assumption that these breeders involve cruelty to animals and inhumane conditions and treatments. The ASPCA define a puppy mill as "a large-scale commercial dog breeding facility where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs."(ASPCA). Puppy mills in the United States are very strongly associated with the inhumane treatments of dogs leading to illness in animals, unfair and wrongful situations for consumers, and much more. The ill and immoral treatment of these animals needs to be brought more openly to the public's attention and solutions need to be a higher priority. Puppy mill use in the United States needs to be shut down and made illegal for the sake and well-being of the breeding dogs in the facility, dogs bred there, and the consumers who buy dogs from these puppy mills.

According to The Humane Society of the United States "puppy mills originated in the post-World War II era.(HSUS)" They became more popular for the use of creating purebred puppies to meet the demand from consumers. As the business grew they began to sell to pet departments which led to the creation of pet store chains. Once chains began buying from these mills, the demand for more puppies increased which only encouraged the breeders and their lack of concern for the dogs' health. Since then puppies and breeding dogs are usually housed in chicken coops or rabbit cages allowing them no room to move.  In addition, they are not allowed out to play or move around.  Along with poor living conditions there is often no medical attention given to a dog who may be ill.  The Humane Society of the United States began to look further into the issues the animals in these mills are exposed to and thus created the Animal Welfare Act which was signed in 1966 and "is the only Federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research, exhibition, transport, and by dealers.(AWIC)" While puppy mills must meet the requirements of the United States Department of Agriculture to receive their license under the Animal Welfare Act, the standards they must meet are much less rigorous than what most people think of as safe living standards. According to Jessica Remitz, a journalist for Pet360, having such low requirements, that aren't often even held, leads to subpar living circumstances in these facilities which is what creates dogs that "are often exposed to and suffer from a broad spectrum of illnesses and diseases including upper respiratory infections, canine parvovirus, distemper and giardia, which can be transmitted to people."(Remitz). With no medical help available to the dogs, along with insufficient living arrangements these animals are subjected to, these animals are left to suffer.

A writer for The Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, Kailey Burger, explains how puppy mills are used to "prioritize profitability at the expense of their animals' wellbeing (Burger)." In her article, "Solving The Problem Of Puppy Mills: Why The Animal Welfare Movement's Bark Is Stronger Than Its Bite," Burger also describes how the priority of profitability leads to the breeders, seeking the most affordable means of production possible, [creating] deplorable and unsafe living conditions for their animals."(Burger) As these puppy mills increase their profitability the number of dogs that need families and need to be adopted increases as well. Forcing these dogs to breed as much as possible to create the most amount of puppies they can causes an unnecessarily fast increase in puppies. While these mills are increasingly sending puppies out to pet stores, the amount of animals euthanized each year is still astronomical.  Over the past few decades pet over-population has decreased, but we're still having "three to four million dogs and cats euthanized each year for lack of homes in animal shelters," according to the HSUS. However, the puppy mill industry is sending out about "two to four million puppies per year ...  flooding the market with puppies who are often poorly bred and whose parents will spend their entire lives in small wire cages (Remitz)." 

The living conditions in these mills is what leads to the illnesses and diseases these animals are afflicted with. Some of the common illnesses and diseases include: "epilepsy, heart disease, kidney disease, endocrine disorders, blood disorders, deafness, eye problems, and musculoskeletal disorders."(ASPCA). It is not uncommon for the breeding dogs to spend their entire lives pent up in their small wire cage stacked one on top of the other. Slowly beginning to live their lives in their own feces and urine, rarely cleaned if ever, not given the chance to walk around, and facing the fact that once they are no longer able to breed they will most likely be killed.  Pamela Sacks, the author of "Puppy Mills: Misery for Sale," found that most of "the dogs are bred during first heat and every six months thereafter until their reproductive capacity drops at the age of four or five; then they are killed."(Sacks) Being a dog rather than a human being does not make it appropriate to be treated in such brutal ways. Knowing that animals are living beings and have feelings and needs, should be enough to let society know that it is not moral to subject them to suffering and uncompassionate treatment.  If humans were treated in this manner it would not be tolerated. 

The horrible living conditions inside these mills along with the poor treatment by the breeders can also be linked to some psychological damage done to these animals. Franklin D. McMillian, the author of "Mental Health of Dogs Formerly Used As 'Breeding Stock' In Commercial Breeding Establishments," describes an experiment that concludes that the relationship between the living arrangements of dogs in these mills and their psychological states. The study she describes was the first one to prove that "dogs maintained in these environments [are] reported to develop long-term fears and phobias, compulsive behaviors such as circling and pacing, possible learning deficits, and are often unable to cope fully with normal existence (McMillan)." Along with psychological damage to the animals involved, these puppy mill industries can lead to emotional damage to the consumers of these dogs. Stephanie Savino, student author of "Puppy Lemon Laws: Think Twice Before Buying That Doggy In The Window," paints a picture of the experience a family may go through when purchasing a dog from a puppy mill or breeder. The puppy the family had bought in the circumstance Savino explains, has a clean bill of health and then "catastrophe [struck](Savino)." "The new puppy has developed a limp and can no longer run, jump, or play."(Savino) This left the children devastated and the family concerned and confused with what was happening to the newest addition to their family. In addition to leaving the family with emotional damage, they had thousands of dollars in medical and veterinary bills due to the condition of the puppy. 

Although puppy mills have a close relationship with inhumane treatments and ignorance towards animals there are some positive sides to them. I'd like to highlight some of these counterarguments that can be made. There are breeders who only breed purebred dogs. Many people who want a specific breed of dog will look into a puppy mill or breeder to find that dog. Say you have your heart set on that American Foxhound dog. Whether you want that dog for a dog show or just pure enjoyment you have the right to want that specific dog. Going to a breeder or puppy mill to get that dog because you know you're going to get what you're looking for is definitely one of the easiest ways to go about obtaining your dream dog. However, finding that dog can still result in them receiving an ill dog that may not live long, or they could face very large costs due to veterinary bills for the ill puppy. You really cannot avoid the chance of getting an ill and mistreated dog, going to that breeder or puppy mill will always leave you with a much higher opportunity to those issues. Also by purchasing a dog from these places it also signifies the acceptance of how these facilities treat their animals which is not ethical. It only serves to encourage the mill owners and increase their profitability. 

The other opposing argument I would like to examine is the plus of the use of puppy mills because they are can be used to provide service dogs. Service dogs are obviously used for great reasons alike helping impaired people in so many ways. Helping the impaired is always considered a good deed and moral, however using these puppy mills and breeders to create these dogs still doesn't provide enough good to cover the issues they create. Ultimately if a dog is created for the use of service but still treated the same in those mills and has the chance of being ill its only worse for the person receiving the animal. They may lose the dog early on and then the time and effort spent training that dog to work was all a waste. Service dogs require a great deal of training and must have the right temperament to assist a person in need.  A lot of research and careful planning would be required to choose a service dog in order to avoid adopting a service dog from an unknown breeder, who may have mistreated the dog. Along with the not knowing if the dog may be sick or mistreated there is still the issue of overpopulation of dogs in the world. Simply choosing a dog that is healthy and has no owner and training it for the use of service can help the overpopulation issue as well as ensuring that the dog will be treated morally and humanely. 

Considering every argument has more than one side, there are altering views on animal suffering and how we get to that result. Almost everyone in society have the view that puppy mills are one of the things causing suffering for the animals living there. Taking step back and thinking of where puppy mills come from allows for a different view on where that suffering could be coming from though. Tom Reagan, the author of "The Case for Animal Rights," explains his perspective that we as human beings view animals as our resources" rather than actual living beings. By viewing these animals as being here for us to "eat, surgically manipulate, and exploit for sport or money" we are setting these animals up for inevitable suffering (Reagan). Taking this stance and seeing the reality of how we as a society view animals allows us to see the amount of suffering we impose on these animals. However, the use of puppy mills is still setting these animals up for completely immoral treatments rather than the viewpoint of allowing a farm animal to live and eat and then be slaughtered for food for humans. These puppies are just left in terrible conditions for no reason other than to breed until death which can be seen in a different view from Reagan's claim that we set animals up for suffering by eating them and using them for things like science and research. 

Knowing how dogs are treated in these facilities, the amount we neglect them, and how they are expected to live provides insight on how much they suffer each day of their lives. It really cannot be considered moral and ethical in any way to sit back and let these animals suffer in ways that no animal or human should. It is heartbreaking to think of your own dog being placed in a small cage and used to breed puppies at an unhealthy and deadly rate for the rest of their life. More commonly than ever expected, there are cases where a family purchases a dog from a pet store thinking all is well and then shortly after the dog either falls incredibly ill or dies. Often times when they take the dog into the veterinarian they find out that other dogs from the breeder have the same conditions and illnesses. In those situations all that is gained is a sick or dead animal, an emotionally hurt family, and expenses due to the state of the animal. Creating harm to the animal and the consumer in these cases is not ethical and can be avoided with the riddance of puppy mills. However, the continuing growth of pet stores and people buying their dogs from these pet stores just allows the cycle to grow and increases the flow of animals from mills to pet stores. 

Clearly the puppy mill industry needs to shut down, but until that can be accomplished, they really need to be regulated more closely to keep the animals safe and healthy. There are a number of ways to make progress in achieving the goal of shutting down puppy mills. By simply making people more aware of the situation and problem it can help create less of an attraction to pet store animals. Allowing people to understand where the dog they're purchasing in the pet stores is coming from and how the animals are treated in those facilities can create more and more people to stop and think before going to a local pet store chain to purchase a dog. Instead of going to the chain pet store they may decide to go to an animal shelter, like the SPCA. 

Making people more aware of the issues with puppy mills can be done in many different ways. Things as simple as posting flyers on a wall of a building you work in, veterinarian office, or a library can help inform people of the problems behind the scenes. There are also more straight forward approaches like going to a pet store chain like PetSmart or Petland and asking them to host an adoption for shelter dogs from places like the SPCA instead of buying the dogs from the breeders. Making donations is an option that requires little to no time at all. By making donations you're able to help support the fight against puppy mills while giving dogs that came from the breeders the ability to have better lives. Many people who receive sick dogs from pet stores or directly from the breeders report the breeder or pet store which helps other people know that they cannot be trusted and should not purchase an animal from that breeder or pet store. There is also the option of taking a direct approach and going to talk to government officials to pass stricter laws on the supply of dogs to pet stores from the dog breeders. 

It's easily doable for everyone to take a stand in the issues that relate to puppy mills. By simply raising awareness we can decrease the spread and creation of sick puppies and the entire puppy mill industry in general. Although so many of these options are doable and non-strenuous many people are left with the question of why should I actually participate and spend my time in this way. It's understandable, considering how much does it truly affect our everyday lives? It doesn't change the way you go to work in the morning or what you have for lunch during the day, but it does affect you when you decide you want to buy that puppy in the window and when you bring it home only to find out its severely ill. 

There are so many ways that we can raise awareness and try to fix these issues relating to puppy mills, but the reality of the situation isn't always so simple. Yes, we can hope that raising awareness and taking a stand against the puppy mill industry will create some changes for animal welfare and safety. Stepping back, however, and looking at the reality of the situation we're able to see the struggles that actually come with the regulation of these laws and prospective laws. Karen Gormley and Jim Berry, the authors of the article, "Animal Welfare," describe how as a society we have many hopes for regulating animal welfare, but the reality is that so many "of these position statements are given a cursory glance and then relegated to a position on the bottom of the paper pile on our desks (Gormley)." However, hard as it may be to actually regulate these laws and changes, it is something that must be done to improve the situations of these animals. By "encouraging [governments] to move on any legislation to eradicate puppy mills is to rally public opinion," which is where "veterinarians in private practice can use position statements and daily interactions with clients to educate them on the issue of puppy mills and the selection of their new pets (Gormley)." By taking the approach Gormley and Berry address in the example it allows for progressive change in the way puppy mills can sell and maintain these animals. 

Allowing yourself to sit back thinking you don't need to take a stand against the puppy mill industry because it doesn't affect your life itself, doesn't stop the suffering of all these animals and doesn't make it ethical for us to let it continue to grow. Taking a stand of some sort whether it be making a five dollar donation or speaking to your government official can dramatically change the lives of these animals while taking a step in the right direction to end puppy mills. It may not be the first thing to come to mind when thinking of how to better the world, but taking the stand to end animal cruelty and the puppy mill industry can change the lives of these animals, animals to come, and it is the right and moral thing to do. Taking advantage of animals for the profit of human beings is not ethical and can be stopped or slowed down in so many different ways that people need to take advantage and start to make a change for the suffering animals. 

