Consumerism and profit has slowly, but surely, been taking over industries in the past several years. This is most evident in the breeding and selling of dogs. Puppy mills are not a new thing, however in the past couple of years it has started to become a massive topic in law making and society in general. Puppy mills are commercial breeding facilities where dogs are maltreated in order for convince to the company and its consumers. Most often in these facilities, “countless dogs are kept chained up—forced to eat, sleep, and relieve themselves in the same filthy patch of dirt, far from the human companions”, this is not the quality of life for any living thing, even if it is not human they still deserve rights (Puppy Mills: Dogs Abused for the Pet Trade). These issues bring up a huge question, what really goes on behind the walls of puppy mills? And, what could be done to stop the injustice happening to animals in today’s society? Mills focus on the quantity of their breeding, not the quality and the problem could easily be fixed by fixing the laws that oversee these facilities. Through extensive research I have been able to see, second hand, what goes on and why these mills should be shut down. 

In order to introduce the topic at hand, it’s important to actually outline what a puppy mill is and what happens inside. These mills are a place of suffering for dogs. In the Puppy Mill rescue video published by The Human Society of the United States, one can truly see how gross and inhumane they are. As the investigators go through the property, pictured in the video, there are multiple comments saying that they were outside and “the smell [was] horrifying” and there were multiple inches of feces and urine piled up everywhere (The Humane Society of the United States). Not only are mills covered in feces, the breeders stack dozens and dozens of dogs next to and on top of each other causing there to be no room for the puppies to actually grow or move around in, and they are usually kept in these cages their whole life or until they are sold. There are limited regulations on the cages and spacing requirements for the mills, they are simple metal wire racks with 6 inches of extra room by the dog’s height and width. The video then continues to show a numerous amount of bones scattered throughout the property, the investigators were unaware of what the bones once were and how many different animals it could make up however they did state that “whatever it is clearly suffered a horrible death” (The Humane Society of the United States). In a separate instance, investigators detailed how a mill had a separate kennel hidden from plain sight which “50 or 60 more parent dogs who'd likely never seen sunlight or spent a day outside” of this breeding room (Solotaroff). These facilities are so awful that they are compared to dog fighting, “not only is the severity of the abuse the same, but the specific kind of abuse over which the animals suffer is similar” (Banerjee 364).  These mills take in no consideration for animal rights and the only thought for them is profit, this is because “commercial puppy-breeding is a multi-billion dollar industry…an ugly one” and the breeders “take advantage of [the law] to maximize their profit at the expense of the welfare of the dogs” (National Puppy Mill Project). The mills thrive off the fact that dogs are classified as ‘livestock’ under the Animal Welfare Act, this allows mills to have leeway with what they do and allows owners to “impose bare minimum of care requirements, which most would not consider humane” (National Puppy Mill Project).

The living spaces are not the only issue with these mills. The facilities cause dogs to have future issues which the owner is unaware of because of the hidden past of their new dog. The filthiness and improper care causes dogs to become infected with illnesses such as; fleas, ticks, heartworm, and many others. Not only do puppy mills facilitate illnesses, they also cause hereditary issues to be passed down through litters. Proper facilities have the engineering to prevent a vast amount of diseases but, “because puppy mill operators often fail to apply proper husbandry practices…puppies from puppy mills are prone to congenital and hereditary conditions” (A Closer Look at Puppy Mills). Some of these illnesses include; heart diseases, kidney diseases, deafness, eye problems, and much more. Not only do these mills infect these innocent dogs with illnesses and diseases, they ship them off to pet stores where customers are completely blind as to where the dogs came from and what their past has caused them to become. These customers then purchase dogs which are sick and already dying as young puppies. This whole process of purchasing sick puppy mill dogs “results in high veterinary bills for people who buy these dogs and the possibility that unsociable or maladjusted dogs will be disposed of”, creating a vicious cycle for commercially bred dogs, from being wanted to unwanted and back into an inhumane living arrangement (Puppy Mills: Dogs Abused for the Pet Trade). Some sates do have laws known as ‘puppy lemon laws’ this gives customers the opportunity to “return sick or dead puppies for replacement or [those] that offer the option of having veterinary expenses [are] paid by the seller” however, this does not solve the problem at all (Puppy Mills: Dogs Abused for the Pet Trade). Why would you want to go back to the same pet store, which has obviously been purchasing sick dogs from puppy mills, just to get another sick dog? Consumerism is causing the quality of life for dogs and even the quality of the product wanted to deteriorate. 

The main issue with puppy mills is the fact that they are overlooked by policy makers. Yes, there are bigger problems in the world than puppies and dogs, but they also deserve basic rights as living and breathing things. The department that handles issues with these mills is the United Stated Department of Agriculture, also known as the USDA. This department is one of the main reasons mills get away with what they do, “fewer than 3,000 of the estimated 10,000 mills are registered and licensed by the USDA” which creates the idea that they are not really doing their job (National Puppy Mill Project). The Animal Welfare Act only requires “breeders who have more than three breeding female dogs and sell puppies to pet stores or puppy brokers to be licensed and inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture”, although this law may seem reasonable the numerous amount of breeders in the United States makes it almost impossible for the USDA to keep up with how many puppies each facility has or the standards that are being imposed inside of them (A Closer Look at Puppy Mills). Even licensed breeders are given major leeway with what happens inside of them, under the Animal Welfare Act breeding facilities are allowed “to keep a dog in a cage only six inches longer than the dog in each direction, with a wire floor, stacked on top of another cage, for the dog's entire life” (A Closer Look at Puppy Mills). The AWA (Animal Welfare Act) also has no regulations on how often female dogs are allowed to produce a litter, giving breeders the opportunity to allow a female to reproduce and then once she is not able to anymore, she is gotten rid of. The female dogs are severely abused through this method, female dogs are meant to have at least a gap between their breeding seasons but, this slows down the production of mills so they use their female dogs until they are no good to them. This Act’s original purpose “was to regulate the use and care of animals in a laboratory setting on a federal level… [and] is the only Federal act in the United States that standardizes the handling and treatment of animals in exhibition, transport, dealing, and research” (Animal Welfare Act). The fact that this is the only major law that really covers animal rights is a preposterous thought. Although there are some minor legislations federally that protect some aspects of animals, it proves that there could be a simple solution to the mistreatment of animal, a change in federal law. This gap in federal laws for puppy mills is a major problem in the fight for animal welfare. Although there are some regulations placed upon puppy mills, the quality of the standards and enforcement of them consistently lacks. Although on the federal level laws against puppy mills are slim, induvial states have progressively started to become more aware of the issues. In a numerous amount of states licensing, standards of care, and inspections laws are upheld to a higher standard than on the federal level. Due to the lack of federal laws, “it is critical that states use their power to enact higher standards of care and oversight for commercial breeders that go above and beyond the bare minimums” in order to make a difference in society (State Puppy Mill Chart). Not only do puppy mills have the American Welfare Act and United States Department of Agriculture on their side, The American Kennel Club has also been against the fight “to prevent cruelty at large-scale breeding facilities“ (The Humane Society of the United States AKC). The American Kennel Club is simply a registry of purebred dogs in the United States of America, however they used to be knows for their “mission [that] includes advocating for advances in “canine health and well- being” and working “to promote responsible dog ownership” (The Humane Society of the United States AKC).  Recently the American Kennel Club has actually been asking their supporters to actually oppose animal welfare bills, such as ones that would require basic care standards, procedures only be done by licensed vets, prevention of wire cages being continually stacked, and so on. There have also been numerous occasions where the American Kennel Club have gone in to investigate puppy mills that are filthy and inadequate facilities and have come out to only say “that overall cleanliness and kennel construction “needs improvement””, offering no other repercussions or a report to the United States Department of Agriculture (The Humane Society of the United States AKC). Once this said facility was seized, the dogs saved “were found living in overcrowded enclosures awash in feces. Medical conditions observed in the dogs included skin infections, ear infections, heartworm and other internal parasites”, the cost of medical care was over sixty thousand dollars (The Humane Society of the United States AKC). There are currently only twenty-one states which have no laws regarding puppy breeding, majority of which are in the Mid-West. One state that has been implementing numerous beneficial breeding laws is California. Recently, California passed a law which outlaws “pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits that do not come from rescue organizations or shelters”, this bill was widely accepted by animal welfare groups such as the ASPCA but was frowned upon by it’s opponents who claims the law “would put pet stores out of business because it did not require shelters and rescue organizations to provide animals to stores” (Hauser). Not only does the bill help animals, it also helps the local tax-payers in California. In California, “taxpayers spend about $250 million a year on animals in local shelters” and this bill would slow the amount of animals placed into shelters causing the money spent on them to lower as well (Hauser). This law makes California the first state to regulate domestic sale of animals, and hopefully will not be the only one to do so. 

As stated previously, the people who oppose the idea that puppy mills should be shut down or be heavily watched, believe that, without them it will kill the puppy store industry and would have a repercussion that would cause “hundreds of pet professionals’ jobs to be at risk” (Hauser). The opponents also believe that it casts a bad reputation and “unfairly demonize[s] all commercial breeders”, not all commercial breeders abuse their animals however with every investigation published it seems like a majority of them do abuse the Animal Welfare Act in order to help their profit and not their animals. Although it is true that the shut down of mills would cause stores to struggle, it would only be momentarily. These stores would have the opportunity to turn away from the mistreatment of animals and reach out to those dogs which are stuck in shelters or pounds. It would create a new sense of animal welfare and their quality of life. About four million dogs are placed into shelters year round, and about fifty-six percent are eventually euthanized in their shelter (American Humane). If the law California placed was put into the federal level, these numbers would drastically fall. This accomplishment would cause a major change in animal welfare, it would open up a new opportunity for so many dogs and other animals to be adopted and change their whole life. It would also ban puppy mills, causing these terrible institutions to be shut down and the animals inside of them to be saved. Although it would cause puppy mill owners, workers, and others to lose their job so many other opportunities would open up in shelters and rescue organizations for them to place themselves into instead. These commercial breeding mills focus on profit from quantity, not quality. With the removal of puppy mills, pet stores which profit of them as well would deteriorate and “without these stores, the financial incentive…would disappear, and the suffering of these dogs would end” (Puppy Mills: Dogs Abused for the Pet Trade). As California has shown, it is not hard to switch these two words and have puppy stores see how important it is to stop selling dogs that go through shelters and instead, save dogs and improve their quality of life. 

Puppy mills are the pet store industry’s biggest secret. It is now time for society to look upon these stores as supporters of an inhuman industry. These costumers in the numerous stores that supply pets from these mills may be unaware of their background however, this issue can be simply solved through policy and law changes. California has already made it possible, and it is now the federal governments turn to take a stand for animal welfare. Mills have nothing to offer other than profit for themselves and the stores that purchase dogs through them, other than that they could be seen as a torture chamber for animals. These facilities cause medical expenses for costumers or even the pet store they stay at until purchase, they allow bad genes to be passed through a numerous amount of litters, they create unsanitary and filthy living spaces, and many other issues. They offer no good to society, only profit for their owners. Puppy mills need to be shut down completely in order for this silent abuse of animals to be stopped. 
