Yesterday Oprah encouraged animal lovers to unite! Using hidden cameras she exposed the sickening world of puppy mills. It was extremely hard to watch, but she asked for her viewers to not turn away because these dogs need us and after seeing what torture they endure she knew her viewers would not stand for it!
(I couldn't find the entire video so here is the preview...)
Puppy mills are dog-breeding facilities operated purely for profit, with little or no regard for the health or welfare of the breeding animals or their offspring. In these brutal facilities, dogs typically live in small, filthy cages, never receiving the human attention they crave and deserve. Many are forced to endure pain from broken bones, skin diseases and other severe conditions that go untreated for days, weeks, months and even years. A lot of these dogs spend their entire lives in wire cages and have trouble walking on the ground if they are ever rescued. Some have their vocal chords damaged by a pipe in order to keep them from barking. Others are completely filthy, with their coats overgrown and soaked in urine. Certain female dogs are repeatedly impregnated from a very young age until they are no longer fertile, at which point the breeders often abandon or KILL them. One cocker spaniel could have given birth to as many as 140 puppies. According to The Humane Society of the United States, there may be as many as 10,000 puppy mills operating across the United States.
The objective here is to raise awareness. People go into the pet stores, and they see these cute little puppies not knowing where they come from and what they go through. If you are thinking about adding a new pet to your family, make your first stop the local shelter or animal rescue office. "You can find any kind of dog you want, any age you want, at a shelter or rescue," Oprah says.
I bought Izzy at a pet store and it sickens me to think her mom could be somewhere being treated horribly. I will never support a pet store again. When I purchased Izzy I did ask the owner of the pet store about puppy mills and she said they would never do business with anyone like that, but the Humane Society says as many as 99% of pet stores purchase puppies from puppy mills. They continued to say how responsible breeders would never sell to pet stores. For people who would still like to use a breeder, they urge you to find one that is responsible. Quality breeders care about the quality of life their dogs will have when they go to their new homes and will often interview you about your home. They will even take their dogs back even if it's six or seven years later.
Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society, says there is an easy way you can turn your passion into action and help save the lives of animals. "Everybody can spay and neuter their animals. It's better for the animals, and it prevents the needless killing of millions of animals," he says. "Why are we churning out millions of dogs for the pet trade when this is happening in shelters all over America in every community? It doesn't make sense."Taking care of animals is a duty that every person should assume. "It's precisely because we are intelligent and powerful that we have responsibilities to these animals. They are helpless before us, and they rely on our good conscience," Wayne says. "The terrible thing is the inhumane treatment of these animals at the puppy mills. It's awful. It's contributing to the larger pet overpopulation crisis, which is resulting in over 4 million dogs and cats being killed every year."
So what can we do to make a difference? "What we can do is we strongly discourage people from going to a pet store to obtain an animal. Go to a shelter. That's got to be your first stop," Wayne says. "A third of the animals are purebreds—go to a breed rescue group. And if you insist on going to a breeder, go visit the breeder, talk to them. See the condition of the animals, especially the breeding females."
Also, if you know of anyone who is interested in getting a dog or cat PASS THE WORD ALONG! Encourage them to spay or neuter them as well! We can make a difference if we all work together!
Below are a couple videos I encourage you to watch. It is hard, but after seeing this I know you won't be able to ignore what is going on.
This is a very informative video on puppy mills in Virginia...
Here is a video of a dog auction...
