An issue that truly concerns and infuriates me is the dangerous and careless practice of puppy mills. I think the puppy mills that are open now should be shut down and it should be illegal for puppy mills to operate at all. The only party that benefits from the puppy mill business is the greedy, cold-hearted people that work at the mills and pet shops that sell the puppies. None of the dogs involved are benefiting in any way whatsoever. The adults are not kept in adequate conditions, are bred as much as they possibly can be and receive very small amounts of socialization and love. The people that purchase the puppies may pay not only with large amounts of money to try and heal their sick puppies, but also emotionally. The puppies are taken away from their mothers as soon as physically possible which affects them both physically and emotionally. They are then sold off to buyers via the internet or other ads, at the actual mill, or sold to businesses like pet shops or brokers.
Puppy Mills breed dogs in less than adequate conditions with the sole intention of producing the largest amount of puppies to sell in order to increase their overall profit. The majority of pet shops purchase their supply of puppies from these awful puppy mills. The pet shops fuel the fire by not questioning the conditions the puppies were in before arriving at the shop. Many of these puppies have not had the basic vaccinations and health care they need to not only survive their first few weeks, but to prevent other diseases from developing later on in life.
Frequently, the puppies are taken away from their mothers much sooner than is recommended which not only emotionally distresses the puppy, but can also lead to physical problems. Puppies need to stay with their mothers and siblings for a certain amount of time because the social interaction stimulates their mental learning processes. The mothers’ milk also provides the vitamins they need in their diet that they cannot get from solid food alone. The Puppy Mills do not want to ‘care’ for the puppies any longer than absolutely necessary—the longer a puppy is in their possession, the less profit they have the potential to make.
Many puppies also arrive at pet shops with very serious health conditions that the pet shops are not aware of. These conditions can include hip dysplasia, eye problems, cancer, worms, nutritional deficiency, and the list goes on and on. This occurs because the puppy mills do not perform any health screenings before they breed dogs. To any responsible breeder, this is simply a routine procedure. Reputable breeders will not breed two dogs until both of the parents have been health screened for any potential illnesses and the family health history of both of the parents has been researched. Puppy mills are an extremely dangerous practice and I believe there should be more people that put their foot down to end it once and for all.