States Attempt Crackdowns On Puppy Mills

Lawmakers Across The Nation Consider Laws To Crack Down On 'Puppy Mills'

OMAHA, Neb., Jun. 3, 2007
(AP) Bob Baker has seen the worst of the worst in his 27 years as an animal cruelty investigator.

There was the Missouri breeder who would skimp on food by skinning dead dogs and feeding them to other dogs in his kennel. There was the South Dakota breeder who used a handsaw to amputate the leg of a pregnant Rottweiler, injured in an attack by another dog, in hopes that the Rottweiler would survive long enough to give birth to another litter.

Baker says such cases are the exception, but adds that mistreatment of dogs in large-scale breeding operations remains common and troubling.

"Most breeders learn how to keep their standards just above violating cruelty statutes, but the conditions are still unacceptable," said Baker, a St. Louis-based national investigator for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "It's difficult dealing with these people. We file charges on the most egregious ones."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/03/ap/national/main2879064.shtml

I'm hoping that the states will crackdown big time of these puppy mills and backyard breeders that don't seem to know their rear ends from a hole in the ground and are only in this ugly business for one reason: GREED. I'm glad to see at least something is finally beginning to happen after much effort and exposure of these horrific and abusive breeding practices. To the Hague for them all is what I say! How would you like eating the leg of a fellow human being for your dinner? :grr:

What you can do: Do NOT buy a puppy/dog or kitten/cat on the Internet as they are likely culprits for such abusive breeding practices and many come from backgrounds such as a dog/cat auctions (the worst of all worlds IMO and it is where it all starts).

Thank you for your attention to this news.

CountAllVotes

:dem:

is that they can put reputable breeders out of business by underselling them. Our neighbors bred pedigreed dogs for years, and had a policy of not giving papers to the less than show quality dogs until they had proof that the animal had been spayed or neutered. They took all their dogs for regular vet checks and kept them in very clean, healthy conditions. No mother was allowed to overbreed, and all were taken care of until they died of old age. Sadly, their breed was overrun by mill owners, who gave all breeders a bad name and undersold them.

As darling as they are, and yes, I could never walk on past the window without stopping and ohhing and aweing too, but every time someone BUYS a pup from a Pet Store it generates demand, and promotes even more of these poor babies to be loaded in unvented and non-air econditioned trucks and shipped across the country to fulfill that demand. Many of them DIE on that trip folks, and MOST have at least one genetic problem that cannot be cured.

PLEASE, go to your local shelter or humane society if you want a furry friend to join your family, and if it's VERY IMPORTANT that you get a pure breed pup, find a professional breeder for THAT SPECIFIC BREED to buy your dog. Those breeders spend a lot of time and research making sure their bloodline will not pass on genetic problems. Their dogs are always veted and well cared for, and their pups/kittens are socialized from an extremely young age.

http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/get_the_facts_on_puppy_mills/index.html


Puppy mills are breeding facilities that produce purebred puppies in large numbers. The puppies are sold either directly to the public via the Internet, newspaper ads, at the mill itself, or are sold to brokers and pet shops across the country. Puppy mills have long concerned The Humane Society of the United States.

The documented problems of puppy mills include overbreeding, inbreeding, minimal veterinary care, poor quality of food and shelter, lack of socialization with humans, overcrowded cages, and the killing of unwanted animals. To the unwitting consumer, this situation frequently means buying a puppy facing an array of immediate veterinary problems or harboring genetically borne diseases that do not appear until years later. In 1994, Time magazine estimated that as many as 25% of purebred dogs were afflicted with serious genetic problems.

Sadly, some dogs are forced to live in puppy mills for their entire lives. They are kept there for one reason only: to produce more puppies. Repeatedly bred, many of these "brood bitches" are killed once their reproductive capacity wanes.

Thousands of these breeding operations currently exist in the United States, many of them despite repeated violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is charged with enforcing the AWA; however, with 96 inspectors nationwide who oversee not only the thousands of puppy mills, but also zoos, circuses, laboratories, and animals transported via commercial airlines, they are an agency stretched thin.

The HSUS, along with other animal-protection groups, has successfully lobbied for increased funding for AWA enforcement. Although all 50 states have anti-cruelty laws that should prevent neglect and mistreatment of dogs in puppy mills, such laws are seldom enforced.

The Pet Store Link

The HSUS strongly opposes the sale, through pet shops and similar outlets, of puppies and dogs from mass-breeding establishments. Puppy-mill dogs are the "inventory" of these retail operations. Statistics from the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) indicate that approximately 3,500 to 3,700 of the 11,500 to 12,000 U.S. pet stores sell cats and dogs. PIJAC also estimates that pet stores sell 300,000 to 400,000 puppies every year. The HSUS estimates the number to be 500,000.

Pet stores get their stock from the puppy mills and auctions. Do not buy a dog/cat from a pet store! Adopt from your local shelter! There are many thoroughbred pets to be found at shelters (very likely in fact). Of the three cats I have, I suspect that two of them are purebreds or very close.

As for a dog, I no longer have one myself after having owned a tragic victim of such abuse. Debarked, plagued with diseases and a congenital nightmare on top of it yet bred anyway.

To the poster below, yes, I too believe that there is a special place reserved in hell for people that do this!

:kick:

abuse animals.

I bought a dog from a breeder who has a site on the internet. There's nothing wrong with that, as long you can observe the conditions yourself. We were able to drive up to meet the breeder and her dogs at their home.

The best place to find a good puppy is on the Internet. Mom and Pop operations that care deeply for the breed, and who's reputation relies solely on word of mouth recommendations.

As with anything in life, you have to educate yourself a bit to be able to make the best decision.

that had separation issues. We thought we would get her a companion but we didn't want a puppy. We saw an add for an eight year old female Silky that had been used as a breeder but was being retired. My daughter went to check the dog out and she was living under horrible conditions. Daughter said she couldn't leave the poor thing there. She brought her home, the Silky was filthy, her coat was matted, she had missing teeth. We gave her two baths, I started to brush her coat with a brush that was designed for Yorkies/Silkies but it seem to hurt her, so I quit. I was holding her and noticed that she still smelled bad. She kept drinking water, I thought maybe they had not provided adequate water. At one point she let out a cry of pain--I had never heard anything like it before. We took her to the vets the next morning. She was 6 not 8; she had metastasized breast cancer and dead puppies inside of her. The vet said that even if we had bushels of money we couldn't fix her and that she had no chance for a pain-free life for even a few months and recommended that we put her to sleep right then. Cost us a small fortune and broke our hearts. I welcome any oversight that a state will provide to puppy mills.
The excessive drinking we were told was due to the cancer. The vet told us that they told us she was 8 because there was too much wrong with her to be only 6.

and the "breeder" is still selling dogs/puppies on puppyfind.com right alongside a very well known Amish puppy mill breeder! I wrote them and informed them of this and they totally ignored me despite the hard evidence I sent to them (videotape and statements!).

This must stop and it must stop now. Anyone that is foolish enough to buy a dog or any animal on the internet is in for nothing but a huge heartbreak! And as for the amount of money you'll end up spending on the poor abused deformed animal is astronomical. They never live a normal lifespan because of their genes. The dog I had should have lived to be 15+ years, not >5 years. :cry:

:dem: :kick: