Idol 1 Laurel Idol Connie Douglas Roundtable Essay 25 March 2014 Puppy Mills: Good or Bad?

You are walking through the mall and something suddenly catches your eye, you cannot help but to stop and go into the store. As you enter, you hear the sound of little puppy barks. Theres a row of cages stacked on top of each other with adorable little puppies looking at you with those big innocent puppy eyes just begging you to take them home. You think that these puppies live such good lives surrounded by their brother or sister, playing in these cages, but how are these cages so different from the cages they most likely previously came from? Before these puppies were sucking you in with their big eyes and sweet puppy breath, they came from a life of misery and disgust. They lived in crowded and overfilled wire cages filled with their own feces. They were fed spoiled food, contaminated water, and never treated to medical care. What you might not know is, after you take that sweet little puppy home, there is a huge chance that they will suffer from multiple health conditions and some might even die. In order to stop this situation from happening, we must face the question of, Should puppy mills be illegal throughout the country? To answer and address this question, there are many different voices and opinions that are valid, but I am going to focus on the most important. Pet consumers, like the ones buying that little puppy from the pet store, puppy mill regulators /inspectors, and veterinarians are the ones who have the most voice in this situation. The first voice is pet consumers. This group is entitled to a voice because they are being directly affected from the effects of puppy mills. When pet buyers go into a pet store, they have

Idol 2 no idea where these animals have come from. Also, they are paying a pretty hefty price for these puppies because they have been told that they are buying a full-bred dog; when actually, there is no truth to the breed of the dog. In addition to this, pet consumers of puppy mill dogs will most likely be paying more money in the future. This is because, according to the Humane Society of the United States, the animal that they purchased will most likely suffer from bad health conditions, including untreatable diseases, temperament issues, and even death (Puppy Mills Research). Over the past five years, there were over 2,480 puppy buyer complaints given to the puppy mill campaign led by the Humane Society (Puppy Mills Research). Not only do pet consumers have to pay a lot of money for these puppies, they then having to pay even more money when they become sick. In addition to financial responsibilities, they are also suffering from emotional damage. We all know how easy it is to fall in love with a puppy and become attached to it and that is most likely why you walked out of that pet store with a puppy in your arms, so you could only imagine how devastating it is to find out that your puppy has a serious illness or even dies. From the viewpoint of pet consumers, puppy mills should be made illegal throughout the United States to eliminate the issues stated above. Secondly, the other voice in this matter is puppy mill regulators/inspectors and the government. These are the people who are in charge of going out to suspected puppy mills and inspecting these areas to make sure that the animals are being treated humanely and living in good conditions. This group has a voice because they are the ones who see first hand how these animals are treated. In addition to this, they are the ones in charge of saving these animals lives. Without this group, the there would be no public knowledge on the conditions of puppy mills and how terrible they really are. The viewpoint of this group is that puppy mills should be made illegal throughout the United States. Another possible solution to this problem is for the

Idol 3 government to mandate all states in the United States to follow the same rules and regulations regarding puppy mills. Currently, each state has different laws regarding puppy mills; some states are fully legal, some have regulations, and others are completely illegal ("Puppy Mills Research). Although The Animal Welfare Act, which was established in 1966, regulates some animal activities and commercial breeding, these standards are far from what most people would consider humane ("Fight Cruelty: Laws That Protect Dogs in Puppy Mills.). If the government eliminated individual state laws and made all of the states follow strong, humane, and established federal laws, the problem of puppy mills would already be greatly improved. The last voice of this matter is veterinarians. From my research, I learned that this group of people is affected more than I thought. Because of puppy mills, veterinarians are faced with problems including disease outbreaks steaming from puppy mills and having to euthanize thousands of animals. According to The Canadian Veterinary Journal, the viewpoint of this group is that it is their job to stand up and lead other people to act against puppy mills (Gormley, Kelly). They see the affects of puppy mills on these animals daily and they believe that it should be stopped. The journal also states that it is impossible for a simple vaccination to be the cure to the illnesses of the puppy mills; prevention must go beyond that (Gormley, Kelly). Puppy mills lead to overcrowding in animal shelters, unnecessary animal illnesses and suffering of innocent animals. Not only are puppy mills a problem in the United States, but because of some laws the amount of puppies being imported into Canada has increased greatly (Gormley, Kelly). The veterinarians voice is to inform the public on the bad that results from puppy mills and to make them illegal across the United States. In conclusion, there are many different voices that are a part of answering my line of inquiry. From the voices above, it is clear that puppy mills affect more than the innocent animals

Idol 4 that have to come from them. Puppy mills affect the pet consumers who unknowingly buying animals from them; they affect the government and inspectors, as well as, the primary health care providers to animals, veterinarians. Although all of the voices come from different aspects and views, most of the voices have the same viewpoints and opinions. They all see the bad that puppy mills do and all of the problems that they create. Not only do they harm these innocent animals and give them no hope, they are also harming the humans around them.

Idol 5 Works Cited "Puppy Mills Research." The Humane Society. The Humane Society of the United States, 29 Jan 2014. Web. 12 Mar 2014. <http://www.humanesociety.org/news/publications/whitepapers/puppy-millresearch.html>. "Fight Cruelty: Laws That Protect Dogs in Puppy Mills. ASPCA. Web. 12 Mar 2014. <http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/puppy-mills/laws-protect-dogs-puppy-mills>. ormley, , and erry. Animal Welfare Position Papers, Puppy Mills, and ou. The t rinaire Canadienne. .11 (2 9) 1166-8.

Canadian eterinary ournal. a Revue Print.