Catherine Pacheco

Stop Puppy Mills

Research 

What is a puppy mill?
For those who don't know, A puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding facility where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs. Puppy mills usually house dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without adequate veterinary care, food, water or socialization. In order to maximize profit, female dogs are bred at every opportunity with no recovery time, puppies are only 8 weeks of age when they are sold to pet stores, through the Internet, swap meets and flea markets. - Puppy Mills ASPCA

• Multiple dogs are often kept in wire cages, and it is common to see the cages stacked in columns
• Puppy mills may be large or small. They may be licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture or unlicensed. In order to sell to a pet store, the breeder must be licensed, many still sell to pet stores without a proper license.
• Puppy mills breed all types of dogs, everything from Labrador Retrievers, Boxers, and English Bulldogs to teacup Yorkies –  you can find nearly every breed
• Breeding dogs spend their lives in 24-hour confinement to cages. 
• They generally do not have protection from heat, cold, or inclement weather.
• Dogs in puppy mills live in dirty, unsanitary conditions.
• Dogs living in puppy mills receive little to no veterinary care (and puppy mill owners often provide veterinary care without anesthesia or veterinary training).
• Mothers are bred every heat cycle and are usually killed when they can no longer produce.Many puppy mills do not practice humane euthanasia. Dogs are killed in cruel ways, including shooting or drowning

There are about an estimate of 10,000 puppy mills in America, and at only week 6 they are taken away from their parents. Most of the dogs transported to pet stores often arrive with diseases and illnesses because of the failure of proper husbandry practices these include 

• heart disease                
• kidney disease 
• blood disorders
• deafness 
• eye problems 
• respiratory disorders

What can we do ?

Question breeders and pet stores 
Urge pet stores to support shelters and rescues instead of dollar signs
Educate family and friends about puppy mills
Share the links, posts, tweets, and stories to raise awareness 
Talk to legislators and local authors to strengthen laws and penalties against puppy mills
Inspect breeders thoroughly, and report them if they arise a red flag
Organize meetings, fundraisers or shelter adoptions to decrease puppy mill demands
No more profit for puppy mills and the pet stores that support them 

Most importantly to never give up, if we all work together and spread awareness we could end puppy mills once and for all.

Supporters

Claudia Flores - Pcc student 

"I am most definitely affected by this social issue. 

I have never actually thought about this issue that 

is happening around the world. There is dogs in this 

moment suffering just for profit. It is a horrendous act

of inhumanity."

Francisco Solorzano - CSULA Student 
 "I think puppy mills  are abusive to dogs especially 

the mothers. Personally it does not affect me 

physically but knowing that dogs are put 

through abusive conditions definitely bothers me 

and has an emotional impact on my life. "

              James Schultz- Pcc Student 

"It disgusts me to see dogs living in such a filthy 

and unsanitary environment. Its living 

conditions are concentrationcamps for dogs. 

They do not deserve thishorrible treatment 

and nothing does. They deserved to be 

treated with much more 

love and care."

Personal 

This issue directly affects me because it is an eye opener to realize that this world is not getting any better. Animals feel pain, they feel sadness, they feel happiness, and to see that just because they don't have a voice they get taken advantage of that. They are used for profit and nothing more, they spend the rest of their lives in cramped wire cages, with no space and injured paws from standing on water. Why torture if we wouldn't want to be tortured. Many of the dogs coming from puppy mills and into the pet store are not healthy, have diseases due to failure of proper care. They supply animals to pet stores and purebred enthusiasts without any concern for the millions of animals who will die in animal shelters as a result and due to the amount of dogs at a shelter a lot get put down. I am persuading to the our communities to be part of this civic engagement, and adopt don't shop, spay neuter your pets, share the word and never give up.
 Many people do not realize that animal cruelty is an issue. I chose this issue because I am passionate for animals and their well being. I would not be an animal lover if it was not for my pet rabbit named Bunny (super creative name I know) that was a gifted to me 5 years ago. Unfortunately my cousin bought my rabbit at a swap meet and I was not aware of cruelty these poor animals are forced to live in. That small bunny, changed my whole perspective about animals and came to the conclusion that animals are not ours to eat, to experiment, wear, or abuse. There are millions of animals dying every year in animal shelters there is simply no reason for animals to be bred and sold for the pet-shop trade. Animal cruelty is large social issue because it is not being accepted as animal cruelty, animals are overlooked and belief that they are desensitized from pain and don't deserve rights because they are animals. Without these stores, the financial incentive for puppy mills would disappear, and the suffering of these dogs would end.

Sources
For more information
A Closer Look at Puppy Mills/ASPCA
https://www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/puppy-mills/closer-look-puppy-mills
Puppy Mills Research: The Humane Society of the United States 
http://www.humanesociety.org/news/publications/whitepapers/puppy-mill-research.html