One shut down ---- still so much work to be done
By Amy Abern, Best Friends Staff
When Best Friends and local animal groups rescued the 179 dogs from a rural Virginia puppy mill, animal welfare scored a victory against commercial breeders. And we’re hoping there will be many more victories to come in the battle against commercial breeding practices. Consider these statistics:
• Commercial breeding is a multi-million dollar industry, with more than 6,000 commercially licensed kennels breeding more than 500,000 dogs per year.
• There are untold numbers of unlicensed kennels breeding thousands of dogs each year.
• More than 20 percent of all shelter animals are purebred dogs.
• Many of the commercially bred female puppies are kept as “breeding machines,” forced into pregnancy every time they’re in heat.
• Commercially bred dogs are more susceptible to deadly diseases like parvo and distemper.
• Commercially bred dogs are more likely to develop genetic eye and heart defects from over-breeding practices.
But if they’re licensed puppy mills, surely they must be reputable, right? Not necessarily. Most puppy mills dogs live in cramped, dirty cages on bare bones diets.
The puppies are taken from their mother long before they’re ready for independence. They receive no socialization and become anxious, depressed and hostile. That’s why so many people who buy puppies in pet stores return them or dump them in shelters.
The females are often kept in solitary confinement and bred over and over until they die of physical exhaustion.
So how are such places awarded licenses? Sadly, it’s not that difficult. A USDA commercial breeding license isn’t hard to come by and sets minimum requirements for care; little more than food, water and shelter. Also, it’s easy for licensed breeders to fly under the radar because there’s a good chance they’ll never be held legally accountable for their practices.
According to the Animal Welfare Act, each commercial breeding facility is required to undergo a USDA inspection once a year. This is unlikely considering there are there are less than 100 inspectors across the country to inspect more than 1,000 research facilities, 2,800 exhibitors and 4,500 dealers. Do the math.
For now, we celebrate our victory in knowing that as of last week, one puppy mill is out of business. And how are the Virginia puppy mill dogs doing? Some still require medical attention, but most are resting (and playing!) comfortably in the sanctuary of Pets Alive in New York. They’re enjoying comfortable surroundings, healthy diets and great amounts of human attention; some for the very first time.
HOW YOU CAN HELPDONATE Now that these dogs and puppies are in our care, we want to give them the best life we can. They deserve nothing less. Your donations are deeply appreciated.
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LEARN MORE ABOUT PUPPY MILLSPuppy Mill Frequently Asked QuestionsCommon statistics and general information about puppy mills.
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photo by Clay Myers