Puppy mills

The above video is a clip from The Oprah Winfrey Show, when Lisa Ling did an expose about the problems with puppy mills.

Here in Athens, Petland is rumored to get its puppies from mills, although its Web site claims all their puppies are healthy.

Rumors or not, the horrors of puppy mills are something most people are either unaware of or ignore. Puppy mills, or puppy farms, are large commerical dog breeding facilities. On the surface, this may seem legitamate. Puppies are always in demand and this is a way to monitor breeding of those puppies. But it's how the operators go maintain these facilities and treat the dogs that draws criticism.

Dogs are cramped into tiny cages, with little to no chance of exercise, socialization, a decent diet, and certainly no love and affection from humans. As the Oprah Winfrey video showed, these female dogs are used only for breeding and usely are discarded once they can no longer produce puppies.

These puppy mills stay in business because thousands of pet store purchase their puppies from them.

But some groups are trying to help.
The Humane Society has an entire Web page devoted to education and elimination of puppy mills. First and foremost, people need to be informed that this is a real problem across the country. Also, boycott pet stores that sell puppies. Here in Athens, that can be difficult because in a rural area, there are fewer options for pet supplies, but you can at least try to limit your purchases. Although every pet store denies they use pet stores, ones that sell puppies are obviously the only ones that would purchase puppies from pet mills. You can also contact your local congressperson or senator.

An interesting suggestion the Humane Society reccommend to pet stores is rather that selling commercial puppies, bring in dogs or puppies from local animal shelters or rescues.

The trend seems to be that puppy mills will continue until there is drastic legislation to change such policies, but as with any change, people can help out by starting where they are.

Consider other methods of purchasing puppies, like a shelter or rescue, and pick locally owned pet stores to shop for supplies.

Experience at the Athens County Dog Shelter

I took an hour out of my day to learn about the Athens County dog shelter and I wanted to share my experience. Unfortunately, the dog warden wouldn't let me take any photos, but I saw dozens of absolutely beautiful dogs and it made my heart break.

Most of the histories of the dogs there are unknown, but many show signs of abuse. One young Jack Russell Terrier mix named Sweetie (pictured above from the shelter's Web site) especially caught my eye--she was very affectionate but every time I reached down to pet her, she would cower and put her tail between her legs. One volunteer told me this was a sign that she may have been hit frequently at some point before she arrived at the shelter.

But Sweetie is just one of 24 dogs and one puppy currently housed at the shelter who's waiting to be adopted. As I walked by cage after cage, I couldn't imagine why these dogs couldn't find a home. Obviously not everyone wants a dog or their landlord doesn't allow pets, but these are absolutely wonderful dogs and for a bargain. Dogs at the shelter cost only $65; puppies at Petland other pet stores can cost hundreds of dollars. Even more alarming is that many pet stores are linked to puppy mills.

Also, Athens County (and really everywhere else in the United States) has a problem with too many dogs and not enough owners. I wrote about this in my first blog post, but it needs to be stated again. Rather than buy from a pet store, choose a dog that actually needs a home.

Not only are owners saving the dog they choose to take home, but they're also opening that spot for another dog. The Athens County shelter can hold about 45 dogs, but space is cramped and there are not enough foster homes for the dogs to temporarily stay.

As I left the dog shelter with woofing dogs and whining puppies, I saw a family coming in to adopt a dog. The young boy there had a huge smile on his face and although I was still feeling melancholy, I realized there is some hope. For every dog that is dropped off at the shelter, one will soon be adopted.