Puppy Mills

One day I was flipping through the channels on tv and came across Oprah. I stopped for a second because they were showing puppies. For anyone that knows me, puppies are the one thing I adore in life. As the show kept going, they showed 20 to 30 dogs being put to sleep. These dogs looked tired and pitiful. My heart broke for them. Then Oprah informed the crowd that these dogs were being kept in a shelter and had no home. Eventually the shelter had to put them down. As the show kept airing, Oprah showed thousands of dogs that are rescued every day especially from puppy mills. I've never heard the term puppy mills till I watched this show. Now I know why people are strongly against them. These puppy mills have acres and acres of small rabbit cages where dogs are kept for breeding. One dog can be forced to have 200 puppies in their lifetime. These dogs are kept in cages their entire life and never let out. The breeders keep them in their cages through summer or winter whether it be 90 degrees or lightly snowing outside. Some dogs have their vocal chords cut so they will not be able to bark. None of these dogs receive treatments from a vetinarian. While watching this show I couldn't help but cry. I've never been an animal activist or anything of the sort, but watching these dogs tortured and hurt truly made me sad. When people buy dogs from pet stores, they are most likely buying a dog from a puppy mill. I wish they could make puppy mills illegal. These breeders treat each dog as property and nothing more. They are greedy and want money. Hopefully by sharing this information people will become more aware of what is out there in the world. When I first saw this show, I immediately called my boyfriend and told him we needed to donate money to an animal shelter. lol Needless to say he wasn't as thrilled. He believes in bigger charities, but I finally convinced him of something. Next time I buy a dog, instead of going to a pet store I'm heading straight to an animal shelter. It might be a small effort, but that will be one less dog that will need a home.