Puppy Mill Awareness Day

September 17, 2022

Written by Megan Moran

The third Saturday of this month, September, is a day to celebrate and care for our favorite furry friends. September 17, 2022 is Puppy Mill Awareness Day. So many adorable puppies are bred in commercial dog breeding facilities every year. According to thepuppymillproject.org over 2 million puppies are born every year in over 10,000 puppy mills across the United States with a large concentration of them in the Midwest.

These puppies endure cruel, inhumane conditions with most of them living in cramped cages 24/7. They are not given adequate water, food, and are not even given medical care. The malnourished, dirty, ill puppies are not provided the basic necessity of shelter from inclement weather. The breeder dogs endure the same conditions and are bred until they cannot breed anymore. The awful conditions cause some dog mothers to become unable to conceive in which case they are inhumanely killed. Sadly, most puppy mills do not use humane euthanasia; dogs have been killed cruelly by shooting or drowning. When the dog mothers do breed, they are separated from their litter too soon which results in the puppies having health and behavioral issues.

At around 8 weeks old the puppies are either sold online or in pet stores. Pet stores, that we are all familiar with, sell dogs that are nearly all from puppy mills. The puppies continue to endure cruel conditions when they are shipped around the country in cramped cages in trucks. In those trucks, they will go half a day without food or water while disease is easily transmitted resulting in some not surviving the trip.

The Animal Welfare Act passed by Congress in 1966 requires breeders to have a license and minimum care for the dogs. Sadly, this still doesn’t help the dogs enough and doesn’t get enforced so puppies across the country will continue to be mistreated. Visit aspca.org/barred-from-love to learn how you can fight against puppy mills.

Sources

-https://www.thepuppymillproject.org/about-puppy-mills/#:~:text=There%20are%20an%20estimated%2010%2C000,euthanized%20in%20shelters%20every%20year.

-https://www.lcanimal.org/index.php/campaigns/puppy-mills/pmad

-https://nationaltoday.com/puppy-mill-awareness-day/