Puppy Mills: A Horror for Man's Best Friend

By Greg Berg

Imagine that you’re opening your eyes for the first time.  You can’t see a thing.  You squint to try and see through the darkness, but there are no windows. The foul smell of ammonia from stale urine and feces fills the air around you.  You want to get further away from it, but you can’t.  You’re in a cage.  You struggle to find your way around, to try and find an opening to leave this awful place, but you’re legs slip through the steel mesh beneath you.  Your mother is curled up in a ball in a corner of the cage. She is too scared or too tired to move.  You begin to whimper along with your siblings in the cage. There is no person to hear. There is no person who cares.

This is a snapshot of how life begins in a puppy mill. Each dog’s story is one of misery.

Puppy mills are a selfish creation.  They exist to achieve one thing; to make a profit. The people who operate puppy mills run their business like an assembly line and see their dogs as a marketable product, nothing else.

It’s no surprise then that after a litter is delivered by the mother, she is bred again, as soon as possible. In the eyes of a puppy mill, a female dog who is not pregnant is not serving her purpose.  The obvious problem with this approach is that nature has not intended for her to be treated this way. There is often no consideration to how a female dog is bred, and at times this can lead to genetic defects in her puppies. Continuous pregnancies such as this will ultimately leave the mother exhausted, malnourished, and vulnerable to illness.

In order to breed as many dogs as possible, puppy mills force dogs to live in cramped living conditions. Dogs are typically stacked on top of one another to maximize space and to keep more adult pairs on hand. Portable pet carriers have also been known to be used. Just think, a plastic carrier that a normal person would use to take a pet to the vet is a permanent home for a mother and her litter of pups. Depending on the climate of the region and the attitude of the puppy mill operator, a puppy mill could consist of a windowless shed. A single plywood wall may be the only barrier between a dog and freezing temperatures.

The longer that a dog lives under these extreme situations, the amount of damage that is caused both physically and mentally increases. Due to their poor living and sanitary conditions, puppy mill dogs have been known to carry parasites and are always treated upon rescue for intestinal infections such as coccidia and giardia. If a dog has been living in a cage with only a wire mesh floor, his paws are likely permanently damaged; his nails will be overgrown and will be torn and cracked. Blindness is also a sad result of a dog being in a puppy mill all of its life.

It’s no stretch of the imagination that dogs from a puppy mill can have poor socialization skills. The longer they have survived that life, the more it is that they know nothing else. If they have been beaten or physically mistreated by a puppy mill operator it’s easy to see why they might have a distrust of others. No treatment up to this point at the hand of man has been positive. If they’re ever released, they will be cautious and hesitant for months or even years.

There is hope to eliminate puppy mills over time if enough people are willing to put the lives of dogs ahead of their own immediate needs.

If you ever suspect that a breeder is mistreating their animals in any way, there is something you can do. In Manitoba, The Animal Care Act was implemented to fine or imprison those who are guilty of treating animals in an inhumane manner. If a dog’s basic needs, such as suitable, regular meals and shelter, are not being met this is definite cause for concern. A responsible breeder will make sure a dog has adequate food, comfortable shelter and will provide proper socialization and attention for his dogs.

Many people have unknowingly bought puppies from pet stores that have come from puppy mills. Pet stores typically buy their puppies from a dealer or broker. However, unless there is an established relationship between the pet store and the broker, there is always the chance that the broker is not a licensed breeder, and is actually a puppy mill.

If you feel there is specific cause to investigate extreme neglect or harm coming to a dog or another animal, you should inform agencies in Manitoba such as The Winnipeg Humane Society (for cases within Winnipeg) or Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives.