About the Author

Hi my name is Christina Vierling and i'm in 8th grade and i'm 14 years old. I think animal abuse is a huge problem. When we got our dog Bailey, she was four weeks old. The 'breeder' brought her out and when put her on my moms lap, she ran away. Although she was very anti-social, we decided to adopt her anyway. The next day we brought her to the vet to find out she was clinically depressed, malnourished, and she had a cut on her stomach the size of your index finger. We later found out from our vet that a lot of other people had adopted animals from this breeder, and they all had health and social problems. When we called the breeder back to tell her about Baileys problems. She never returned our calls, but we kept her anyway. Today Bailey is four years old and she's happy and healthy.  

The Environment They Live In

In 2000 a case was found in Mississippi that infuriated the nation. Dead, half eaten puppies were found behind the barn, hanging from the rafters, stuffed in the corners. There was even a mother eating its newborn puppies. People were outraged, and they wanted animal abuse to come to an end. More people started volunteering at shelters, and helping stop animal abuse. 

In these puppy mills, dogs are kept in wire cages stacked on top of each other. The cages are used to let vomit, feces and urine fall through the holes, but most of the time puppies fall through them and get stuck. Over 8 puppies are put in a small 22 inch cage. They're left outside in harsh weather conditions with no air conditioning or heat. They barely have any food or water, and never get groomed or cleaned. 

Background

Puppy Mills started in the early 1940's, around the beginning of World War 2. There was a lot of crop failure in the Mid-west, so the U.S Department of Agriculture started urging farmers to breed puppies. They thought since a lot of families were coming over from Europe to get away from the war and start a new life, they would want a puppy to lift their spirits. So these farmers bought tons of liters of puppies and put them into cages. But these aren't the cages you see in pet stores. The farmers used chicken coops and rabbit hutches to store their new best-sellers.

Yorkies on sale! Bulldogs sold here! Have you ever seen signs like these while walking past a pet store? You see the puppies jumping around and they look really happy right? Wrong. 98% of the dogs and cats that you see in these stores are from puppy mills. A puppy mill is a commercial breeding facility that's main focus is on increasing profit. Can you imagine living in a small wire cage without comfort, toys or human interaction? This is the life of a dog living in puppy mills. 4 to 5 million dogs are killed in puppy mills every year. That's about 11,000 dogs everyday. Or 1 dog killed every 8 seconds. If you have a dog or cat chances are if you got them from a pet store or a breeder, they might be from a puppy mill.

What Can You Do to Help?

So how can you help stop these puppy mills? Puppy protectors are making a law called the "puppy lemon law" basically saying that if a dog or cat has some sort of injury or illness after you adopt them, then the store that you got them from would have to pay for their medical bills, and there would be a full investigation on the store and where they got the puppies from. These puppy mills are getting shut down everyday for abuse and unhealthy living conditions.  You can also go to shelters and adopt from there! There are tons of puppies that need loving homes, and there might be one there that's perfect for you!  Also see where your puppy was bred and born before adopting. Ask if you can see his/her mother and father. Chances are if they won't let you see them, that puppies parents are still suffering in these mills.