Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Stop Puppy Mills

Yes I know this is hard to look at, but can you imagine having to live in these conditions, with no way out? The animals are defenseless they depend on their owners to care and love for them. What if you were in that situation? Nobody who really loved or cared for you. Just wanted you for breeding purposes and once you were no longer able to breed to be put down. That is just how these places work. I've always been a strong advocate for stopping such things. I think the more people who know and understand this will think twice about where they get their pets from. We can stop this!
Can you stand to see a dog look like this? Because that's what they typically look like when they come out of there. They are abused, malnourished, inbred, and full of diseases. Nobody really loves them. They don't have a voice, so we must speak for them. I know these pictures are hard to look at, but I want to drive the point home! I want you to feel in your heart what these animals go through.

Yes there is something you can do. I have gathered some facts for you to read about puppy mills from The Humane Society of the United States.
  • Puppy mills are large scale operations that force breeder dogs to produce litter after litter to support consumer demand for puppies.
  • These puppies are sold in pet stores or over the Internet, storefronts that mask the suffering, disease, malnutrition, and loneliness of puppy mills. Even the puppies themselves are prone to a variety of illnesses. Some die within days or weeks of purchase.
  • Most people are unaware that when they buy a puppy from a pet store, via the Internet, or any place they have not visited in person, they are often supporting a cruel and inhumane industry. 
  • By choosing not to buy your next pet or any pet supplies from retail stores or Internet sites that sell dogs or cats, you are directly helping to end this cycle of cruelty.

Now I ask of you to go sign this pledge to do your part in not supporting puppy mills! I thank you and so do the many animals that it could save.


I want to show you a dog, one who I fell so deeply in love with in a matter of seconds. His name is Doc:
That's him the day I got him, so freaking cute and playful! He was a doll and really enjoyed eating fingers and:
hair...they were his favorite chew toys. He had a good hold of my hair and if I moved he barked and went crazy, he wanted his toy back!
He was so cute and little and fit right in a hat! One of his favorite places to hang out.
And this is where I cry....
I was uninformed and uneducated about buying dogs from puppy stores, which is exactly where we got him from. You see that big head on that little body...it was filled with water. He came from a puppy mill.
Within a few weeks he looked like this, and I couldn't get him to eat. I rushed him to the vets and that is when I found out about the water on his brain. They gave me syrup to try to get him to gain weight, I thought I had at least a few months.
Little did I know that the next morning when I woke up, I would be holding Doc in my hands as he struggled for breath. I told him I loved him, and that he was so special to me, but that it was ok to go so he wouldn't suffer. A few minutes later Doc died while I was kissing him on the head breaking down as I am now.
So please before you buy a dog from a store, or on the internet think twice! Why not rescue a dog, or adopt one. Foster one if you have the ability to. Save these babies that don't have a voice!

11 comments:

  1. Melissa, this is such a sad post, but an important message for us to know! Puppy mills are every where, include some right in their back yard..

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  2. This post made me tear up. I hate puppy mills and only get my pets from the humane society. I'm sorry about Doc. They need to be stopped.

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  3. Did you post something similar before? If not, someone else did.

    I wrote a paper on puppy mills and animal euthanasia in college. It's so sad.

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  4. I am crying now, this is very sad. I remember Doc :(

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  5. Oh my God. That's freaking horrible.
    It's weird cuz my mom and I were just talking about puppy mills last night. :(

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  6. I bought both of my dogs from a pet store, which I swore I'd never do. I won't ever do it again, but at the same time, I felt like I was rescuing those dogs. One is absolutely a puppy mill dog, the other, I'm not so sure, but we've never had any real issues. I hate that I supported the puppy mills, but, like I said, I still feel like I rescued my babies. They were both 4 months old when we got them and probably wouldn't have been allowed to remain at the store much longer.

    Doc was freakin' precious.

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  7. Poor thing. I am so sorry for him..and you.

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  8. This is a very powerful blog post. Puppy mills are disgusting. Causes aimed at stopping puppy mills often don't get enough attention. I have never heard a first-hand story like this before. Absolutely heart-breaking :(

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  9. Oh my goodness this is horrible! My heart breaks for what you and Doc went through. I can't believe that someone would do that to a puppy and make them live in those conditions. Pitiful!

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  10. This breaks my heart. Poor puppies don't deserve this :(

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  11. This post is so sad, but so true. I definitely agree with you. There are so many dogs who need to be adopted and rescued.

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