by Suzyn Barron, President of Warwick Valley Humane Society, Inc.
Did you know, September is Puppy Mill Awareness Month now designated as the 3rd Saturday of every September as Puppy Mill Awareness Day? I didn’t know that there still may be some people who are unaware of the puppy mill business or others that need to be reminded of it.
High volume commercial breeding prioritizes profit over the welfare of the animals which is truly a cruel reality that is being overlooked by those in charge of overseeing these operations year after year. There is an estimated 10,000 commercial breeding facilities operating nationwide, yet fewer than 3,000 are regulated or inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Animal Welfare Act and even less actually receive violations despite their findings.
Yet people still choose to shop for pets at stores, on-line and even take that trip to Amish Country in Pennsylvania or upstate New York, all of which ultimately fuels this industry. All puppies and kittens are cute, but what is not so cute is the suffering and abhorrent treatment of the parents who live their lives caged without socialization, veterinary and grooming care, and physical, emotional or psychological enrichment of any kind. The pictures you see on Facebook and TV are real. The rescues from these establishments are real. But it isn’t enough to rescue the puppies if the business is still allowed to be in business. Sadly, only 10 U.S. states have enacted statewide bans or restrictions prohibiting pet stores from selling commercially bred dogs and cats, and only some of those will include rabbits, the third most commonly surrendered companion mammal in United States animal shelters after dogs and cats. According to the Humane World for Animals data tracking of commercial breeders and problem facilities through state and federal inspection records, the states with the highest concentration of commercial dog breeders and problematic puppy mills are: Missouri, which consistently ranks with the highest number of commercial and problem breeders in the country, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Ohio and Iowa.
New York State became one of those 10 states when The New York Puppy Mill Pipeline Law went into effect on December 15, 2024 prohibiting the retail pet stores from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits in the state and making it illegal for retail pet shops to sell, lease, or transfer ownership of dogs, cats, and rabbits. Violators face fines of up to $1,000 per violation. Unfortunately, this does not prohibit people from crossing state lines into surrounding states to buy from pet stores.
Somehow people are still sucked into the advertisements and cute puppy and kitten photos that hide the truth about life on the inside for the “breeding stock”. Dogs are suffering and even dying at the hands of a wholly legal and licensed industry permitted to sell its dogs to pet stores and online. Where is our humanity? How and why do we, the people, allow this kind of ongoing cruelty and indifference toward animals to continue? Let’s put them out of business.
Adopt, Don’t Shop!
Pets of the Week:
