Should Puppy Mills Be Shut Down?

There are an estimated 4,000 puppy mills currently operating in the United States. Puppy mills are large scale dog breeding operations. These puppy mills produce around half a million puppies per year. The people running these puppy mills claim to have individual rights and property rights to own and run these operations. However, these people are not focused on the health and well being of the dogs and puppies in these puppy mills. They are more focused on the profit that the puppies will bring in.

These individuals repeatedly breed the same dogs and end up creating puppies with diseases and undetected hereditary defects. I believe these puppy mills should be shut down.

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Although the property owner has individual rights, there are certain animal rights that help protect these dogs to some degree. Who will take a stand for the dogs? Some of these dogs are kept in confined crates with little to no veterinary care. There are many reasons why these puppy mills should be shut down.

Three reasons why they should be shut down are health problems of the dogs and puppies from over-breeding, the owner’s expenses for veterinary care, and the cruel housing conditions of the dogs and puppies. There are many diseases, congenital, and hereditary defects that are a result of over-breeding in puppy mills. The dogs and puppies can have epilepsy, which is a seizure disorder. Heart or Kidney disease also threatens the lives of these dogs and puppies. Hip dysplasia is when the joints in the dog’s hips are abnormally structured.

Dogs and puppies can also have diabetes; diabetes is caused by a decrease in insulin production or a decrease in the function of the insulin. Dogs and puppies can also have blindness or deafness. The dogs and puppies are also at risk of many different blood disorders and respiratory problems. The dogs and puppies often are already sick when they arrive in pet stores. The dogs and puppies can bring parvovirus into the pet stores. Parvovirus is a disease that is highly contagious. Distemper is a virus that can affect the skin, brain, intestinal tract, eyes, and respiratory tract.

Distemper usually happens to puppies under the age of six months. Dogs and puppies may also have pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection or irritation of the lungs, causing respiratory problems. Kennel Cough is a highly contagious virus for dogs and puppies. It will affect a large amount of dogs during their lifetime. Kennel Cough is the most common upper respiratory infection, also known as bordetella. Dogs and puppies can also get mange. Mange is caused by a mite that is found on all dogs, only the dogs with unhealthy immune systems develop mange because their body can not fight off the mite.

Many of the dogs and puppies often carry fleas and ticks also. Heartworms are found most often in the right side of the heart and cause obstructions in the blood vessels. Intestinal parasites include; hookworms are worms that cause many diseases such as diarrhea and anemia, roundworms are worms that absorb nutrients the dogs and puppies need, and tapeworms are worms that cause abdominal discomfort and nervousness in the animal. There are many veterinary expenses that come along with most of the puppy mill dogs and puppies.