This will be long but I really want to figure out something we can do about the puppy mills. So much so that I took a little trip to visit one:
Clearwater Puppies in Ronks, PA. Our experience there was about as you would expect. There is a sign out on the main road that lists about a dozen breeds of puppies. We pull up into the driveway where several Amish are in the yard, they tell us that the puppies are not there but give us directions to their neighbors house.
We go to the second Amish farm and a young Amish girl comes out. I ask her about the puppies & she wants to know what kind I want. I ask what she has and she starts a whole list. I ask to see them & she says she has to bring them out. She says that she will just bring out a few and heads off to a barn at the back. That barn is huge but I don't see any dogs other than a small poodle she has at the house and a huge German Shepherd dog that seems to be guarding the back. After a while, I do hear barking but still haven't seen any other dogs until she comes back with 3 puppies, a Bichon, a Yorkie & King Charles Spaniel. The puppies appear to be healthy & happy, well fed but I have no idea what kind of conditions they came from.
I did ask a few questions but learned very little. I do know that they had at least multiple breeding pairs of several different breeds. Prices ranging from about $400 to $1000.
After returning & doing internet research, I find Clearwater Puppies listed on this site, news reports & such as having many violations. I don't know what can be done about it. I was particularly struck by the remark of one of the Amish in an interview when he stated something to the effect that the people that purchase their dogs treat them like humans & let them sleep in their beds but that they treat their animals as animals.
Is there a way that we can provide evidence that raising dogs should not be just like raising cows or sheep? In our minds, there is an emotional factor involved. Even giving them the benefit of a doubt that the animals are provided clean water, food & ample shelter, we believe that they need human interaction. Is that true? or is that just what I believe because my little pup is treated like a child? Is a dog happy just in clean conditions with ample food & water like a cow or sheep?
I realize that this is a very complex question but we need to ask it and find some way of fixing the problem. Can I just get a little brainstorming? Not trying to throw stones or start arguments, just want to do something about the suffering of dogs?
