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Originally Posted by doortego I guess I wonder the same thing but what I'm learning is that we can legislate humane conditions to the degree of food, water & shelter but we still don't have enough inspectors to enforce this & apparently (from some articles), the USDA is not without some degree of corruption itself.
Also, it seems that there aren't laws governing socialization, that dogs can be raised legally as cows, horses, sheep, etc. I think one of the things we need is some legislation that differentiates between pets & livestock.
Is a dog that is raised in a kennel unhappy if all his physical needs are provided? Do they crave human companionship or does that only come with association with humans? I don't know of anything that speaks to that issue.
Or on the contrary, if the parents are not unhappy with kennel life, does that mean that the puppies will not desire human contact and become more "wild"?
Would this in turn lead to less domesticated animals and poorer pets?
And then, something else has been preying on my mind. Are we the problem?? If we weren't so interested in paying $1500 or more dollars for a cute little Yorkie pup, would the puppy mills be in business. If all we did was rescue or at least not pay as much as we (myself definitely included) do, would it just no longer be so tempting? I read one article where the Amish farmer was making in the six figures with his puppy mill. Actually, he wasn't even doing it, the women were.
I will not buy anything from a pet store that sells puppies, I will not buy a puppy mill product or in any way benefit them to my knowledge. And I'm sure many of you will do the same. But we've got to do more, politically & morally & we need to rescue, & we need to spay & neuter all our pets.
On a side note, the other cash crop that I saw at the first Amish farm was tobacco. |
I don't believe that keeping the parents in a kennel contributes to a puppies lack of socialization. It the fact that the breeder does not take the time to interact with the puppy at an early age. He has very little human contact, except to have his dew claws removed and tail docked, and from that he probably doesn't develope a very loving attitude towards humans. Then at 8 weeks hold he is separated from his mother and litter mates and handed to a human. What a frightening experience.
Also I do not understand why dog breeders are regulated by he USDA. If we could get the government to view domestic animals as having different needs than farm animals things would probably change.
IMO the regulations that the USDA sets for commercial breeders not only do not discourage puppy mills, they promote them. If you don't run your business like a puppy mill you are in violation of the code, and risk losing your license.
No breeder starts out with the idea that they are going to get a bunch of dogs and keep them in filthy cages and with no concern for their health. After all it is just not good business to not take care of your breeding stock. Even slave owners knew that.
But because they are kept in a seprate building and you have more than you can care for, the conditions gradually deteriorate, and before you know it you have a puppy mill.
If regulations stated hat you MUST keep them in your home, you would soon know when you had too many to care for, and they would be kept clean because you wouldn't want to have them in your house if they were filthy. Well with the exception of a few loonies out there.