Puppy Mills in USA - Research Paper Example

Puppy Mills Dog breeding has become a very lucrative business in the United s of America. In the of Missouri alone there are 462 licensed commercial dog breeders and according to Barbara Schmitz there are an equal number of unlicensed puppy mills across the state (The Economist). Despite of the fact that the puppy mill business is expanding, unfortunately the laws pertaining to these puppy mills are very unclear and fail to ensure the maintenance of the most basic facilities. The under laws have not been subjected to any upgrade for the past 18 years.

Efforts are being made by government and non government agencies to improve the condition of puppy mills and for the protection of helpless animals. In 2009, The Missouri Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for overseeing breeding, initiated Operation Bark Alert and almost 180 unlicensed breeders were shut down in lieu of this operation. The department is understaffed with only 12 inspectors who have to inspect some 2,800 facilities annually. Animal-Right supporters also gathered more than 190,000 signatures in support of Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Bill (The Economist).

After failing countless times to get bills passed by the Missouri General Assembly, the groups created ballot initiative and were successful in getting an amendment. The new amendment was to provide enforceable standards which stated clearly that any breeding facility could not own more than 50 breeding bitches and these animals were to be provided with proper health care and good sanitary conditions. The Humane Society of United States (HSUS) has done commendable work towards improving living and breeding conditions for dogs in puppy mills.

In their “Dirty Dozen” reports for 2010 and 2011 they pointed out the SandS Family Puppies of Milan, Mo. as the worst puppy mill. This puppy mill has a 500 page USDA violation record to their credit starting from 2006. The violations included unhygienic and unhealthy environment and untreated sick animals. The states Attorney General has ordered the facility to be shut down for at least 8 years in lieu of these reports (State News Service May 18, 2011). Similarly a pet shop owner, Karen Alexander of Burlington County NJ was convicted with several offences of animal cruelty.

She was allegedly charged with the mistreatment of dogs for sale in her facility. Two employs of the pet shop informed the NJSPCA about a sick puppy which was not being provided with any medical care. The puppy ultimately died and further investigations lead SPCA to believe that the unhealthy puppies were coming from unlicensed kennels. The department invited the HSUS to build a case against the store owner and with their hard work they were able to prove the store owner guilty of 11 out of 12 charges (State News Service, May 6, 2011).

According to the Puppy Mill Facts released by the HSUS almost 2 to 4 million puppies are sold in the United States annually and one third of the 9000 pet stores deal in puppies. The online sale is also becoming popular. In Most of the breeding centers animals are treated very badly. They are over bred and under fed and provided with almost no veterinary care. The over population of dogs is also attributed to these puppy mills. From 2 to 8 May, Puppy Mill Action Week was observed and the congress was urged to support a bill to Protect dogs in Puppy Mills (State News Service, May 6, 2011).

If organizations like HSUS continue to do their work it is possible that the conditions of animals in the puppy mills will greatly improve all across the country. Works Cited "A dog's life; 'Puppy mills'." The Economist [US] 13 Nov. 2010: 39(US). Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 26 May 2011. "'DIRTY DOZEN' KENNEL SHUT DOWN IN MISSOURI." States News Service 18 May 2011. Academic OneFile. Web. 26 May 2011. "NEW JERSEY PET STORE OWNER GUILTY OF ANIMAL CRUELTY." States News Service 6 May 2011.

General OneFile. Web. 26 May 2011.