What does eight seconds mean to you? On breath, two blinks, and one abused puppy dyeing because of horrible puppy mills? That's right, every eight seconds a dog drops dead because of these factory farms for dogs. The puppy mills have to become be illegal because of the horrible conditions the animals are forced to live in, the many health and social issues they develop, and the maximum profit life style the mill owners live by.


First of all, puppy mills should be banned because the animals there are forced into a life where they have to live in despicable living conditions. They lack the basic necessities that we tend to take for granted, like a practical living space. While we are lounging in our twenty- five square foot house, these mistreated animals are being packed with two to five dogs into a crate that was originally designed for chickens or rabbits. While in these depressingly small enclosures, many dogs lose limbs when they get caught in the wired flooring. I even discovered on a web page called, that the puppies have to stay in these small pens outside, year- round. Apparently, the animals "cook" on the wires of crates during the summer, and then freeze during the winter. Oh, but the poor living conditions and cruelty doesn't stop there. They also receive little or none food, water, and veterinarian care at their stay in the harsh mills. One deprived dog had so much tooth decay and so little water that its jaw literally started to dissolve. The puppy mill owner didn't do a thing about it (unless you count continuing to breed the dog a "thing.") Finally, the dogs living enviromennt is dreadful because of its lack of hygiene. The crates the dogs live in are literally covered in their own waste from wall to wall. Even worse, sometimes it is even covered with other dead dogs. No living thing should be forced to live like this, no matter what the reason. Purchasing these puppies from the pet store is only promoting these horrendous conditions.


Puppy mills should also be unlawful for the reason that the animals being produced there lack essential health and social skills. Sure, some of the puppies living there look healthy, but most diseases aren't skin deep. "Many people don't realize that most of those little puppies staring up at you from the pet store windows will die within a year from chronic diseases they get from the mills," Lily Wilson of A.S.P.C.A. States to the public. This quote just goes to prove how grave these dog's situations really are. They suffer from a wide range of horrible diseases such as liver and heart diseases, autoimmune disorders, seizures, hip dysplasia, luxating patellas (dislocating kneecaps), and eye maladies. Their poor social skills are also a hazard to us humans. If you were caged up without exercise, love, or human contact for the first month to year of your life you would probably develop issues too! My mom once told me a story about a time when a neighbor's dog bit her. This dog was new, fresh from the pet store, and all ready was forced to be put done down because of this dangerous aggression issue. The dog could of had even worse aggression issues, this isn't even the worst case possible. An adult dog that came from a puppy mill could possibly kill a small child if their aggression issue is severe enough. Of course, their issues don't end there. Dogs from puppy mills also have a very dirty outer appearance. Very often the dogs in puppy mills are covered with matted, filthy hair, their teeth are rotting, and their eyes have ulcers. Would you want your puppy end up looking like this, just to save a few bucks? Do you want your dog to suffer silently through the pain of the diseases they got from puppy mills? Would you want to carry the devastating memories from puppy mills with you for your whole life? No. So why do so many of these dogs have to?


Last, but not least, puppy mills should be illegal because the puppy mill business is strictly based on how much profit the mill owners can make. This means they do all they can to make money no matter how much others are compulsory to suffer from the effects. This means they do repulsive, inhumane things like cutting all the corners they can while raising these dogs. But these corners are anything but small. They do things like not spending proper money on everything from veterinarian care to refusing to feed the animals for weeks at a time. "Many dogs have gone blind, lost their sense of hearing, and even have died because their ruthless owners never took them to the vet," said Lee Johnson, a head director of many huge puppy mill prevention organizations. What Lee is saying is basically a real life example of how desperate the mill owners are to make a living off this merciless trade. The sad thing is, they will go even greater lengths to make money, like breeding the same dog over and over again until it is killed because it can't breed anymore. They are considered nothing more than breeding stock, worthless once they've done given all they can give. Around eighty percent of the mothers in puppy mills only get to care for their new- born puppies for roughly four weeks- the recommended time before doing this is around three to four months! This rate is alarmingly high and not only creates anxiety for the mother dog, but creates a painful longing that affects the puppy for life! After all this abuse, most puppies don't even end up going to a good home. Not that the puppy mill owners would care, though. This is yet another thing they do maximize their profit, selling puppies by the truckload. Those who survive this long, grueling truck ride to pet stores then stock the pet shops nationwide. As long as the mill owners are driving home with an empty truck and a fat wallet, they don't care one bit where those dogs go in life. After hearing all I have to say about how the mill owners increase their income, do you still believe buying that cute puppy in the pet shops window is still a good idea?


As you can see, the puppy mill business isn't as kind as the pet shops make it seem. The battered animals raised there have to live through horrible conditions and develop atrocious health and social issues, all so the mill owners can make maximum profit. I hope you have realized in the time it has taken you to read this essay, about fifteen puppies have died because of the brutal puppy mills. It's time to make this stop. This repulsive trade has to become illegal before its too late. Like I said before, we are the ones who are encouraging this, and we are the only ones that can make it stop.