Puppy-mill shame

It’s Christmas time. The family walks into a pet store. Eyes are drawn to all the beautiful little puppies happily gazing out through their cages. Happiness and joy are in the air as the family debates what beautiful breed of puppy to take home for the holiday!

What is not known is the horror and atrocity of the barbaric puppy mill industry, from where these beautiful puppies might originate. Do a Google search or watch a YouTube video about puppy mills before you consider contributing to the perpetuation of this horror.

Most puppies purchased in pet stores originate from these horrific mills, which are becoming more widespread throughout the United States. Pennsylvania is now known as the “Puppy Mill Capital of the East Coast” — a title our state should be both ashamed of and embarrassed by.

According to the ASPCA, “Puppy mills usually house dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without adequate veterinary care, food, water or socialization. In order to maximize profits, female dogs are bred at every opportunity with little-to-no recovery time between litters. Puppy mill puppies, often as young as 8 weeks, are sold to pet shops or directly to the public over the Internet, through newspaper ads and at flea markets.”

The ASPCA also states that “in a puppy mill, dogs are often kept in cages with wire flooring that injures their paws and legs” — with rows of puppies urinating and defecating on the row of puppies beneath them.

When female breeding dogs can no longer reproduce, they are often killed in horrific ways.

With the current crisis we have in this country — millions of lovely dogs being euthanized in this country daily — we cannot afford to continue supporting such a barbaric industry. CAROL HARTSOCK Howl to Help AnimalAdvocacy Group Hollidaysburg, Pa.