I was asked in a previous entry by a concerned couple who is horrified by the conditions of puppymills about what they can do to help eliminate this situation. Since I have been sick and have been able to think about this question, I felt it was important to write a new entry instead of a quick reply.
The following are suggestions and I personally feel one should do what resonates with his or her abilties.
The first and most important solution to the horrors of puppymills is DO NOT BUY A PET FROM A PET STORE!! Most pet stores sell dogs and 99% come from puppymills. One word of caution- Pet stores such as Petsmart ADOPT animals. One by One Cat Rescue works with both Petsmarts in our area and have been successful at adopting over 400 cats with very few returns. This is a remarkable feat.
Educate your friends, colleagues and others about the pet store-puppymill connection. Tell them by buying a puppy, they are only contributing to the horrors of the puppymill industry. The bottomline is this- if there is no demand for puppies, there is no need for puppymills. Education is the effective tool and informing people about puppymills and pet stores is the key to eliminate puppymills.
Support legislation that helps the animals. You can contact your legislators by clicking here. House Bill 2525, now called Act 119 was passed this past October to make lives better for puppymill dogs. Although this was great news, the war is far from over. Many puppymills will not have to abide by the new law for up to three years or longer if they haven’t had any violations in the last three years. Unfortunately, it has come to light within the last year, some dog wardens have been reassigned for not doing their job. What this means is that many “kennels” were passed when they shouldn’t have been. And because of these passed inspections, these puppymills won’t have to make changes for at least three years – three more years for these dogs to suffer at the hands of the puppymill farmers.
If you do see a kennel that you feel mistreats their dogs or is in violation of the law and would like to file a complaint, you can one of two things. You can call the Dog Law Tipline at 1-877-DOG-TIP1 (1-877-364-8471) to give any tips you may have about a bad kennel or suspected bad kennel. Your information will be confidential. Or you may go directly to the Dep’t of Agriculture, Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement’s website and file a complaint online here. Scroll down to the resources section where it states “Register a Complaint”.
You can join an advocacy group such as United Against Puppy Mills.
You can go to your local pet store that SELLS, not adopts, puppies and ask them why they don’t adopt out animals from local shelters. Tell them we already have so many animals dying in shelters because they weren’t adopted. Their decision to adopt would help to ease the overcrowding of animal shelters and save lives!
You can adopt a puppymill dog. A puppymill dog is not your average dog by any stretch of the imagination. Having this type of special-needs dog will require patience, time and love. These dogs are accustomed to living in horrific conditions and many are quite fearful of people and understandbly so. They have been abused and mistreated for years. A Tail to Tell has such dogs up for adoption. These dogs need special people who are understanding of their needs.
Call in to your local talk radio station and approach the subject letting listeners aware of puppymills and the horrors associated with it.
To “me”, I sincerely hope that one of these solutions resonated with you and your husband. If not, please feel free to let me know.