Dog Health: Puppy Mills

Last night, the National Geographic channel aired a special Dog Whisperer episode about puppy mills. As always, there was lots of footage of poorly cared for dogs in wire cages and an abundance of tear-jerking emotional pictures and stories. All in all, I thought the episode was fairly typical for this topic. But again, I fail to understand why there are never any veterinarians interviewed in these stories. Hearing about the horrors of this type of a life for a dog would mean more to me coming from a veterinary professional.

HOWEVER, this story may have stimulated me to think of a potential workable plan to do away with puppy mills. If you follow any legislative alerts, you will see that regulating breeders is a common item on many states' law-making agendas this year. Right here in Indiana, a new law caps the number of dogs you can own (or breed) before you are considered to be a "commercial breeder" Many other states are looking at similar laws as well as the ideas to control pet over-population, such as mandatory spay-neuter laws. I don't know for certain, but my gut tells me that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is behind many of these legislative efforts. Although I do applaud their surface efforts to help, I can't help but continue to be concerned about their less than apparant motives. Both HSUS and PETA leaders have publically declared their goal of "no-more pets".

But let's be realistic, people want to own pets and the "don't shop..adopt" program is not working. American consumers will continue to buy puppies because 1) puppies in stores are cute and 2) its really convenient.

Instead of working through legislatures, why not put some money up front to help develop an enforcement agency/operation/organization that can help police breeders and help educate future pet owners? As it stands now, each new law that passes in every state adds to a financial burden at a time when it is difficult to get funding for any project.

The website, Charity Navigator shows that HSUS has in excess of $225 Million in assets. Why not free up some of those assets to develop an organization that will work with the American Kennel Club, veterinary organizations, and other dog-related groups to come up with a workable and fair outline of "good" breeding practices that is not solely determined by number of dogs or number of puppies sold?

Think on it...I don't know how much money the AKC has, but if HSUS could give about $20 Million (10% of their assets), the AKC could chip in and partner that money with funds already allocated for the USDA for enforcement of existing laws, we might make a bigger dent in the puppy mill industry. Its all about working together and stopping the "in-fighting" that accompanies any attempt at creating new laws.

Other benefits: Breeders who met "good" breeding practices could sell puppies through any outlet they choose...to individuals or to stores. People looking for puppies could buy them through "HSUS Approved Stores" to save the difficulties of finding a "good" breeder. Portions of all sales, through breeders or stores, would be funneled back into the organization for further enforcement and inspection of facilities. And best of all, we could avoid a lot of government interference. Breeders and stores who don't meet the requirements would eventually perish from lost business and consumers, good breeders and good stores would be able to work together to get puppies into homes.

This is just a basic outline and I know that many people will have a lot of issues with it, but...it's a much better start than simply throwing up some numbers and saying you can't breed dogs if you own x number of dogs. Work with DVMs to find good breeding practices, make potential breeders outline their breeding facilities/plans and submit them to this new organization annually along with their license fees, and finally, utilize technology to help eliminate the fraud that is often associated with AKC/CKC and other kennel club registrations. Maybe even mandate microchips for all new puppies that make it to 6 weeks of age.....

This obviously needs a lot of work and, of course, a lot of money. BUT...money is something the HSUS has alot of and my gut feeling is that the AKC has a fair share too. Let's put their monies together for a good common cause and start stamping out this horrendous nightmare breeders!