Imagine if you were locked up in a meager cage made up of chicken wire, deprived of exercise, denied attention, and had limited access to water and food. These are just a few of the injustices which occur in puppy mills everyday. Puppy mills make up a revolting business consisting of vindictive dealers trying to make a buck. Therefore, I believe puppy mills should be outlawed.

On the contrary, puppy mills can provide an income. To many people, it’s their solitary approach to sustaining their family. In particular, the Amish of Lancaster county manage numerous puppy mills. In the 1970s, the Amish began to create “puppy farms”, which were marketed by the U.S. government. The U.S. government promoted puppy mills as a fool-proof “cash” crop. Subsequently, the puppy mill trade expanded to several communities throughout the United States.

Despite these relatively “positive aspects”, puppy mills are cruel, demeaning, and barbaric to puppies. Puppies are denied the basic principles of life. They never experience the opportunity to walk outside and encounter nature, receive proper medical care, or have enough food to eat. Puppies are kept in puny cages and are refused socialization with other dogs. In addition, female dogs are impregnated every time they go into “heat” and are killed after 5 years of “service”. Several puppies lose feet and legs from the wire floors of their cages. Furthermore, dogs are usually “debarked” by puppy mill workers cutting their vocal cords with steel rods. Lastly, puppies in puppy mills experience a hefty load of diseases such as epilepsy, heart disease, kidney disease, heart worms, and hip dysplasia because of the unsanitary and hazardous conditions. With all the abominable events taking place in puppy mills, there is no question that they should be outlawed.

On top of that, a plethora of these puppy mills are actually some sort of internet scam. On a great deal of websites, puppy mills market their puppies as “the offspring of champions”, “pedigree”, “AKC registered”, or “health certified”. Some websites even have pictures of dogs wagging their tails and playing with owners. The puppies from puppy mills often come with fake certificates claiming they are healthy. However, most of these dogs are most likely facing a substantial load of health problems. In addition, plenty of puppy mills are marketing themselves as “animal sanctuaries”, where purebred puppies are saved from animal shelters. They claim that they do not charge any money for the dog but have an “adoption fee” which usually exceeds $1,000. Puppy mills are operated under fraudulent schemes to trick people into paying money.

Lastly, puppy mills lessen the likelihood that consumers will obtain their dogs from animal shelters. This is primarily important because there is such a great need for dogs to be adopted from animals shelters. According to the Human Society of the United States, there are 6 to 8 million dogs and cats which enter shelters every year. In addition, the ASPCA states that “five out of ten dogs are destroyed because there is no one to adopt them”. If puppy mills were outlawed, a significant amount of those dogs would probably be salvaged from death.



In conclusion, it is evident that puppy mills should be outlawed. Puppy mills are completely unjust, as well as savagely cruel. Puppy mills treat dogs with utter atrocity, swindle consumers into purchasing dogs that are unhealthy, and diminish the possibility that dogs in shelters will be adopted. I sincerely hope that you aid in the fight against puppy mills. You can find out more at http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/puppy-mills/.