Students from Chestatee High School wrote letters to the editor to The Times on a number of subjects as part of a social studies class project.
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A puppy mill is a facility that has massive production of puppies for sale to individuals and pet stores throughout the country as well as foreign markets. It's a great business to breed dogs; its how we get our family bodyguards and our best friends.
But having them bred in inhumane conditions that are worse than a small prison is wrong. These plants that also breed females on every heat cycle then shoot them are mostly found in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Hundreds of thousands of pups are bred each year in the most nasty, cruel ways.
To save the most money as possible, they rarely buy real dog food that the dogs need. They simply feed them the scraps off the floor. They never come out of their cages and because of not getting the vitamins they need, the dogs have rotted jaws and teeth, matted filthy hair and ulcers in their eyes. The animals never go to the vets or see any kind of health needs.
There is no good out of a puppy mill. People just wanted to make a few extra bucks by endangering innocent animals.
If the people of the U.S. refused to buy from pet stores, puppy mills would go out of business. You can fix this process by adopting and evangelizing the information about these mills. Not a lot of people know about them; several groups have attempted to push for laws to be at least more strict on puppy mills.
If you have bought from a pet shop, you might be able to trace back and see if you pup went through that cruelty. I would never want my puppy or any puppy being treated like that for their whole life, not even touching grass or playing in the sun, would you?
Shelby Ventura