Today, thousands of dogs suffer an utterly miserable existence in what are known as ‘puppy mills.’

 These massive ‘factories’ breed puppies to sell to wholesalers and to national pet stores.  And many of these puppy mills frequently house their dogs in shockingly poor conditions which are overcrowded, unsanitary, lacking in adequate shelter, food, water, and human companionship.

These dogs are often stacked row upon row in filthy, tiny, cages – and never even let out for an occasional walk – often having to lie in their own waste – hour after hour, day after day.  

And in these horrendous puppy mills, the health of the dogs is completely disregarded in order to maximize business profit.  Female dogs, called ‘breeder bitches’ are cruelly caged their entire lives, and they are bred at every opportunity until they are no longer physically able to reproduce.

When these females can no longer produce any more litters, they are no longer profitable; so they are commonly killed, callously dumped at an animal shelter, or simply abandoned in the wild to fend for themselves.

The state of Pennsylvania is often referred to as ‘the puppy mill capital’ with Lancaster County having the highest concentration of these puppy mills of any county in the entire country.

Recently, members of the Pennsylvania Dog Law Advisory Board were all fired by Pennsylvania Governor Rendell because they were taking no actions at all to stop this horrendous, inhumane, ongoing activity.

Governor Rendell called this the first step towards addressing inhumane conditions at the growing number of commercial dog breeding operations in his state.

This is one leader that needs to be recognized for his compassionate efforts, and we truly need many more like him.

Perhaps with enough encouragement from all of us, other state leaders will now stand up and follow in his footsteps.

Compassion From All of Us – Is Long Overdue.

And Please Don’t Buy Your Next Pet from a Pet Store – Adopt It From Your Local Animal Shelter.