Update On our project

So far we've gotten our editorial done. Each of us equally distributed what our tasks were for the project. In class we figured out what each of us were going to say in our speeches :)

Group Plans

My group and I are planning to write an editorial in hopes to also includes some sort of picture so that people can truly understand the devestation of puppy mills. We were thinking to have an online editorial that could show multiple pictures with huge headlines, big font, and drastic stories of the mass dog breeding agencies.

Advertisment and thinking rhetorically

So i've been looking for an advertisment on puppy mills and i found this picture:

http://www.stoppuppymills.org/images/700x900_ad_puppy_dog_eyes.jpg


The purpose of this argument is to end puppy mills and hopes for people to stop letting the cute eyes of the puppy fool them when they buy a puppy at a pet shop, online, or from a puppy mill indirectly. The audience for this argument is anyone that plans on buying a dog or has a pet companion at home. There were two arguments used in this argument: ethos and pathos. Ethos is established because the HSUS is the organization that posted the picture and they have been around for years trying to end mills. Of course as soon as you look at it, it tugs at your heart, just by looking in these puppies eyes. It tries to make the creator seem trustworthy by stating a couple sentences about puppy mills and what the animals go through while being there, while also putting the organization on the ad. This argument appeals to anyone that would like you buy a puppy. The facts that are used in this argument is stated, "There's a world of suggering hidden behind those irresistible puppies for sale in pet shops and on the Internet. The pups are often born to mothers in small cages at abusive "puppy mills," where dogs are treated not like pets, but cash crops. These filthy, overcroweded factories breed dogs with a variety of health abd behavioral problems-undetectable until a pet owner is forced to spend a forutne on care and veterinary bills." This evidence is arranged in a way by first catching the readers attention, exploring the details of puppies, giving a definition, effects of mills, and asking for help.
I think that this is a social argument, because it serves to ask people to have more values that what they've been doing and to stop what they've been doing and not buy the pups from the pet shops or the Internet. The language is very direct, detailed, and uses the appropriate adjectives to really tug at the readers heart strings.

After gathering Research

..So it has been a couple weeks since i had started gathering research about puppy mills. As i started to pay more attention to articles that had to do with animal rights, I came upon PROPOSITION 2. This is a proposition for the 2008/2009 election that would require farmers to have pins for chickens, cows, and pigs big enough to where they can be comfortable and stand and sit in. It would also eliminate three cruelty abuses that they have to endure. I completely agree with Prop 2 and i hope it passes. I'd rather pay a buck more for an egg knowing that the animal was taken caren of before it hatched the egg or was slaughtered. Can people seriously look themselves in the mirror knowing they aren't doing anything to better human species? So answer me this... IF WE ARE TRYING TO GET A PROPOSITON TO PASS ABOUT THE ANIMALS THAT WE EAT, WHY AREN'T WE GETTING A PROPOSITION TO END PUPPY MILLS OR AT LEAST PROMOTE THE WELL BEING IN MILLS, after all puppies are our pets?

LNKS OF RESEARCH PROJECT

In my english class, we are furthering our research by starting to form our annotated bibliography. In trying to figure out which cites I should use, I have posted a couple of links and sources of interest about my civic issue: Has America become so deeply consumed with mass production that our values are at stake? Are puppy millsa prime example of the loss in human morality in industries? Has man's best friend formed into the American dollar? Could the awareness of methods used for financial gain, such as puppy mills, bring forth the necessary public concerns to end mills?

The link below explains what a puppy mill is, what actions the HSUS have taken in hopes of ending puppy mills, and what each dog endures while at a puppy mill.
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pets_related_news_and_events/puppy_mill_fight_continues_040408.html

One of the first website's that I went to when I heard about puppy mills was the oprah winfrey website. I initially heard about puppy mills from her show. In the following link, it's a summarization of Oprah's episode about puppy mills. It includes quotes from Lisa and Bill that went undercover in puppy mills. This link is heart wrenching and really informs the people what is going on in puppy mills.
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/slideshow1_ss_global_20080404/3

After going to Oprah's website, there was a follow up link that you could go to. In this next link I read about the HSUS, what the organization is and what they are doing for these dogs. It gives a complete description with details of what puppies undergo and a list of things that we can do to help mills.
http://www.stoppuppymills.org/

When talking about puppy mills, there is another side to the story: rescue shelters. This is a place where dogs come from different walks of life, to be saved. People foster these animals as if they are their own. This opened my eyes, because if people aren't buying dogs from puppy mills, they can buy them from shelters.
http://www.rainanimals.org/index.html

Here we are in today's society in another voting election. Proposition two is about farm animal treatment. The propostion is to require farm animals to be confined in a space that allows them to lie down, stand up and extend their bodies. What I don't understand is how American's can vote YES to this, yet we still have puppy mills? Yes, I agree that this propostion should be approved, however if we can approve for animals that we EAT to have comfortable space, why can we approve for MANS BEST FRIEND (OUR PETS) to have a comfortable area to live in?
http://www.animalrightsblog.com/2008/08/27/proposition-2-and-online-debates/
and
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-dawn21-2008oct21,0,1110640.story

In researching dog rights and what they are going through, I came upon this link about DOG CAGE FIGHTING. Why is it that man's best friend is now just a paycheck? Here, dogs fight and some die, but the owner gets paid and entertained. WOW!
http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/animal_fighting_the_final_round/dogfighting_fact_sheet/



There are many different links and sources that i have come upon, but these are just a few. What a research project!

Civic Right issue defined

In my English 1A class we have been writing essays based on a topic that effects us and communities. My civic issue is Awareness on Puppy mills. Awareness is defined as knowing and understanding the basis of a topic, so you can further help it. A puppy mill is a mass dog breeding agency that cares more about the profit of the puppies rather than their well being. This agency makes puppies suffer through unsanitary improper conditions.

Baby

As the research of puppy mills has continued, my teacher recently assigned that I find a scholarly article and talk about it through blogging. The article that caught my eye is, "A Rare Breed of Love: The true Story of Baby and the Mission She Inspired To Help Dogs Everywhere," written by Kohl, Jana. Kohl had been searching for a new addition to her family, when she found a puppy mill. She fell in love with a puppy or should i say number 94. When she took 94 home, she renamed it Baby. This dog was a "miniature poodle breeder slated for euthanasia and had suffered such poor health that an ordinary leap from the couch resulted in a shattered leg requiring AMPUTATION." (Pham, Thailan) This was an eye opening experience for Kohl and that is why she decided she needed to make people aware of what was happening to animals. As Kohl described it, there are many different forms of animal cruelty. As Baby, became healthy, Kohl decided to travel around the country in hopes of finding supporters. Baby now has multiple pictures with sport figures, television host, and politicians. "In addition to Baby's story, the book contains over 150 photos of her with supporters. Kohl feels that puppy mills must be stopped and instead of buying dogs, we must adopt. This should be an eye opener to everyone. Dog's in puppy mills are hurting, so we must rescue them from shelters.