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.

Have we become so consumed with mass production that we lose sight of our values?

I've been doing more and more research and puppy mills. I read a New York Time article,"Humane Society Traces Expensive Pups to Pet Mills." Here it is America... Mill owners almost pay nothing for their mass dog breeding agency. They buy WIRED cages to store the pups in and well....that's about it. Yet, they make a HUGE PROFIT! In Los Angeles, pups are sold for $1,000 if not more. But these mills don't have enough money to take the canines to see a vet when they have fly bites, cuts, are malnourished to the point that you can see their limbs, etc. WOW! Yet, America doesn't ban mills, because its apart of the American Agriculture Society. Alright. Well, if we want to make these agencies legal, how about we BOYCOTT THEM!
In an article that I read and commented called, "How to Save Puppy-Mill dogs: don't buy them", Gina Spadafori justifies the fact that we have to boycott puppy mills. She's been writing about animals and care that they need since 1984, and now she has completely lost the idea of ever putting an end to puppy mills. America, if we can't get puppy mills banned, there's only one way that owners will give up the dogs and not have these agencies and that is: BOYCOTT THEM! In another article that I read. "Cracking Down on Puppy Mills," investigators had been watching a mill in Virgina. Investigators had been keeping a close on eye on this mill. Come to find out, there were more than 1,000 dogs in this mill. TALK ABOUT A MASS DOG BREEDING AGENCY! These dogs were malnourished and in complete danger. Why has America become so consumed in mass production? We mass produce food, jobs, and so much more? Since the 1800's when America became industrialized, we've started to focus on mass production. But we aren't suppose to change our values for that. Some people might say that some people have to have mills in order to raise their own family and have an income. Well guess what? If these mill owners can't get a job anywhere but their own mill, there is DEFINITELY A PROBLEM! HELLO?!

Outraged by Puppy Mills

One of the articles that I read was, "Legal Killing of 80 Dogs Outrages", by Susan E. Lindt was a very informative story. She describe in detail puppy mills and what has happend, just recently, to dogs in Pennsylvania. "Commercial kennel operators shot and killed 80 dogs after dog wardens ordered some of the animals be examined by veterinarians." Elmer Zimmerman was ordered to to get vet checks on 39 of his dogs. He told the warden, " I think I'm going to go out of business." The warden explained that he could hand over the dogs, but he wouldn't agree. Days later when the warden came back, he had shot the dogs. Before these dogs were shot they were under very extreme conditons. They had fleas, fly bites, were in extreme heat, had insufficent bedding and were in cages that their paws could fall through. This is unimaginable to me. A puppy mill is a mass dog breeding agency that maximizes its profit by selling dogs to pet stores and on the internet, yet ZIMMERMAN didn't want to pay for the dogs to get checked out by a vet? Are you kidding me? The worst part about this story is that in Pennsylvania, shooting dogs isn't illegal. Do you hear that people? So Zimmerman did was LEGAL! Tell me, how can this be legal? Yet, there's another story about Blank and his mill. First, he illegally sold an agent a sickly 3 week old puppy that died from dehydration a short time after. 3- weeks? Are you kidding me? Talk about malnutrition. Pups aren't supposed to be taken away from their mother until 7-8 weeks. Days later, Blanks keneel was raided by PSPA which foudn dogs with eyes missng due to untreated disease, severed ears, abscesses, skin conditions, and splayed feet from years of standing in wire-floored cages. Hours later, Blank's license was removed. You know what I want to know? Why was he given a license in the first place? He obviously doesn't know what it takes to take care of animals. He was fine $576 dollars, 2 years of probation, and never allowed to have a mill again. That's it. All of the harsh and cruel treatment those dogs suffered and that's all he gets. You've got to be kidding me PENNSYLVANIA! This proves, that we MUST make people aware of what dogs are going through in puppy mills. Let's BOYCOTT MILLS!

Hey everyone,
My name is Jennifer and I'm a freshman at Sac State. I made this blog for my English 1A class. I hope to become more aware with this blogging extravaganza and look forward to reading, posting and replying.
:)