Having had dogs all my life, I understand the importance of having your pet spayed or neutered. However, it wasn't till a few months ago that I learned about the horrible atrocities that occur in puppy mills worldwide. Dogs that are raised in puppy mills live in cramped and filthy conditions; and are constantly confined and deprived of veterinary care and socialization. No animal deserves a life of imprisonment and being confined to a small cage. The overpopulation crisis is far too huge to simply ignore. " One unspayed dog and her offspring can produce 67, 000 dogs in six years, and one unspayed cat and her offspring can produce 420, 000 cats in seven years."(PETA copyright). If cats and dogs are able to reproduce this amount of offspring in just six or seven years, then just imagine how many of these beautiful beings will end up on the streets without good homes, and more than likely end up being euthanized in a shelter, or even dying of starvation. Simply put, the only solution to this overpopulation crisis is to have your pets spayed or neutered, and or to adopt an animal from a shelter.
These days it seems like more and more people are still buying animals from a pet store or breeder, and while these animals deserve to go to loving homes, so do these poor animals living in animal shelters. It's because of breeders that we have this problem in the first place. Though they're not entirely to blame, they are still however, part of the reason why we have an overpopulation crisis that is resulting in millions of animals being euthanized every year. We as human beings make choices everyday, and the choices we make impact what happens in the world. If we as a society can then make that choice to adopt, rather than to buy from a breeder, we would lessen the demand for litters. Education is a crucial element here. Educate yourself, as well as others. The solution lies within the context of supply and demand. If we can lessen the demand, than the supply of breeders and their litters will eventually lessen.
I know for myself personally, that the next dog I decide to get will come from an animal shelter. I've had four dogs my entire life, and three of the four came from a home breeder. While I didn't know then what I do now; I am forever grateful for the dogs that came into my life, as I have been truly touched by each and every one of them. All I will say is that knowledge is power, and the more people who are aware of this unfortunate situation, the more we can do to change this from continuing. Six to eight million unwanted animals end up in shelters annually. Half of their lives will be ended through a needle being injected into their vein. This may be a humane way to die, but it's inhumane to have to end their lives because nobody cares, or isn't aware of this tragedy. Like I stated in the lines above, knowledge really is power, and we as a human race have the ability to make a choice, these poor animals do not. The choices you make in your everyday life really do have an impact. What choice will you make??
Thanks for sincerely taking the time to read my blog.
Damian
(Photos below were taken by Emily Lavender with PETA. Thanks for setting up the protest Emily).
