You may have seen Pennsylvania on the national news (I am pretty sure Dateline, Oprah or one of the other big news magazine shows did an expose on our dirty little secret – puppy mills). PA along with other states with large Amish populations have a great number of them running a new cash crop. That crop would be dogs. Now mind you it is not only the Amish who are making a quick buck on breeding dogs, but they are the most prominent in my area. Just driving down a one-mile stretch of road to my parent’s house I pass three such puppy mills. These poor puppies are expected to be someone’s pet but they are not properly cared for, are not healthy, not socialized and are just like any other crop to these people.
Please do not buy your next dog from a pet store or off a farm. Inspect the breeder carefully, do your research and visit the pups as they develop with their mother. If you do you’ll get a happier and much healthier animal for your family.
For more information please visit united against puppy mills. org or the Humane Society’s website. If you are in PA please contact your senator to make sure that House Bill 2525 gets past passed. My Senator Mike O’ Pake voted yes on the dog legislation according to the letter I received from his office in response to my email. So please take a minute out of your day to write an email, make a phone call or mail a letter (yes snail mail still works in this country and is some times more affective than electronic mail – yeah, the e stands for electronic). And get your own ribbon to support the cause.
Puppy mill update – the Pennsylvania state senate has passed the House Bill 2525 on October 8, 2008 by a vote of 49 to 1. I just got a letter from my Senato,r Mike O’ Pake, informing me of success. He voted in the affirmative (that is yes). I wonder who the idiot that voted no was? Or even better what their reason was for voting in the negative?
As Sen. O’ Pake’s letter states, “These dogs will receive the proper and humane treatment that they deserve.” This is a good victory for pet lovers and will certainly help in the senators bid for re-election next month.
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