Recently, the United States House of Representatives passed the bill that united both Republicans and Democrats. The bill’s name is the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act that addressed the issues of cruelty and neglect among pets. Primarily, the law makes abuse of animals illegal on a national level (Campbell, 2019). The cruelty is defined by breaking, setting on fire, drowning, strangling, and stabbing. However, puppy mills, or extensive breeding operations, are not considered illegal by the PACT, which was regarded as controversial by the public. The problem that needs to be addressed is how to ensure puppy mills are following the legal regulations established by PACT, as many similar businesses have been accused of animal cruelty. Therefore, it is essential to fully comprehend the level of abuse by such organizations, find the significant obstacle within the issue, and propose a comprehensive solution.
Puppy Mills Cruelty
Puppy mills are industrial-scale breeding operations, where animals are repeatedly bred to produce as many puppies as possible. These are then sold to consumers or pet stores. Puppy mills operate like factories where maximizing output is the goal. As a result, the animals well being, health and temperament are not considered to save on costs (Campbell, 2019). The animals are kept in cramped, unsanitary conditions, to minimize costs to the mill.
Furthermore, puppy mills are relatively unregulated and understudied, although they are widespread in the United States. Some estimates put their number at 10000 in the United States, often operating in rural areas and selling online (Solotaroff, 2017). As many dogs end up unsold, mill operators will simply put them down. In the United States, roughly two million dogs are euthanized each year, a number that does not cover the dogs mill operators kill through overwork and mistreatment.
Major Obstacles
Puppy mills, large-scale puppy breeding business, are not limited by the PACT Act, which means many animals are still kept in poor, unsanitary conditions. Because of the high demand for puppies and no current legal restrictions or regulations, these mills remain open (Campbell, 2019). A lack of awareness among consumers is also to blame, as many do not know of conditions in puppy mills and are not aware that they should only buy from a reputable breeder (Solotaroff, 2017). Instead, many consumers go to pet stores that acquire their stock from puppy mills.
Furthermore, efforts to include banning or regulating puppy mills with the PACT Act are difficult, as the PACT Act is a revision of an older bill. Since the previous version of the Bill did not include laws covering puppy mills, the current PACT Act simply does not address them (Campbell, 2019). As it stands now, a puppy mill operator, if they sell directly to the buyer, either a consumer or a store, does not need any sort of license.
Proposal
My proposal consists of three vital details that can help government agencies ensure the proper well-being of animals kept in puppy mills.
First, puppy mills applicants must attend training on how to take care of dogs. Such mandatory training should include detailed instructions on appropriate animal care and treatment. This would require federal guidelines on minimal comfort levels for animals (Frasch, 2016). Puppy mill operators would have to be registered and receive a license to function.
Second, legal entities should check the organization to ensure that it is clean, has beds, and well-ventilated. A study done in Canada found that chicken farms could operate at the same long term costs while meeting animal comfort standards. It was only short-term costs that prevented some farms from complying (Robichaud et al., 2017). This could drive some puppy farms out of business and ensure that only ones that meet minimal comfort guidelines survive.
Third, a representative from the government has to perform random visits to puppy millers to ensure the dogs’ well-being. This would guarantee the continuation of the training’s positive effects, as the owners would always be in-check.
Who and What
There need to be changes in legislation regarding minimal comfort levels for animals at the Federal scale. The PACT Act can be expanded to cover more than just anti-cruelty and to set standards for Animal care nationwide. The PACT Act was drafted and passed by a bipartisan majority, indicating enough governmental support for animal rights legislation.
Furthermore, legislators and law enforcement agencies support the PACT Act (Eckerd, 2019). This would indicate that the additional steps outlined in my proposal would have some support. The enforcement of the actions in the project could be done by elements of law enforcement, who could simply carry out the random and scheduled checks in my proposal. This would have the additional benefit of communicating the seriousness of the government in enforcing anti-cruelty laws. Law enforcement agencies have stated a connection between cruelty towards animals and cruelty towards people (Eckerd, 2019). This could indicate the willingness of law enforcement agencies to expand their activities to include monitoring puppy mills for cruelty.
Benefits of the Proposal
The three steps of my proposal would act in tandem to, firstly, limit the growth of new puppy mills and, secondly, to ensure that only mills capable of meeting minimal comfort requirements survive. Forcing puppy mill operators to register and go through training would limit new puppy mills run by individuals with no regard for animal welfare. This change would also work retroactively, meaning that existing puppy mill operators would have to go through the application process.
Furthermore, governmental entities’ checks on the conditions in puppy mills would make sure the guidelines are followed. The first and second steps enhance each other, as mill operators whose business does not meet the requirements will not be able to claim that they were not informed of the requirements. Lastly, random checks would enforce the necessity to keep the mills operating within the parameters described by the minimum comfort requirements. This would help drive out of business the puppy mills not capable of caring for the animals properly.
Potential Problems and Solutions
The first potential problem is that the proposed regulations might take a long time to pass. Initially, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed PETA Act, the puppy millers were not affected by the new law because it is a product of revision of the bill that was proposed over ten years ago (Campbell, 2019). Therefore, some decisions, mainly connected to animals, take a longer time to be made.
The other obstacle is that puppy mills might go out of business, which might drastically change the contemporary animal market. The entire business model of puppy mills is based on the opportunity to breed animals on a large-scale. Such an approach assumes a certain level of neglect and exploitation involved in the process (Solotaroff, 2017). Therefore, proposing these regulations might lead to some puppy mills leaving the animal industry, which might affect pet stores and other animal facilities.
The last issue with the proposal is connected to the fact that the United States government might not have enough funds and human resources to implement the project entirely. The proposal’s essential part is focused on government intervention; thus, the lack of appropriate staff can be a significant obstacle to the plan.
The first solution is to focus on State and city level policymakers, as California and Maryland have various preventive laws against large-scale breeding (Campbell, 2019). Therefore, to attract the Federal government’s attention, it is efficient first to lobby the State government.
The solution to the other problem is to educate the public on the way many puppy mills are operating, which will encourage individuals to buy dogs from professional breeders or adopt from shelters. Thus, even if the industry will be reformed, there are various alternatives in the market.
Lastly, the solution to the issues is to introduce new public-sector jobs related to animal care, which will positively affect the economy long-term, as more people will be able to find employment.
Conclusion
The PACT Act has recently passed, which focused on the issues of animal abuse. However, puppy mills were not affected by the law, which led the public to question the United States government’s decision. The animals are regularly kept in unsanitary and uncomfortable conditions because the primary goal of puppy mills is to bread as many dogs as possible. Moreover, the lack of awareness among people also supports the industry because of the constant demand. The proposal to change the ongoing situation includes mandatory training, legal checks, and random visits from the responsible agency.
References
Campbell, L. (2019). Animal cruelty could soon become a federal crime-but why are puppy mills still allowed? Readers Digest.
Eckerd, P. (2017). Senate unanimously passes PACT act against extreme animal cruelty. Jurist.
Robichaud, M., Rushen, J., De Passillé, A. M., Vasseur, E., Haley, D., Orsel, K., & Pellerin, D. (2018). Is the profitability of Canadian freestall farms associated with their performance on an animal welfare assessment? Journal of Dairy Science, 101(3), 2350-2358.
Solotaroff, P. (2017). The dog factory: Inside the sickening world of puppy mills. Rolling Stone.