b"Yes, They Still Existby Dina Athanassie, President and Founder, Sunshine State Humane SocietyBehind the adorable puppies at retail pet stores, there are theAmericanSocietyforthePreventionofCrueltyto Animals invisible dogsthe breeding parents who are suffering in ware- (ASPCA). house-likeconditions,withoutthebasicnecessitiesthatweMostbutnotallpuppymillsarelocatedinthe expect dogs to receiveclean food and water, veterinary care,Midwest, in states like Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio. That exercise, companionship.is not a coincidence. That is part of the business model. These EverySeptemberisPuppyMillAwarenessMonth,anare states with strong agricultural economies, where dogs are annual observance aimed at raising awareness of the horrors oflegally considered livestock. Ill repeat that because it is impor-puppy mills. I found myself contemplating what we could do totant: dogs in these facilities are legally considered livestock. That educate communities year-round. What could we contribute toclassification is critical, because it means dogs in these facilities this fight? Heres our challenge: Lets join forces and dismantleare not protected under the same animal cruelty laws that apply the puppy mill industry for good.to dogs in homes. Over 90% of puppies sold at pet stores come from com- Pet shops proudly tell consumers that the breeders who mercialbreedingfacilities,betterknownbytheircolloquialsupply puppies are inspected. Well, that is true; they are inspect-name puppy mills. These are not small, family-run operations.edby the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). These are high-volume businesses that churn out puppies likeThe USDAs standards of care for breeding dogs are minimal, inventory.focusing primarily on keeping the animals healthy enough to Several years ago, I was on the board of directors of a localreproduce. An inspection simply means the facility was inspected animaladvocacyorganization.Wewerecontactedbytheand met the bare minimum of care guidelines. Here are just a founder of an organization whose mission was to educate thefew examples of those guidelines: public about puppy mills. She was planning a visit to the Tampa Cages are required to be just 6 inches longer than the Bay area and needed help organizing a few speaking engage- dog's body (excluding the tail) in each direction. This means a ments. I volunteered for that assignment. And while I had andog can legally spend his or her entire life in a wire cage barely understandingthatpuppymillswerebad,thethingsthatIbigger than their own body. learnedwhilesittinginonthosepresentationshelpedme Thereisnorequirementfordailyhumaninteraction, understand that they were, in fact, far worse than I had everaffection, or socialization. imaginedand they helped me understand why they are able to Commercial breeders may breed females at every cycle operate that way.throughout their lifetime. I learned that Florida is one of the largest markets for pup- There is no requirement for rest between litters, nor any piesbredinpuppymillstobesoldinretailpetstores.cap on lifetime litters; meaning it is not uncommon to start Approximately 9,600 puppies from puppy mills were importedbreeding a female dog as young as her first heat (around 6-12 to Florida over a 17-month period between 2019 and 2020 months old) and have 6-10 or more litters in her lifetime, after averagingaround560puppiespermonth,accordingtothewhich she is dumped or euthanized. Continued on page 28 g26 THE NEW BARKERwww.TheNewBarker.com"