Puppy mills torture animals and breed disease. Let’s get serious about ending them. | Opinion - NJ.com

By Jacy Gomez

Scotch Plains police officers just seized 132 animals from an illegal puppy mill operation in Union County. These pets, which are currently housed across more than a dozen shelters in the area, are the lucky ones. After they receive the proper care, many will begin their search for forever families.

But millions more remain imprisoned in puppy mills across the nation. They’re psychologically terrified, trapped in pitch-black spaces less than two feet wide, and are unable to access clean food or water.

They need our help.

In a nutshell, puppy mills are large-scale commercial dog breeding facilities that frequently sell dogs to pet stores, flea markets, and online marketplaces. More than 2 million puppies sold each year come from puppy mills. These outfits disregard animal welfare to earn a quick buck, subjecting dogs -- and other common household pets -- to heinous living conditions in the process.

There are an estimated 10,000 active puppy mills across the country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency that "oversees" these operations, regulates less than a third of these setups.

The conditions are gruesome. Eager to sell as many dogs as possible, breeders frequently stack cages on top of one another to save space. This setup robs dogs of adequate lighting, airflow, and personal attention.

Sanitation is another problem. Most puppy mill enclosures are built with grid or wire flooring, which allows urine and fecal matter to easily pass from unit to unit. And animals lack access to clean food and water as a result.

Then there's the countless safety concerns -- ones that stem beyond serious psychological stress and neglect. Animals confined to small spaces suffer frequent leg and foot injuries, including toe infections, cysts, overgrown toenails, and even skeletal problems.

Unsurprisingly, breeders aren't keen to help animals when injuries arise. After all, many of these animals aren't subject to routine veterinary examinations. That's why it's not uncommon for puppy mill dogs to have cataracts, pneumonia, parasites, heart disease, or diabetes.

There are countless examples of documented abuse.

In 2016, authorities discovered that one North Carolina woman was holding 130 neglected animals on her property. Many of these animals -- which included dogs, cats, and goats -- suffered from "missing teeth and jaws."

Just last year, more than 700 dogs were taken from a puppy mill in Georgia. These pooches were filthy and matted. Some could barely walk having lived their entire lives in a small cage.

These harrowing conditions aren't merely an animal welfare epidemic; they're also a public health threat.

Puppy mills are ground zero for a host of diseases that impact animals and humans.

Consider what happened last year in Iowa. State public health officials warned Hawkeye residents who had recently come in contact with a Marion County puppy mill that they may have been exposed to “canine Brucellosis” -- a bacterial infection that dogs transmit to humans through contaminated urine, blood, and other bodily fluids.

Brucellosis commonly causes fever, aches, and fatigue in humans. In more severe cases, the bacterium could spark miscarriages in women.

The disease is far more contagious among dogs. It typically attacks the reproductive organs, leading to serious fertility complications. It can also strike the eyes, liver, and spleen.

Addressing these problems will require action from local, state, and federal lawmakers. New Jersey lawmakers, for example, adopted a bill in 2018 to strengthen its animal cruelty laws. Thanks to this legislation, every county prosecutor is required to established and oversee an “animal cruelty task force” to handle animal welfare issues in the area.

But more must be done. Roughly a third of U.S. states have no specific laws on the books relating to puppy mills. The lack of protection is unacceptable, and lawmakers should be held accountable for their inaction.

Animals don't have voices, but we do. We must use them in the face of injustice.

Jacy Gomez, a former congressional staffer for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is a communications specialist.

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