Diamonds in the Ruff

Dog breeding has been going on for thousands of years. It has been popularized to have the best-looking dog with certain traits by breeding. Many breeders have taken into consideration the proper care and environment that dogs need to grow, however, there are a large number of people who have taken advantage of dog breeding. Many bad dog breeders ignore the well-being of their animals, support industries that are known for harmful animal practices, and neglect to get the dogs the proper vet care needed. 

Irresponsible dog breeders tend to inbreed and overuse a fixed trait that a dog may carry. This leads to a vast amount of negative side effects such as many medical and life-threatening issues for an animal. Some medical problems include damage to the DNA, fertility problems, depression, added aggression, and anxiety. Overall, this is causing short and poor quality of life for animals. Furthermore, dogs are not in environments fit to live in for any creature. Dogs are not usually socialized with other humans or animals with containment, therefore, develop depression and anxiety. In puppy mills, dog breeders run a high operation to breed dogs to make a profit rather than care about the welfare of the dogs. Similar to other dog breeding operations the puppies are plagued with disease and health complications. Many stores are involved in this activity because it is cheap and for the dog breeders a fast and effective way to make money. 

Many breeding laws are also out of date which doesn’t allow optimal protection for dogs under these conditions. There are only some laws that support the idea of punishing irresponsible dog breeders, however, it is not heavily enforced. Some ways that people can stop these crimes against dogs is by refusing to support businesses that are funded by puppy mills or irresponsible dog breeders. Also when you are looking for a potential pet adopt at a local animal shelter (roughly 25% of the dog population in an animal shelter is pure bread dogs anyway)or at a trustworthy dog breeder that cares more about the dog's wellbeing than making a profit. Dogs don’t have the ability to control what their fate will be. However, we can make a difference by doing our research and standing against irresponsible breeders, and promoting shelters to decrease the number of dogs that are treated poorly.