Holiday shopping looms and pet shops are ready with a provide of puppies. Prices could seem a bit excessive, but plastic cash is accepted at the check-out counter. The puppies are playful, have quick tongues that lavish kisses on completely satisfied faces, and are AKC registered.
PUPPY MILLS ARE LEGAL. Only large-scale industrial facilities thought of wholesale” operations, promoting animals to pet shops for example, are required to be licensed by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) through the AWA (Animal Welfare Act). The AWA which is enforced by the USDA outlines (very minimum) standards of care for animals bred for business resale.
That’s not to say that the ASPCA or different animal organizations flip a blind eye to cruelty toward rats, earlier than you begin to panic. There’s quite a number of documented cases of rats being helped by animal rescue organizations. It merely means that rats aren’t offered the same authorized protection as other animals – so the USDA is not holding as shut an eye on these breeding services as they might other animals.
Yes, however keep in mind that puppies in pet shops are the ones who have already made it out of the pet mill. The real tragedy is the a whole lot of hundreds of canine and puppies still residing in puppy mills, the place nearly all pet store puppies come from. These dogs dwell in tiny cramped cages for many of their lives, for the sole function of manufacturing puppies to be bought in pet shops. You might help put puppy mills out of business by never shopping for a puppy from a store for any motive.