SAVING PETS WITH MUSIC This description… Imagine a life confined to a small, cold, dark cage. Imagine never having the opportunity to step out for a quick walk or a stretch of the legs. Imagine being riddled with illness due to malnutrition, a life with zero socialization; a life full of so much loneliness and neglect that you’ve become terrified of people. Imagine a life whose entire worth is measured in only one way; your ability to reproduce.
How One Woman Is Making A Difference
WRITTEN BY: SOPHIA SANCHEZ LAYOUT BY: JENNIFER VEGUILLA
DAHNA BENDER FOR MILLDOGRESCUE.COM
The life of a typical
commercial breeding animal.
Most of you have heard the term puppy mill. And most of you have made the connection that puppy mills, for lack of a better term, are bad. But do you know why? Envision a farm full of livestock. And envision how those animals are kept before being slaughtered to distribute to the food industry. They are given a number instead of a name; forced to sleep in foul smelling barns, grazing until some person decides their time has expired. The health and welfare of these animals takes a back seat to increasing profit. Does it seem too farfetched? Not quite…. That puppy you bought last month from the pet store down the street? Chances are, his mom lives the life just described. A commercial breeding farm is governed under the same arm of the law as livestock. With few and very lenient laws in place to protect these animals, their lives are seen as nothing more than a means to an end. Forced to breed every time she is in heat, a commercial breeding dog could have given
12
Halfstackmag.com
birth to ten litters at the mere age of five. It’s not uncommon that these animals are treated so badly that they develop physical health defects – decaying jaws, swollen paws, ear infections, dehydration and even blindness. And when their breeding life has run its course, they are often auctioned off for mere pennies or even worse, taken out back and killed. No guilt, no compassion; just another day in the life of a commercial breeder. This is legal.