for the love of our pets
oprah. God love her.
so last week oprah sent lisa ling undercover to do a story on puppy mills. i will admit, i DVR oprah. i figure those days where there’s nothing on then i’ll have a couple episodes to watch, and chances are, whatever her show is about is worth watching, unless she’s discussing a book i’m not reading, some celebrity i don’t care about, or something like that. probably 4 days out of 5 days i think it’d be worth watching.
now, as of yet, i’m not a dog owner. we haven’t graduated to the responsibility of kids or dogs. (we’ve actually heard kids are easier than dogs – ha!) we do have cats, and i’ve always been someone who cares incredibly for animals. that whole, ‘they have no voice so we should be their’s’ type of thing.
so i was STUNNED, actually that’s quite an understatement, to find out what goes on in these mills. i mean, first of all, the very phrase “puppy mills” just reeks of cruelty and degradation. but to see the hidden camera shots was heart-wrenching. i used to drag my husband into pet shops in the mall, and i’d goggle over the cute little animals there and want to take them all home. now knowing what environment they come from, how their mom was treated, and what kind of environment their first 6-8 weeks is, i’m disgusted. plain and simple.
something the guy on there (my apologies for not remembering his name – he’s the one who rented out the billboard to get her attention and everything) said that i had never known before, was how the people who run puppy mills view dogs. most of the puppy mills are located in pennsylvania and ohio, which hits pretty close to home, in largely amish communities who view the dogs as agriculture or livestock, as most would consider pigs or cows. they are people who are shocked that people allow their dogs to run around in their home.
anyhow, i was glad that oprah did a show on puppy mills, and opened peoples’ eyes to what goes on inside.
for more info, visit:
www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/get_the_facts_on_puppy_mills
