Why puppy mills are bad

In its publication "Puppy Mills and the Animal Welfare Act," the Humane Society of the United States writes that while Croney's Canine Care Certified program supports "common areas of agreement" with animal-welfare lobbyists, her work has been funded by the pet industry—suggesting that it's impure—and a voluntary program is not enough to incentivize breeders to improve.

New laws, the Humane Society states, must be enacted to impose change: "Many commercial dog breeding operators will not raise their standards voluntarily, and even if they were to agree to do so it is not clear whether there would be any independent mechanism for enforcement or transparency for the public's sake.

The logical conclusion is that improved standards must be codified. Croney says that type of attitude has long created resentment between breeders and animal-welfare activists, as opposed to actual kennel improvements. Both sides have a point; for years, there have been examples of bottom-of-the-barrel kennels that changed their ways or shut down only after regulators smacked them with violations, or after lawmakers raised operating standards in ways that required improvements for the kennels to remain legally in business.

Croney believes that the reflexive demonization of all commercial breeders is a mistake. Change is more effective, she says, when breeders "want to do better, want to learn, want to grow, and you treat them as advocates and allies in doing something good for animal welfare, as opposed to treating them like they're your enemies. She adds that anyone who says all commercial breeders are "puppy mills" needs to take a look at the kennels she's seen and the changes her work has brought—and is continuing to bring.

It is so much better than people realize, and it continues to get even better yet. Emily Oster, Brown economist and bestselling author, stops by the podcast for a robust discussion on the kids' Covid vaccine as well as her expectations for school vaccine and mask policies in The "Making Sense of Science" podcast features interviews with leading medical and scientific experts about the latest developments and the big ethical and societal questions they raise.

This monthly podcast is hosted by journalist Kira Peikoff, founding editor of the award-winning science outlet Leaps. This month, Brown economist and bestselling author Dr. Emily Oster breaks down her decision-making process about why she vaccinated her kids against Covid, and the helpful frameworks other parents can use to think through the decision for their own kids.

She also discusses her expectations for school policies regarding vaccines and masks in Listen on Apple. Listen on Spotify. Listen on Stitcher. Listen on Amazon. Listen on Google. Kira Peikoff is the editor-in-chief of Leaps.

Peikoff holds a B. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two young sons. Follow her on Twitter KiraPeikoff. The author, an infectious disease physician, pictured with his two daughters who are getting vaccinated against COVID As an infectious disease doctor who took care of hundreds of COVID patients over the past 20 months, I have seen the immediate and long-term consequences of COVID on patients — and on their families.

As a father of two daughters, I have lived through the fear and anxiety of protecting my kids at all cost from the scourges of the pandemic and worried constantly about bringing the virus home from work. It is imperative that we vaccinate as many children in the community as possible. There are several reasons why. Over the course of the pandemic in the U. S, more than 2 million children aged have become infected, more than have been hospitalized, and more than have died, making COVID one of the top 10 causes of pediatric deaths in this age group over the past year.

These include complaints of brain fog, fatigue, trouble breathing, fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, abdominal pain, mood swings and even psychiatric disorders.

Symptoms typically last from weeks in children, with some reporting symptoms that persist for many months. Second, children are increasingly recognized as vectors who can bring infection into the house , potentially transmitting infection to vulnerable household members. Finally, we have all seen the mayhem that results when one child in the classroom becomes infected with COVID and the other students get sent home to quarantine — across the U. We now have an extraordinarily effective vaccine with more than 90 percent efficacy at preventing symptomatic infection.

Vaccinating children will boost our countrywide vaccination rate which is trailing many countries after an early start. Nevertheless, there are still many questions and concerns that parents have as the vaccine gets rolled out. I will address six of them here. Even though this is a relatively new vaccine, the technology is not new. By now it has been more than a year and a half since the Pfizer trials began in March , and more than 7 billion doses have already been administered globally, including in This is not how mRNA works.

DNA is present in the cell's nucleus. The mRNA only stays in the outside cytoplasm , gets destroyed and never enters the inner sanctum of the nucleus. Furthermore, for the mRNA to be ever integrated into DNA, it requires a special enzyme called reverse transcriptase which humans don't have.

Pieces of spike proteins get displayed on the outside of our cells and our body makes protective antibodies that then protects us handily against the future real virus if it were ever to enter our or our children's bodies. Unlike medications that are taken daily or periodically and can build up over time, the mRNA in the Pfizer vaccine is evanescent.

It literally is just the messenger that is what the "m" in mRNA stands for and the messenger quickly disappears. Our cells break down and destroy the mRNA within a few days after receiving the instructions to make the virus spike proteins. The presence of these fragments of the virus note this is not "live" virus prompts our immune system to generate protective antibodies to the real thing.

Our bodies break down mRNA all the time in normal cellular processes — this is nothing new. When Best Friends launched its puppy mill initiatives in , there were more than 6, USDA-licensed commercial dog breeders. Today, that number is closer to 2, One of the reasons for the decline is that he traditional puppy mill industry is becoming more prohibitive and less profitable, due to increased state and local regulations, greater media exposure and public awareness, and a struggling national economy that makes it more difficult for consumers to pay top dollar for a new puppy.

Backyard breeding is still a prevailing problem, dogs are being imported into the U. Internet puppy buying and selling is a relatively recent phenomenon. Unfortunately, that form of convenient consumerism is how more and more people are bringing pets into their homes. Unscrupulous puppy sellers exploit the opportunity to hide behind attractive websites and slick catalogs that feature stock photos of adorable puppies frolicking in fields or napping in wicker baskets.

Consumers who receive these puppies shipped directly to their door never see the true conditions of the breeding facilities. They also have no way of knowing whether the puppy they purchase will be healthy, or anything like what they thought they were buying, thus elevating the risk of consumer fraud. As an organization committed to reaching a day when every pet will have a loving home, it goes without saying that Best Friends encourages everyone who is looking to bring a pet into the family to choose adoption over purchase.

There are adoptable dogs of every breed, age, size and personality available throughout the U. Breed-specific rescue groups and online adoption databases like Petfinder. And for parents set on the idea of giving a puppy as a gift, why not consider the gift of a promise to adopt? Making the adoption of a new pet a family decision gives every family member a part in the process and ensures that it will be the best match for all.

The solution to the problem is simple: If we stop buying what the mills are producing, there will be no reason for them to continue producing, and eventually they will cease to exist. We need to stop supporting pet retailers that sell commercially bred puppies, because any money spent in those stores contributes to perpetuating the cycle of puppy mill cruelty.

Fortunately, there is a more humane alternative. Pet stores that offer animals for adoption relieve the burden on shelters and rescue groups by getting homeless pets into retail settings, where they have a greater chance of being seen by the public.

Several commercial property-management companies have recently embraced this concept by implementing policies to lease space only to pet stores that operate under the adoption model. Cities throughout North America e. The findings were more dramatic than we had expected.

When compared with a large group of pet dogs, former puppy mill breeding dogs were reported as showing significantly higher rates of physical health problems. They also showed about one-half the level of aggression that typical pet dogs do toward unfamiliar people, other dogs, and to their owner.

While this might be seen as a good thing, it appears to be due to the overwhelmingly high levels of fear in the dogs, which then suppresses normal aggressive behavior. So it seems to be a good thing, but only because of very bad reasons. Generally the longer they were at the puppy mill, the more issues they tend to have.

One of the biggest behavioral problems is the lack of human touch and connection. We had one really severe case of a rescued puppy mill dog. This dog stayed in a corner for 3 years. Some of these dogs can be rehabilitated, and some will just need to be accommodated and adopted by a patient, experienced person who is willing to deal with their issues.

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What Is a Puppy Mill? However, if you do choose to buy rather than adopt, never buy from a breeder who: Only features pictures of their dogs indoors. Sells puppies younger than 8 weeks old. This is not good for the puppies and is just a way for them to get rid of puppies sooner.