We weren’t planning on getting a second dog when we walked into the pet store that day. My friend and I just wanted to play with the little puppy that seemed so anxious to get out of his cage. The next day, however, we went back and adopted him. After being trapped in the same cage for almost eight weeks, he was finally going home. Today, my family realizes our puppy came from a puppy mill, was trapped in a cage for weeks, and didn’t receive the care he needed. Allowing dogs to live in pet stores increase the need for puppy mills, force dogs to become prisoners to their cage until they are adopted, and affect their health. For these reasons, it should be illegal for dogs to live in pet stores.

According to friendsofanimals,
puppy mills are defined as “Crude, outdoor breeding farms that mass-produce puppies for sale to pet stores and regularly supply dogs to laboratories and animal brokers.” Dogs are forced to breed and the puppies are sold to pet stores. The mothers have to live in cages their whole lives, and when they can’t have puppies anymore, they’re killed. Most if not all the dogs at a pet store come from a mill, and when people adopt from pet stores, they’re increasing the need for puppy mills to produce the puppies. Many of the dogs in the cages at pet stores are from mothers who are confined to one cage for their whole life. If they have been kept and used since they were born (as some females are) they don’t even know how to walk. They’ve never had human contact. Banning puppies from living in pet stores would be like boycotting the puppy mills, and they would have to stop producing puppies.

From the first day the pet store accepts the puppies, they’re stuck in cages to see people pass by and watch them. In such a small and confined space, all there is to do is sleep. It isn’t unusual to see a dog in a dirty cage, because they are let out nearly as often as they should. They don’t get play time. If the puppy is lucky, someone will stop and ask to play with them in a small pen. That’s the most excitement they get until they’re adopted. Hour after hour, day after day, all they can do is lie down and hope they catch someone’s eye. It’s heartless and cruel to make dogs live in a tiny space for weeks with no guarantee they’ll be adopted. If someone wants to get a dog, he or she should go to a breeder or rescue a dog, not encourage pet stores by patronizing them.

The dogs at the pet store are often disabled or sick. According to friendsofanimals,
dogs from puppy farms aren’t taken to veterinarians. They aren’t properly adjusted or socialized to humans. When they’re taken from their mothers, the puppies are packed with 10 other dogs in a crate. Some puppies die and spread disease to the other dogs. Once adopted from the pet stores, many dogs are found to have a sickness or disability. Some are dropped at animal shelters, and others are dropped back at the pet store, where they are almost always euthanized. Pet stores are only in the business for money. The puppies don’t receive proper care or attention. Banning the sale of puppies in pet stores will keep the puppies healthy and safe, because they won’t be raised and transported dangerously or carelessly.

Keeping puppies in pet stores to be adopted should be illegal. The stores increase the need for puppy mills, keep the dog prisoner to its cage for weeks in a row, and deprive the dog of the care it needs and deserves.