Animal Folks Minnesota

Ventral Lid Bilateral Entropian. It’s a painful condition where a dog’s eyelids turn inward so that his or her lashes scratch the corneas. If not corrected, the dog could go blind. A dog may have this condition but look perfectly healthy. Due to cost (surgery is an estimated $275-$350 per eye), profit-driven breeders may not consider it worthy of correcting and so deny an animal veterinarian care. The Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project has profiled Max the Boxer, who had this condition. View the story at the link below.

Animals can suffer physically and psychologically. Animal suffering, at the hands of inhumane dog and cat breeders, has been documented extensively through facility inspections, cruelty investigations and animal rescues as well as veterinarian reports and general research.

Numerous stories, photos and exposes can be found on the Internet. See web links.

Physical suffering: The need for stronger animal care standards

Physical suffering is the easiest to see or prove. Many inhumane breeding facilities house dogs or cats in cages made of wire which are stacked on top of each other. Feces and urine from top cages fall on to animals below. This poor sanitation (excessive feces and urine) results in parasites and the spread of disease between animals.

This high-density caging (multiple animals in small cages) combined with inadequate or poor quality food and water creates stress in animals which reduces animal immune systems, making them more susceptible to disease or other debilitating conditions. Diseases and conditions common to puppy mills: eye lesions, deafness, cataracts, epilepsy, retinal degeneration, hip dysplasia, dislocated kneecaps, glaucoma, retardation, mammary tumors, and periodontal disease.

As noted above, one common ailment with puppy mill dogs is “dislocated kneecaps.” Animals who are kept for long periods in cramped cages with little or no exercise and poor nutrition develop wobbly kneecaps due to insufficient muscle growth. The wired cages also cause physical harm to the animals’ paws and legs, as they struggle to stand on the wire and keep their legs from falling through and getting caught or mangled.

Damaged animals are killed or sold at auction (though injured or deformed, they’re still considered viable for breeding). Puppy mills cull puppies with ‘defects.’ These defects could include a dog that has too short of a tail, a sparse coat, undescended testicles, an umbilical hernia, or is just too small or too large. Other defects due to captivity and inhumane conditions include animals with loss of limbs or bones, deformed or broken legs from overcrowded wire cages, abscessed feet or hyperflexion.

Psychological suffering: The need for exercise, human contact and socialization

Anyone who has been in a puppy or kitten mill or at a backyard breeder has witnessed dogs, puppies, cats and kittens cowering in the corner, afraid to approach humans or show affection. The psychological well-being of an animal is as critical as the physical well-being.

Because standards, inspections and enforcement of breeding conditions are minimal (by the USDA), non-existent (by the State of Minnesota) or inadequate based on the needs of the animal and breed, psychological problems develop with the animals, such as trauma, extreme fear, kennel shyness, stress and aggression. Scientific reports confirm this. To cite a few reports:

“When animals are unable to perform species typical behaviors and control their environment, unintended stress results and may become manifested as abnormal behaviors, both maladaptive and malfunctional.” (Garner, 2005, research IACUC).

“If a dog is unsuccessful in developing adequate responses to enable it to cope [to stress], the response can then become maladaptive and the dog can develop subsequent affective disorders, disabilities, dysfunctions, and/or diseases.” (Selection, Acclimation, Training, and Preparation of Dogs for the Research Setting by LaVonne D. Meunier)

“Puppies begin learning at birth and their brains appear to be particularly responsive to learning and retaining experiences that are encountered during the first 13 to 16 weeks after birth. This means that breeders, new puppy owners, veterinarians, trainers and behaviorists have a responsibility to assist in providing these learning/socialization experiences with other puppies/dogs, with children/adults and with various environmental situations during this optimal period from birth to 16 weeks.” (Robert K. Anderson, Animal Behavior Clinic and Center to Study Human/Animal Relationships and Environments; University of Minnesota)

This is why “environmental enrichment” — creating a physical environment that promotes the overall psychological well-being of the animal — is a priority for many animal welfarists and advocates.

While the USDA requires breeders to “develop, document, and follow an appropriate plan for environment enhancement adequate to promote the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates” and “develop, document, and follow an appropriate plan to provide dogs with the opportunity for exercise,” the actual execution and enforcement of these plans rarely occurs. The words “appropriate” and “adequate” are subject to interpretation by the breeder, the breeder’s veterinarian and the USDA inspector.

Minnesota does not require environmental enrichment plans. There is no State law to license or establish breeding standards for dog and cat breeders. Local governments, when granting conditional use permits, often do not consider psychological factors.

The above describes, in part, living conditions for dogs and cats in breeding facilities which can result in physical or psychological harm to the animals.

Breeding practices of the adult females also creates extreme suffering, where females are kept in cages their entire lives and bred each heat cycle. These breeding females are known as “brood bitches,” and are typically purchased at auctions.

The Internet has numerous stories describing these dogs. HSUS profiles (in the link below) one breeding female named CJ, typical of a brood bitch: “The dog, who became known as CJ (short for Calamity Jane), bore all the symptoms of a puppy-mill breeding female. She not only had the blank expression and frail, bald body of a perpetually neglected animal, but also had untreated sarcoptic mange, ringworm, skin infections, dermatitis, ear infections, arthritis in her back legs (from years of close confinement), and early cataracts. What’s more, she had lost many of her teeth … due to poor care and nutrition.” Emotional distress with adult females, including mental breakdowns, has been documented.

Due to lack of State regulations, Minnesota has no documentation for number of deaths of mothers and puppies during delivery or methods (c-section vs. natural) used.

Due to lack of State regulations, Minnesota has no authority to license the dog and cat breeding industry, set humane breeding standards, inspect facilities, enforce standards or impost penalties. The State does not financially support animal rescue groups or organizations who might rescue ‘defective’ or hurt animals from inhumane breeders.

Please email or call your State legislators today. Educate them about inhumane dog and cat breeding and ask them to take action.