Oscar's Law: Breaking the Puppy Trade
Abolish Factory Farming!
Factory farming not only involves pigs and chickens, but puppies too! Each year, thousands of puppies are neglected and malnourished due to these factory farms, where they receive no sunlight and low-grade food.
Image Credit: Renee Shearer
A Puppy's Life In Confinement
Imagine being confined to a tiny cage - or a dirt pen with an electric fence - for your whole life, giving birth to children that are then ripped out of your arms and sold. Sounds barbaric? This is reality for thousands of dogs in puppy farms.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) defines a puppy farm as a facility for dog breeding. But conditions often fail to meet a dog's needs - psychological, behavioural or social. These companion animals are raised like livestock. For the sake of a profit, puppies are mass-produced and kept in unbelievably poor conditions. The mothers are forced to produce litter after litter, as money-making machines. Not only do these farmers fail at providing quality food, but they also fail at providing veterinary care. The exhaustive, unhygienic living conditions often drive the animals mad. From pacing in their narrow cages to becoming brain damaged from malnutrition, these animals do not have the best life they could.
Image Credit: Renee Shearer
Health Issues
There are many other health problems associated with puppy farming - infectious diseases, lack of screening for genetic defects or congenital diseases, emotional problems and poor housing conditions.
Some of the infectious diseases these dogs can have include; Canine distemper, parvovirus, kennel cough, intestinal parasites and, sadly, many more. They can become infested with fleas, ticks and heartworms. Also, malnutrition of a pregnant or nursing dog has a crucial effect on her puppies' health. These puppies become weakened because their immune systems are more susceptible to infectious diseases.
But this, by any means, is not a complete list of issues in the puppy trade.
How Much Is That Doggie?
Oscar's Law
Each year, hundreds of consumers shell out large sums of money for a puppy - usually from an unregistered breeder. Often, the puppy they just bought is very ill - infected with a disease or malnourished. On top of this, the new owners now have to pay for veterinary care to fix their 'new best friend'. We all know that owning a dog comes with a price - showing it love, buying toys and food - but how much are you willing to pay?
Oscar's Law, founded by animal activist Debra Tranter, is about putting an end to puppy farming. By enforcing better standards for breeders around the country and stopping the sale of puppies from these rogue breeders, we become one step closer to stopping the puppy trade. The law is named after one of the many puppies Tranter had rescued from farms (Oscar).
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Breaking the Cycle
How Can We Help Break the Puppy Trade?
- Only buy from registered breeders.
- Adopt dogs (adult and puppies) from shelters or rescue groups.
- Spread the word about factory farms.
For more information, visit:
www.oscarslaw.org
www.rspca.org.au
Could you let your dog suffer this way? - I know i couldn't
Image Credit: Renee Shearer
Find Out About Oscar's Law
WARNING: Video is very graphic.