Prof. Bump
E379 Animal Humanities
29 February 2010
Raw Consumerism
Seventh grade history was my first exposure to the rapid-spreading epidemic that stretched like a disease across post World War II America: Consumerism. Although the rest of the world was in turmoil and aftershock from the deadliest war to of all time, America embraced this recovery as a time to strengthen its own economy by taking advantage of the other world markets that were hungry for U.S-produced products. The American economy boomed with fashion, innovative technologies and wild growth of real estate. Families strived for normalcy and were eager to catch up with the Jones’ way of life. Pressure towards conformity hit the American white and blue-collar citizens like a tidal wave across the country. A consumerism frenzy fueled by pent up demand lead to a dilution of the horrific war tragedies and magnification of the flourishing economy at hand. According to the History of Purina, “The 1950s [were] often simplified as a time of great conformity, a time when everybody wanted to act, think, talk, and dress the same…Mass consumerism [was] fueled by fast foods, credit cards, TV dinners and the golden age of television. High-tech electronics based on the transistor become a part of industry and daily life…In agriculture, productivity soar[ed] with the ‘Green Revolution’ and new technologies. Far fewer farmers produce[d] more than ever before”[1]. The “perfect family” complete with station wagon and golden retriever was the ideal lifestyle and the yearning of most Americans. The newspapers of 1949, as well as my current US history books, are glittered with the smiling faces of home-buyers and shelves filled with tail-wagging puppies, ready to decorate and add life to these new homes. During this time of sweeping social changes, idealized styles were exposed in the media and quickly translated into individuals’ lives. As prosperity for the American people flourished, a revolution of tragic hardship began for those with no voice and this uprising would last for decades with little to no recognition. As monopolies dominated the burst in crop consumerism, small farmers responded by searching for a new cash crop to fill their budgeting needs. The hasty demand for puppies that was accelerated with post WWII conformity lead small farmers of the Midwest to develop the first commercial puppy breeding kennels. Backed by the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, this alternative source of income was seen as a mere piece of cultivation and a marginal cash crop. The puppy market skyrocketed once these dog farmers began capitalizing on the sales of young dogs to department stores such as Sears and Roebuck & Co. As the demand for puppies increased, supply increased as well. With little to no concern of where the puppies came from consumers ignorantly purchased and homed. With no responsibility to the buyers or to the pets themselves, stores paid little attention to the previous states of living of the animals. Due to the lack of awareness, or perhaps mere carelessness, as to what kind of environment the products came from, the living conditions, emotional and physical health became of secondary importance to their producers. The term “puppy mill” was coined in 1966 as a “commercial dog breeding facility that is operated with an emphasis upon profits above animal welfare and is often in substandard conditions regarding the well-being of dogs in their care”[2] (Link to living conditions and dog exploitation video: http://www.metacafe.com/w/180408/ ).By this definition, a puppy mill is a production company. Its products are not considered as lives, but rather as objects, as mere profit. The exploitation of the dogs housed and bred in puppy mills does not stop with little attention from their owner but presents these animals with poor living conditions going beyond what the mind can fathom. As many as eight dogs being crammed into a living three by four foot chicken wire-bottomed cage is nothing out of the ordinary at a puppy mill.
The female dogs contained at these production sites are given inhabitable conditions to live in and rarely escape this dirty, unfulfilling life. The mothers, also known as the “breeding stock”[3] are caged in minuscule areas with little food to be continually bred as long as they are fertile with little hope to ever have human companionship. Once the breeding stocks are no longer able to produce for their owners, they are either killed or sent to another mill where they will be once more raped of their own dignity until no more money can be squeezed from their lifeless, starving bodies. Many people “rescue…mature females destined to be shot because they were of no more value to the owners”[4]. Puppies that are sold out of puppy mills are solely sent to large corporation sites or sold through a middle man. With this strategy there is little to no contact or visibility to the outside world of the inhumane treatment of animals within a puppy mill. With this lack of interaction with the consumers, the future owners of these puppies remain unaware of their backgrounds and proceed to naively purchase an emotionally and physically unstable animals who were weaned from their mothers at the young ages of 5 weeks. Unwanted merchandise, puppies that are not ideal for the current marketplace, are nonchalantly killed off with no concern as to their pain or suffering.
These concentration camps for dogs are a hidden and very real part of American history that is steadily keeping pace in today’s society as well. A slowly increasing awareness has prompted the government to take modest action towards better treatment of puppy-producing animals. Starting with the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966, which set “minimal standards for the care, housing, sale and transport of dogs, cats, primates, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs and other animals held by animal dealers or laboratories”[5], the general public became more conscious of the utilization of dogs in hidden mills but government passed acts do not suffice for the reinforcement and protection of these innocent animals. The Puppy Lemon Law was the first “Dog Purchaser Protection Act made pet stores financially responsible for sick animals purchased from them. Since then, 17 states have enacted similar laws, all of which give dog purchasers the right to return a sick or dead puppy for a refund or replacement”[6] .Yes, these acts are steps in the correct direction to advancing the awareness and protection of puppies and their mothers, but they simply do not encompass the necessary backing or action to fill their intentions. Despite these laws put into action by the federal and local governments, the chain of cruelty continues due to the lack of active action taken. Under present government-ruled kennel regulations, an astonishing amount of atrocious treatment is still permitted such as no human socialization with the kennel dogs or the puppies, no exercise, no resting periods between litters and there are no limitations on the number of litters a female can produce”[7]. It is a complete and utter lie to believe that puppies purchased from pet stores came from loving, cared for homes because according to the Texas Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, SPCA, 98% of these dogs come from inhumane puppy mills and are more often than not accompanied with unaddressed emotional and/or physical problems. The only way to shut down these puppy mills is to completely halt the demand on these animals. According to the laws of supply and demand, “the quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price and the quantity supplied is the amount if a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price”[8]. If the demand on puppies stops completely, the puppy producers will no longer have the ability to supply because they will not have the resources financially to continue their dirty ventures nor will the pet stores have the desire to continue purchasing from the dealers. This chain reaction beginning with the refrainment of the consumer will save the lives of millions of puppies and birthing mothers every year. Immediate effects of this goal will be heartbreaking in that many of these wide-eyed, innocent puppies may be killed because the pet stores may be overwhelmingly over stocked in this department of merchandise. This immediate heartbreak will lead to a breakthrough in the unveiling of these inappropriate breeding centers and will ultimately force the government to place strict enforce rules upon the breeding of puppies including housing, feeding and social interaction imperatives. As an ultimate goal, I hope that we, as a country of consumers, will change the allowances of inhumane treatment of dogs by raping this industry of any fidelity and success that they may have now so that they are forced to shut down their operations for good.
As a seemingly nationwide epidemic, the desire to help innocent animals sure is brushed under the rug a lot. In an attempt to take action and take steps towards what we can easily talk about, I propose that we, as a nation begin shutting down these puppy mills one at a time, through individual and group support of the humane treatment of dogs. The first step that should be taken at an individual level to stop these sadistic reproducing standards, is the refusal to purchase a puppy from any commercial establishment. It is difficult to ignore to innocent faces of the neglected animals, because if they go unpurchased, they will be disposed of. But in order to move forward in preventing these acts, some puppies may have to be sacrificed in the process. As an alternative to purchasing puppies from commercial retailers, adopt from the humane society, saving a life rather than promoting the abusive production of a life. In addition to discontinuing of purchasing probably puppy mill-produced puppies, we ought to be fully aware of our animal cruelty laws so that we can report any violations to the ASPCA and seek immediate action to submit justice to the guilty and to the victims. In addition to being up to date on animal cruelty laws, it is also an essential step towards removal of puppy mills to be knowledgeable in facts about puppy mills. Communities respond to the educated. Being a well-learned person in this movement will strengthen people’s trust in your ideas and give them reason to fight for the same cause along side with you. Administering flyers, speaking on radio stations or making bumper stickers are all moving and public ways to make your community aware. Because most of the puppy mill prevention laws instilled to date were in response to Mobile Animal CSI raids and successful busts of puppy mills in action, I propose that in order to maintain momentum of the government’s participation in the mission to prevent puppy mill success, we as a community ought to picket to instill laws allowing the CSI to not only require licensing for puppy breeders, but to allow frequent and unannounced checks on the environment and treatment of their dogs. By enforcing and strengthening the laws preventing inhumane treatment by puppy breeders, a fear will be instilled in them that can potentially impede the ease to which they run their production sites. Making yourself aware is the first step, followed by taking individual action. The next step is educating your community, which will result in the community taking action. With a large population taking preventative action on such a consumer-based business will surely destroy production, in turn exterminating their existence.
A bay horse from once told Black Elk Speaks, “take this [wooden cup full of water]. It is the power to make live, and it is yours…Take this [bow]…It is the power to destroy, and it is yours[9]” (221). It is our responsibility to speak for those with no voice. Puppies and breeding mothers across the country are living in callous conditions and being unjustly exploited and we, as consumers are currently promoting the heinous capitalization and disposal of helpless dogs. We have the power to make live and to destroy. As of late, we are choosing to destroy by simply complying and remaining oblivious to dastardly treatment of living creatures. By taking action, I will change the lives of puppies and mother dogs across the nations. I will make live.
Word Count with Quotes: 2004
Word Count without Quotes: 1,709
Figures:
1. http://www.buyvintageads.com/index.php?query=+dogs&start=1&perpage=50
4. http://www.petside.com/info/wellness/adoption-rescue/fighting-dogs.htm
Purina Dog Food, http://www.purina.com/company/postwar.aspx (accessed March 28,
2010).
The Humane Society of The United States, http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/
puppy_mills/ (accessed March 29, 2010).
[3] "SPCA of Texas Seizes 65 Neglected Dogs and One Cat from Hunt County
Property," SPCA of Texas, http://www.spca.org/site/
News2?page=NewsArticle&id=28587&news_iv_ctrl=1481 (accessed March 29, 2010).
[4] Joan Banks, Second Chances: Inspiring Stories of Dog Adoption, 1., 4th ed.
(n.p.: Adams Media, 2008),
[5] "Puppy Mills," The Humane Society of The United States,
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/puppy_mills/ (accessed March 28, 2010).
http://home.paonline.com/pfdc/ACT27S.HTM (accessed March 29, 2010).
Puppy Mills, http://www.unitedagainstpuppymills.org/allow.html (accessed March
29, 2010).
http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics3.asp (accessed March
29, 2010).
[9] Neihardt, John G. Black Elk Speaks., 221. Albany : State University of New York
Press, 1932.
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