Tilikum recently killed his trainer Dawn Brancheau at Sea World, resulting in the third fatal incident that the killer whale has been a part of during his 25 years trapped in his little pool of water. This has led to debates about the humanity of trapping caged animals, with an almost unanimous consensus that capturing wild animals for the purpose of human entertainment is no longer moral in the 21st century. Though people seem to be appalled at this display of animal abuse, many remain ignorant of a more relevant and much more prevalent source of animal cruelty: puppy mills.
The name itself evokes a mix of feelings. "Puppy" bring up the images of cute, furry pets; "mills" grounds us with the thought of mass production of puppies for the pursuit of profit. In reality, this is the case. Puppy mills are designed to use adult dogs and breed them in order to get specific puppies with specific traits.
Selective breeding is not the issue. The problems with these mills are similar to the problem that killer whales and dolphins face at Sea World. The dogs used for breeding are used for profit, with little care being given to their mental, physical, or emotional health - much like the little consideration for the natural desire of killer whales to break free from their confinements.
A counterargument for puppy mills could be that dogs have evolved for so long alongside humans (to the point of dependence), that it would be unnatural to separate domesticated dogs from their human counterparts. By contrast, a killer whales must be captured from its home in the wild and be brought in for amusement against its will.
In reality, this only strengthens the argument against puppy mills. Puppy mills are run on efficiency, even if the health of the dogs involved is compromised. For instance, once a female reaches maturity, she will get impregnated during every estrus cycle, severely putting an irreversible strain on her body and severely shortening her lifespan. The quality and quantity of the food fed to the dogs and puppies is merely enough for subsistence. They receive little to no sunlight and rarely get any exercise. Many are forced to live in their own waste. These puppies do not come into contact with humans for most of their lives and are confined to a crowded cage with dozens, if not hundreds, of other dogs.
What is even sadder is the level of regulation imposed on puppy "kennels," as the legal breeding sites for puppies are called. According to the Humane Society's Web site, "a breeding kennel can legally keep dozens, even hundreds, of dogs in cages for their entire lives, as long as the dogs are given the basics of food, water, and shelter." The basics do not include any action on the part of the handlers to fulfill the basic instincts of dogs such as exercise or social interactions with humans or other dogs. This is exactly the same situation that many killer whales are put in, yet many people do not think twice about where their household pets come from.
The saddest thing about the puppy mill situation is that it would not exist if consumers (i.e. pet owners) were willing to educate themselves on these issues. Puppy mills are driven by irresponsible pet owners who care more about the appearance of a dog than what it needs or where it comes from. These are the same people willing to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on a puppy in a pet store, thus further supporting the industry, rather than to adopt and save the life of a dog at a shelter for the small price of an adoption fee.
As situations get worse and worse for these puppies growing up, pet owners will be buying unhealthier and less sociable dogs. We might come to a point where a new pet owner faces a situation similar to Brancheau, when the dog has finally had enough. If an animal is driven to its breaking point because it spent its infancy trapped in a cage with no human contact, and then is transported thousands of miles for hours in a crate before being given a home where the reckless owner lacks the time and effort to give the dog attention or care, why should anyone blame the dog if it takes Tilikum's route?
Hung Vu's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at h.vu@cavalierdaily.com.
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