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Most people don’t want to support animal cruelty; that's a given. In the United States, people have particularly strong feelings about cruelty towards companion animals who many consider to be integral parts of their family. Yet, despite the desire to protect our animals, many people still unwittingly support puppy mills.

What is a puppy mill?

A puppy mill is a dog-breeding facility with the primary goal of making money. To maximize profits, some breeders make dogs suffer in deplorable conditions. The puppies bred at these facilities are then either shipped to pet stores around the country, or sold directly through newspaper and online ads to the public.
Once the puppies leave the mills, they are cleaned up and put up for sale at pet stores for anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars. The breeding dogs aren’t nearly as lucky. They are kept at the puppy mill to have litter after litter, often living in small cages and lacking clean water, regular veterinary care and socialization. Some mills may have 10 breeding dogs while others may have 1,000, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, better known as the ASPCA.

And because of these inhumane conditions, the ASPCA warns that puppy mill dogs have commonly been found to have health issues like epilepsy, heart disease, kidney disease, musculoskeletal disorders, endocrine disorders, blood disorders, deafness, eye problems, respiratory disorders, giardia, parvovirus, distemper, kennel cough, mange, fleas, parasites, chronic diarrhea and more. That can mean sick dogs and high veterinary bills, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

How is this legal?

The ASPCA gives insight to the barely there regulations in place to protect dogs. “Under the federal Animal Welfare Act, it is completely legal to keep a dog in a cage only six inches longer than the dog in each direction, with a wire floor, stacked on top of another cage, for the dog's entire life. Conditions that most people would consider inhumane, or even cruel, are often totally legal.”
Some states have additional laws on the books to try to put a stop the puppy mill trade, but because facilities can vary from ultra small to huge, it’s hard to define exactly what a puppy mill looks like.

How can you avoid buying a dog that came from a mill?

Puppy mills count on the public not asking too many questions, and on pet stores that largely don’t mind acquiring their dogs from mills. Like the mills themselves, many pet stores want to turn a profit rather than looking out for the best interest of the dogs. Since there's no
legal definition of a puppy mill, the ASPCA warns that unscrupulous pet store owners can get around the issue by saying that their puppies all come from licensed USDA breeders or local breeders. Since all breeders who sell their dogs to pet stores are required to be licensed by the USDA, that’s not any kind of guarantee the dogs come from a reputable breeder.
The ASPCA explains, “The fact is, responsible breeders would never sell a puppy through a pet store because they want to screen potential buyers to ensure that the puppies are going to good homes.”

Where should I get a dog if I shouldn’t go to a pet store?

The big animal protection organizations like the ASPCA and the Humane Society of the United States recommend heading to your local shelter or rescue organization to adopt a dog rather than buying from a pet store. Many people aren’t aware that purebreds end up in shelters just like any other dogs. Plus, there are rescues that specialize in certain breeds.

SEE THE DOG FACTORY VIDEO BY BBC HERE

If you're determined to go to a private breeder, make sure you visit that breeder in person at the facility so you can see the operation for yourself.

People who talk to their pets are actually genius

Pet owners around the globe, if not all then most of them, have daily conversations with their pets, how they’d talk to normal human beings. They wish their pets good morning, ask them if they’re hungry and if they wish to go for a walk, almost as if their pets are understanding them and will talk back any second now.
Do you talk to your pets like you talk to your friends? Be it a dog, cat, parrot or a guinea pig. If so, we’re sure you’ve heard things like “Are you nuts?”, “You’ve gone cuckoo” and seen people get weirded out by your behavior.
Maybe you, too, sometimes wonder why you are the way you are. Why you prefer the company of your pets more than humans. Have you really gone cuckoo?
But, what if we tell you that your habit of talking to your pets, plants or any inanimate object, for that matter, is a sign of intelligence, rather than stupidity? You’re not a crazy cat lady, you’re just smart. The act is called anthropomorphizing, which is, the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. 
To quote Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago, - “Historically, anthropomorphizing has been treated as a sign of childishness or stupidity, but it’s actually a natural byproduct of the tendency that makes humans uniquely smart on this planet,”

The ability to perceive non-human things as a human is called anthropomorphism. Usually, when kids do it, we find it cute but when adults do it, it’s frowned upon and seen as something weird. Anthropologist experts believe that seeing human traits in a non-human thing or an object, is actually a sign of intelligence.
According to a study conducted in Harvard, in 2011, A group of people was shown pictures of baby animals and adult animals, to which most of the subjects chose the baby animals, and agreed that they would give them human names and would refer to them while using proper gender terms.
Not only that, if they could own a baby animal, they would name him and talk to him, like they talk to humans. No other living being beside humans has such an ability to identify human behavior in inanimate objects.

Even though naming your pets and inanimate objects are the most popular way of anthropomorphizing, it’s not the only one. Giving your pets character traits, like humans, also comes under anthropomorphism. Calling your dog your “baby”, your cat as a “grumpy old man” isn’t you being weird, it’s the intelligence talking.
Human brains are complicated beyond anyone’s explanation. Years of research and scientific studies, yet, we still are not sure what all our mind is capable of. Trying to find human characteristics in inanimate objects such as cars, pens, toys or anything at all is a sign of your brain’s creativity.

Anthropomorphism not only affects humans, it also affects our pets. Studies have shown that, if you keep talking to your dogs, they learn to differentiate between words and learn your gestures. These animals have been human companions for years and have evolved accordingly.
When you talk to your dogs, they can understand your words and the emotions situated with them. Cats, however, don’t understand your words, as much as dogs do, but they too have the ability to recognize their owner’s voice and commands. In fact cats use over 16 different ways to communicate.

There are three primal reasons why humans try to anthropomorphize an object: The inanimate object looks like it has a face, we’d like to be friends with it, or we can’t explain its unpredictable behavior and we’re curious. By understanding how each of these triggers works, we can understand why this tendency is both essential to human survival and intelligence.

Our brain gets confused when it sees an object with eyes and tries to perceive it as human. Put toy eyes on a fridge and you’ll want to talk to it, or at least name it! No, you’re not a delusional psycho, it’s basic science and as social animals, we wish to talk to everybody we can and befriend them, it’s in our nature.
To summarize, talking to your pets is very normal and natural, there’s nothing wrong with you. If anything, you’re smarter than those who do not talk to their pets as their brains aren’t functioning how they normally should!

Joanne Kiking - for Animalix

News From Other Sites | Creates Death and Panic by PetSmart and Petco Grooming Salons

SOURCE : PETA

When Henry’s guardian dropped him off at a California PetSmart grooming salon, he thought that his dog would be getting a simple, routine nail trim. But just three minutes later, a groomer reportedly emerged from the back room carrying the 1-year-old dachshund, who was limp, bleeding from the mouth, and struggling to breathe. An on-site veterinarian tried to save Henry, but within minutes, the tiny dog was dead. His guardian may never know exactly what happened in the back room of that PetSmart store, but a necropsy revealed that Henry had sustained two broken ribs and a punctured lung and died of strangulation.
Henry’s horrific ordeal is anything but an isolated incident. Big-box pet store chains like PetSmart, Petco, and others have a long laundry list of incidents involving animals who have been traumatized, allowed to escape, severely injured, and even killed in their grooming salons.

Beaten, Bloodied, and Baked Alive in the ‘Back Room’

These giant corporations deal in volume. The animals they sell come from cruel mass-breeding mills, where they’re crammed into crowded bins; deprived of food, water, and veterinary care; and killed by being bashed against tables or gassed in coolers. The grooming businesses shove animals through quickly and often carelessly. Profit is their priority, and as a result, countless animals have strangled after being left unattended on grooming tables; overheated in cage dryers; been badly cut on the ears by clippers; and been screamed at, roughly handled, punched, kicked, and strangled by frustrated, impatient, and abusive groomers at these chains’ stores.

While PETA has been alerted to countless other incidents, and many have gone unreported, here are just some of the many animals whose suffering and deaths in PetSmart and Petco grooming salons have made the news:

May 2018

On May 22, Brandi Villarreal picked up her dog, Lexi, from a PetSmart store in San Antonio, Texas, and found her distressed and breathing heavily. Her tongue was blue, and her gums were purple. After multiple trips to the vet over the next two days—during which time PetSmart called the distraught Villarreal requesting the veterinary paperwork—the previously healthy dog was found to have a consolidation in her chest (fluid in the lungs), likely caused by trauma, and had to be euthanized because of her declining condition.

April 2018

Ollie, a 4-month-old Maltese mix, sustained a broken leg during a grooming session at a Petco in San Antonio.

March 2018

Oliver Buttons, an 18-month-old cairn terrier, needed stitches for lacerations to his face and neck as well as surgical glue for nicks all over his body inflicted by a Petco groomer in Appleton, Wisconsin.

A cat named Cloudy died during a grooming session at a Petco in Providence, Rhode Island.

Abby, an 8-year-old corgi, died during a grooming session at a PetSmart in Toms River, New Jersey.February 2018

A PetSmart groomer in Houston was fired after a video of her violently handling a small dog went viral.

December 2017

At least two dogs allegedly died, and a third sustained a back injury, after being taken to a New Jersey PetSmart for grooming:

Just over an hour after his guardian dropped him off, Scruffles, a healthy 8-year-old bulldog, was reportedly taken to a veterinary hospital, where he was dead on arrival. The store apparently refused to give any information regarding what took place during his fatal grooming session.

An 8-year-old shih tzu named George allegedly returned home in extreme pain and arching his back. Veterinarians found that he’d sustained a back injury and prescribed him heavy steroids and 10 days of cage confinement.

Another dog, named Ranger—who was reportedly lethargic after returning home—died two days later on Christmas Eve. His heartbroken guardian had to break the news of his death to her children on Christmas morning.

March 2017

Ollie, a 5-year-old pug in Newport, Rhode Island, died after a grooming session at Petco. E.J. Finocchio, president of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said that it was clear the Petco technicians were not trained to deal with an emergency. “It’s very troubling here, what happened,” he said. “We have an otherwise healthy dog that goes to have his nails clipped, and he ends up dead, and there’s not much we can do about it.”

When Pepper got home from a grooming session at a La Quinta, California, PetSmart, she wasn’t acting like herself. Her guardian immediately took her to the vet, who found that the dog had ruptured blood vessels as a result of “some sort of trauma.” While PetSmart denied wrongdoing, it paid for Pepper’s vet bills.

August 2016

When Demon’s guardian came to pick him up from a grooming session at an O’Fallon, Illinois, PetSmart, she immediately noticed that he had labored breathing. He was rushed to the vet, where it was discovered that his temperature was over 103 degrees. Within 20 minutes of arriving at the vet, he was dead.

June 2016

When 5-year-old Casper was taken to a Petco groomer in Moses Lake, Washington, his guardian, Desiree, had no idea that he’d never make it back home. Instead of getting a call from the store to let her know that her dog was ready to be picked up, she got a call informing her that he was “non-responsive” and being taken to the vet. Sadly, he passed away.

April 2016

Shortly after Buff, an 11-year-old golden retriever, went in for grooming at a Poway, California, Petco, he began to have trouble walking and developed an infection. Soon after, he died.

March 2015

An employee of an Atlanta Petco was fired after reportedly being caught on a cell phone video violently yanking on a dog’s paw and shoving the terrified animal around on a grooming table while trying to clip his or her nails.

https://twitter.com/peta/status/991482444242128896

July 2014

When Sierra was taken to a Beckley, West Virginia, PetSmart for grooming, she came home with razor burns and a cut on her foot pad that needed suturing. PetSmart paid for the dog’s vet bills.

July 2011

A California woman reportedly sued Petco after her dog Sadie suffered from heat stroke, internal bleeding, and burns when a groomer at a California store left her locked inside a cage dryer. Sadie had to be euthanized because of the extent of her injuries.

Don’t Trust Just Anyone With Your Animals’ Lives

If it isn’t possible to groom your animals yourself, hire a groomer who makes house calls, and insist on staying with them at all times during the process. Groomers who have nothing to hide should welcome your presence, and it’ll help your animals to feel at ease, too.

Always thoroughly research and screen potential groomers, and don’t hesitate to get your animals and leave if something seems suspicious or “off.”