Going back to, I believe it was 2019, when this was first introduced in its current form, the puppy mill pipeline is essentially this pipeline from the Midwest of mass breeders, brokers, transporters who take these live animals from these factory farm puppy mills and bring them to New York and to other states, where they are sold at exorbitant prices to consumers who have no idea where these animals are coming from. That’s the puppy mill pipeline.
When you go to the store and you buy, like any kind of product, you usually don’t know where it comes from. Why is this a problem for puppies and animals? Specifically, what is? What is wrong with having all these puppies being produced in the Midwest and then bringing them over to states like New York?
It’s not so much the geography of where the issue is. It’s that puppy mills are known for horrendous conditions with animals stacked, one on top of another, with the worst enforcement possible from the USDA, oversight of these puppy mills is the lowest priority for the US Department of Agriculture. It has been that way for the past few administrations. It’s always been that way. It’s that way with the current administration. So when consumers here in New York go to the pet store, we all know that song from the 1950s How much is that puppy in the window? People? Many people aren’t aware of where that animal came from. Maybe they think a nice a grandmother down the road had a litter with too many puppies, and it ended up magically in this pet store. The fact is, is that they are coming from these substandard, inhumane conditions where they are raised just to make money. They go through a horrible transportation process. Many of these animals are given antibiotics, prophylactically, the same way that feed for farm animals is laced with antibiotics, and that’s just to keep them alive and healthy long enough to get to the store. The USDA often does not fine or hold accountable the individuals who operate and make millions off of these puppy mills, these puppy factories, often they’re given a slap on the wrist with what is known as a teachable moment…