The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), the nation’s leading legal advocacy organization for animals, today launched a public service announcement (PSA) condemning puppy mills, featuring Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll star Elaine Hendrix.
“Puppy mills” are irresponsible dog breeders who neglect and abuse the dogs in their possession — using the animals as breeding machines — putting profits above ethics and humane animal care. The animals are typically denied veterinary care, and kept in small cages or cramped conditions.
“Our countless investigations of puppy mills have shown deplorable conditions,” says Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells. “Puppy mill dogs are frequently forced to live their entire lives in cramped, filthy, wire cages, covered in feces. We’ve also seen chronic and acute health problems including broken bones, cancers and open sores left untreated.”
Puppy mills typically sell their puppies to pet stores, where unsuspecting customers are fueling this multi-million dollar industry of animal cruelty.
In the PSA Hendrix explains:
“Hundreds of thousands of dogs are suffering in puppy mills across the country. Neglected and abused — filled with fear — they have never felt grass beneath their feet or the touch of a loving hand…
“This is your chance to say, ‘I will not sit by while an animal suffers.’
“Join me in ending the suffering in puppy mills, and protecting and defending ALL animals.”
In October, ALDF broadly expanded its lawsuit against Barkworks — a pet-store chain in four Southern California counties, initially filed in Orange County in September 2014, on behalf of a handful of individual plaintiffs who purchased sick puppies from the chain, by adding class-action allegations.
ALDF’s lawsuit alleges that Barkworks intentionally violated California consumer protection law by explicitly stating that its puppies were “not from puppy mills” and had been examined by veterinarians before being sold. Buyers soon learned that these assertions were false when their new puppies fell seriously ill, in some cases within hours of leaving the store and when these consumers tracked down the source of their puppies.
For more information, and to see the PSA, visit www.aldf.org/PSA
