by RNH Nello

Created on: March 30, 2009

No, just continue offering education.

The form of this question almost makes it imperative that the answer must be yes or you are an evil person and the question further assumes government intervention to be nearly indispensable. In a country where it is culturally acceptable for the intervention of authoritarian government such might be possible. However, is such realistically possible, or even desired, within the United States?

I believe that most of us can conjure up a picture of a puppy mill whether we've seen one or not.
A place where there are multiple breeds, kept in small enclosures that are rarely cleaned, without top medical care, and with the dogs being bred from a young age as often as is possible. The dogs produced are often not healthy and certainly poorly bred and often prone to both medical problems as well as genetic defects. It may seem obvious why most reasonable people would not support such an operation.
Most jurisdictions have laws against such operations.

However, what we are debating here is whether kennel and breed clubs should do more to combat such operations, that is, puppy mills. Let me suggest then that a more comprehensive definition as to what should be controlled, as well as realistic controlling procedures, is part of this debate. Consider someone in your neighborhood, possibly a relative has a female dog and they breed it. Not necessarily to make a lot of money or even a little (although such may be in the back of their mind) but maybe just to demonstrate life to the kids or they believe that having a litter will settle the bitch (female) down, (an old not true myth). How is what they are doing anymore ethical than what the stereotypical puppy mill is doing? For example, have they checked to ensure that their dog is worthy to be bred, such as taking it to shows for comparison against a standard' and other dogs.
Have they register the dog. Has it been medically check to ensure health and medical propensities toward breed genetic disorders? Has it gone through training to ensure that its mental state is one that is conducive to producing puppies which will live well with people?

Raising puppies in clean environments is not the only goal, rather it is the producing of healthy, well bred dogs, which will fit into the environment for which they have been bred.
A case can be made that offering any other puppy has a great chance of it not fitting in to its new family and therefore being dismissed to a chained life in the back yard or even

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