Posted on: 19 February, 2015
Author: Robert Haskell
Despite attempts to stop puppy mills in NJ and around the country, legislation fails to address key issues in animal welfare. The so called Brick Township inspired law that mandates more transparency on where breeders acquire pets for sale in New Jersey does not go far enough. The law requires breeders to disclose where dogs and cats were bred and sets requirements to theoretically protect animal welfare. Unfortunately, a $500 fine is not enough to dissuade many and time and time again, puppy mills have showed they are well capable of hiding the truth. There is nothing in the law that makes it impossible for pets to be bred secretly at a puppy mill and smuggled to a front that appears on the surface at least, to be legitimate. Each year, roughly 7.6 million dogs and cats will enter shelters. Although we like to pretend they will find better homes, 2.7 million will be euthanized. Many others will spend their remaining days in little cages. If the powers that be truly wanted to help, they would require prospective buyers to first visit a local shelter and sign off that no animal at the shelter was suitable for their needs. This would save thousands of abandoned pets that enter shelters each day simply because their owners were forced to move to housing that did not permit pets. Recently, Governor Christie took major heat for vetoing a bill that would prohibit pigs from being bred in crates so small that pregnant pigs could not even turn around. Despite this especially cruel act for animals that often spend several years in these crates only to be sent to slaughter after their reproductive cycles diminish, this appears to not be a concern for our great governor. Citing states that breed pigs more predominantly like Iowa, Governor Christie lost my support upon failure to act here. How many abused animal does it take for it to be cruel? If a human being had to spend even one hour in such a crate, would it be considered cruel then? As a member of the so called most intelligent species on Earth, I find it very unsettling that such unspeakably cruel conduct could be so easily dismissed by our political leaders. At least I can say I personally called the governor's office in the case of the pig legislation and actively contacted politicians about my idea to mandate a visit to a local shelter. Both ideas may have fallen on deaf ears but I will keep trying because I have a conscience and will not let the inhumanity of others stand without challenge. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com Robert Haskell works for Haskell New York Inc. and contributes articles for their flagship site OfficeSalesUSA.com and blog roberthaskell.blogspot.com.