INTRODUCTION

Domesticating animals has undoubtedly abridged the gap that humans and animals had and especially during pandemic when we learnt about the horrendous consequences of unnatural intervention with nature, keeping pets got augmented in order to regain the lost touch with nature but paradoxically it also gave a boost to the unnatural practice of dog breeding. On the face of it, breeding may seem like a harmless and a usual activity for producing some puppies in order to sell them but its an abhorrent activity in which female dogs are forcefully mated until their body gives up to produce puppies with required qualities corresponding to ongoing trends. In puppy mills, female dogs spend their entire life in cramped cages for continuous breeding which cause them high level of distress and sense of isolation. The concept of pure breed of dogs is purely a human made up as before this dogs were not selectively bred and were just ‘mixed’. This harmful intervention can cause genetic disability in dog promising them a lifetime of suffering such as deafness, skin disorder, epilepsy etc. This practice can have as small venture as in a backyard or it can be done in a full blown puppy mill and this trend finds its roots from the change in dog’s status from a companion to an ornament complementing one’s class.

SAD REALITY OF PUPPY MILLS

The world where millions of dogs suffer in streets there is a worse place than streets for dogs which is a puppy mill. It’s hellish confined places where dogs are kept in space deprived caged their entire reproductive age where they are made to eat and excrete in same place totally depraved of any kind of care and dogs which can no further reproduce are abandoned or killed. In most of the cases they are kept in the cage of the same size as they are! These puppies from puppy mills are mostly sold through pet stores or online which prevent owners from seeing the reality.

Its not even good for the pets we buy as such compromising conditions cause genetic disorder for dogs which is further transmitted to the next generation causing the entire line to be unfit

Are puppy mills legal?

Sadly such mills are legal if registered but in the absence of strict compliance there is no count on unregistered mills. Though the mills are ‘supposed to be’ regulated under ‘Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules,2017’ but due to lack of any proper inspections these cruel mills bloom.

HORROR OF BUYING A PURE BREED

Despite the fact that incest is seen with such horror in our society paradoxically people obsess over pure breeds which is no different from former. There is the idea of some prescribed look and trait behind pure breeds but due to exaggeration of one trait the dog is likely to get aggressive .According to surveys too, an owner with a pure breed is more likely to visit a vet more often than owners with mixed breed pets which brings severe distress to the owner as well. This obsession over a particular trait or looks is mainly fueled by media such as famous singer Sidhu Moosewala has reawaken the trend of Doberman which leads to overpopulation of one certain breed leading to abandonment of other breeds, what is worse is that people do not stop here and stoop to barbaric act of maiming these animals for cosmetic purpose such as cropping their ears or docking the tail and surprisingly these practices are protected by a legal garb. But this onus of putting a reign on this issue cannot only be burdened on government and people who run this business as this cannot be resolved if people still are ready to spend their big bucks just to bolster their ego. Strict laws can undoubtedly bring change but only a considerable negative change in the demand can cause these mills to be out of business.

So is this trend of finding companionship in animals wrong? Absolutely not! but just like any other camaraderie it should come with no conditions or standards and the wisest thing to do is adopting an Indian dog which is well adapted to existing climate and conditions because as much as wearing a proper fur jacket in blazing 45 degree Celsius is ludicrous same is keeping a dog from a place like Alaska in a place which is scorching hot. Even if one wants a particular breed it can be available in a animal shelter near your house and it can absolutely suit one’s pocket. Also, according to a study even if one in every 50 people adopts a dog we would be left with no street but the sad part is many don’t step inside these shelters so the animals rescued never step outside these places. Even if one purchases a dog from a pet store they should ensure that who were the parents of the dog and how it was bred, this just doesn’t ensure the welfare of the pet but also saves the owner from multiple trips to vet.

CONCLUSION

There was a time when it was widely believed that animals are automata with no soul mind or reason but that was the time when people believed in things like an athlete’s sweat could cure any sort of disease but since we are way past these beliefs it's time we give animals their due and equal consideration as people should not forget that it is just the matter of evolution which leaves the possibility of coming of a smarter animal than humans and it won't take time when we would entirely be stripped of our dignity, frightened and chained in our own waste, therefore, it is high time to recognize that just like humans animals are capable of feeling the same level of pain and we owe this our humanity to treat them in human ways.

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