California is bad in almost every way, but one of the only ways that California’s excessive stringent legislation is useful is when it comes to health-related legislation (not all health-related legislation, but just a couple of items).
This includes their requirement to disclose that the chemicals in many common items may cause birth defects (Proposition 65), that companies cannot lie about their food, like for example claiming “all-natural” on a bottle of ketchup which is a lie; vile treatment of caged chickens in chicken factories (Proposition 2); and, now, an outright ban on puppy mills, with California Assembly Bill 485, if it passes. The bill has already passed the Assembly and the Senate, and now only awaits Governor Brown’s signature.
Puppy mills, if you have not heard of them, can only be run by deranged sociopaths, because no one with an ounce of heart and human kindness would ever run a company which is so vile, cruel, and inhumane. Now, I am no PETA fan for sure, but I have a big heart for animals (any other living creatures); and stories about how puppy mills operate really made me quite sad. Stories about animal tragedies break my heart.
Upon learning about puppy mills and searching for “banish puppy mills”, it appears that California has done just that. Not only has California decided to banish puppy mills, but this extends also to kitten mills and rabbit mills. Moreover, California has the largest pet market in the entire country, so this legislation is a huge victory for animal rights advocates who have fought for a long time to get puppy mills banished.
So what just is a puppy mill? A puppy mill is a company who breeds puppies in huge numbers purely for profit. They will breed the highest priced pure-breeds and whatever is all the rage, and raise them in tiny cages only 6 inches larger than the animal (minimum requirements as required by federal law), in the most inhumane conditions.
These poor puppy mothers are over-bred and forced to continually churn out litter after litter, in filthy, fetid, cramped cages, living out a miserable existence. They often are plagued with fleas and diseases due to neglect (the corporations care more about the bottom line), often which are also passed onto their puppies who are are also held in tiny filthy cages until they are shipped off to major pet stores or sold online.
As a result of these confined, miserable conditions, puppy mill puppies are often plagued with behavioral and psychological problems, experiencing greater difficulty in bonding with their owner and other puppies, problems learning to be house trained (due to early puppyhood caged conditions), and other issues. So not only are puppy mill puppies more expensive to own due to health problems and diseases, but also these poor puppies have difficulty bonding with their owners and can be difficult to train. Everyone loses – except the corporations, of course.
Provided Governor Brown signs the bill, the new law will take effect on January 1 of 2019. The penalty for violating the law is $500 in civil penalties for each offense. This will be the first bill to be signed which regulates the sale of animals at the state level. While one one level, this is definitely a problem because a large government expanding its power is a major concern; on another level, at least this abuse of power is being utilized to eliminate another type of abuse – the abuse of animals by corporations who use them purely for profit.
Critics of the bill claim that it could result in some job losses. Sure, this is inevitable – but do you really care if a bunch of animal abusers lose their job abusing and torturing animals? I sure don’t. Not only will a bunch of animal torturers lose their ability to get paid to torture poor cute puppy dogs, but also this will be a huge financial benefit to the state. Currently, $250 million is spent on animal shelters every year in California, much of which are filled with animals from disappointed owners of puppy mills and kitten mills.
Puppies everywhere are cheering (or, yipping for joy?). It seems that California is not good for nothing; just almost good for nothing. At least one good thing can come out of the corrupt, broken, and bankrupt state before they break off and float into the ocean to start their own country of California. Hopefully, other states follow suit and eradicate this plague of puppy mills from the country.
