Are Animal Rights Extremists Taking Things too Far?

Lauren Dalsanto

Mrs. Straub

Economics B1

12 May 2014

Are Animal Rights Extremists Taking Things too Far?

Whether it be cats, dogs or even bunnies, we all drool over adorable and furry household pets. When a Family makes a choice to bring a furry addition into their household, they are more than likely going to fall in love with the sweet little two month old puppy at the pet store; a sweet new pet who has never been with a previous owner. While this gives people a sense of independence and responsibility to raise an animal from its baby years, there are others that think completely different.

In Milwaukee, animal rights extremists are trying to pass a law to prohibit pet stores from selling commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits, unless they are from a shelter or rescue. If this law were to go into effect, that would mean people would not be able to purchase one of their ideal designer puppies bred to their liking around the Milwaukee area. While this doesn’t seem very problematic seeing that it is only in Milwaukee County, this law would truly hurt many businesses and would even trickle all around the country to the breeders who sell to these Milwaukee pet stores. While yes, some pet stores are illegal and purchase dogs from puppy mills (which should be shut down), this bill would also hurt the truly pet loving people who follow the strict and correct guidelines for breeding their dogs.

If you are looking for more information on the bill that is trying to be passed, visit this website below, click on the ‘currently available puppies’ tab and scroll down:

http://www.preppypups.net/available_puppies.html

Over this past weekend, my family and I had decided that we would start searching for the perfect dog for our family. We had started our search at he humane societies but had quickly found out that none of these designer dogs (bred from great pet stores) were sent there. This means that these reputable ‘designer dog breeders’ puppies indeed stay with their families and are not given up for adoption later in life. Seeing that most reputable dog breeders/pet stores are around the Milwaukee area, we were drawn there. It was at these stores where we were taught about this new and upcoming ordinance. According to the owners of these pet stores, all/most of their dogs are bred down south from over a select 50 different breeders (per store) who then sell them their puppies. Not only that, but each puppy is sold for about $500-$1,000; not to mention that they are all sold within a week or two. Now what exactly would happen if all of these designer dog pet stores were to shut down?

Below are some pictures of designer puppies from reputable breeders in the Milwaukee area:

As I had witnessed myself, these cute and precious designer puppies are in high demand at all times and continue to constantly fly out of the stores at rapid speeds. If even just these Milwaukee located stores were to shut down, it would affect all of Wisconsin and even the states around us. For example, since the supply of these puppies would be close to 100% cut of out Milwaukee, naturally the demand for them would rise and people would buy them elsewhere.If the people who once bought from Milwaukee are now going elsewhere for puppies, those new places will not have a big enough supply to satisfy their local as well as the new incoming customers. With that being said, the people who once bought their puppies at their local store will now have to search elsewhere and this entire domino effect will continue to enlarge itself to create a puppy shortage in the Wisconsin area. Not to mention that if the demand of these dogs increase, so will the price. Essentially, this boils down to a rise of demand for designer puppies and a decrease in supply of them.

Not only will this affect the animal lovers of Wisconsin, but also the dominant breeders in the south. For example, if there are 10 reputable pet stores in Milwaukee who purchase puppies from a combined 50 breeders each, that would be a total of 500 breeders in the South who have now lost a big part of their business. After taking a closer look at these scenarios, it is completely evident that just this small law in Milwaukee could end up hurting the economy and causing a shortage of designer bred dogs which are already in high demand currently.

Looking from the opposite end of things, animal rights extremists argue that this will allow more rescued and homeless dogs to have a future; which is the entire thought process behind passing this bill. These extremists believe that by passing this bill, more dogs will be rescued from humane societies. They believe that it is very unnecessary to continue breeding these designer puppies while there are plenty of stray mutts roaming around. But also, you must think about supply and demand, what people want is to be able to chose a pet that is exactly to their liking and know exactly where that animal came from.It is quite possible that this may not even increase the amount of rescue dogs that get adopted due to the fact that people are still going to want their designer puppies. Another point to bring up is thinking about the mass amount of underground puppy selling that would arise from this which also is not good for our economy seeing that it is basically ‘secret’ money where people would not be paying tax on. Also, people who love to adopt dogs will continue adopt just as people who love their purebred and distinct mixes will continue to buy. One more idea is that once Milwaukee passes this it will most likely lead to many other places following their lead and this will greatly affect the entire country with a shortage of designer puppies and negative impact on the economy. While yes, saving an animal’s life and giving it a great future is truly an amazing thing, the question arises of, are these animal rights extremists are going too far by completely cutting out the selling of designer dogs in Milwaukee?

Watch this short, sweet and right to the point video to help form your own opinion on this matter: