Opinion | Puppy farms in Hong Kong: why we must end the nightmare
- The city is believed to have dozens, if not hundreds, of illegal puppy mills
- Lax prosecution means such animal abusers often walk free
There are thought to be dozens, if not hundreds, of such puppy mills in Hong Kong, working on the obscene premise of maximum profit for minimum outlay married to a complete dearth of morals. Given that a pedigree pup can sell for tens of thousands of dollars, the perpetrators’ motives need little in the way of forensic examination.
The puppy farms’ inmates are confined to tiny wire cages that damage their paws and legs, stacked one above the other with no regard for the resulting cascade of filth. Food and water are rationed to cut costs. Dogs who might create a nuisance by barking are subjected to painful, invasive surgery to silence them permanently.
Bitches are kept constantly in whelp, deprived of veterinary care, and so malnourished that their pregnant bodies are stripped of nutrients, which weakens their bones and cripples them. Some die in labour, others are discarded on the street. Disease is rife and can spread rapidly through the mill. For the breeders, this is a minor inconvenience, solved by buying in some new stock.
The More Better Cheaper Faster method of dog breeding is inherently broken. Many puppies die before they can be sold, others not long after, the victims of contagious diseases such as canine parvovirus and distemper. Those that survive are hardly equipped to add anything to the gene pool.