By Lisa L. Dolan
Connellsville

Please consider the importance of adopting a pet from the animal shelters instead of from pet stores. Those that rely on puppy mills encourage mass-breeding facilities, where hundreds of dogs are confined to tiny barren cages for their whole lives without any human contact, adequate food or water.

They are used to reproduce puppy after puppy. And when they are too old to reproduce, they are either killed in an inhumane manner or sold to test labs, where they receive more inhumane treatment (which should also be outlawed).

Animals are God's creatures, and they don't have a voice to speak out, so we need to speak for them. This is their world, too, and we need to respect that and love them.

My little dog Molly was rescued from the puppy mills. I have had Molly now for about 15 months. When I got her, her fur was matted, she was drenched in her own urine and emaciated. She never had any human contact or love. Although Molly has come a long way, she is still afraid of my husband and won't let anyone hold her but me.

My favorite quote by Mahatma Gandhi is, "The moral progress of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

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Puppy Mills breed misery, boycott pet stores that sell puppies. Adopt! Don't Shop