dog auctionHow can you raise a dog, bring it to a huge, cold barn to be auctioned off, and walk away without a look or a word of comfort knowing that it'll then be consigned to a life of physical misery and emotional abandonment? I don’t know what is wrong with people.

The video below doesn’t come from PETA or some weirdo fringe group. It comes from the Humane Society of the United States, which took undercover video at several Midwest dog auctions where dogs are sold to prospective breeders -- many of whom likely run puppy mills. True, the video is a few years old, but the point about pets is very relevant even today. (If you can’t stand to watch it, don’t worry. You don't have to. I got the salient details for you.)

Here's what happens: The video shows cages and cages of hundreds of dogs stacked on top of each other, and the sound of the frantic barking is cacophonous and overwhelming. Some cower in the backs of their cages, some look helplessly around. More and more are shoved into cages by farmers who look like Dwight Schrute from The Office -- only not nearly as funny.

"Where else are you gonna find something to produce you over $2,000 gross in a year?" an auctioneer yells. "Something?" How is a mother dog reduced to only a "something"? I don’t know how many puppies she would have to produce to make $2K in a year, but I’ll bet it’s an unhealthy amount.

At an auction in Arkansas, dogs were confined to travel cages for seven hours with no food or water. In Kansas, their crates were stuck in pens outside in freezing temperatures, only allowed inside the heated building when it was time to be sold. One beagle went for as little as $10.

And it’s not like life gets better when these dogs go home with their new owners. There’s no heartwarming "forever home" moment. They’re stuck in similar pens to breed litter after litter, which will either be auctioned off in turn or sold in pet stores.

I don’t blame you if you can’t watch this video. Even worse are the “related videos” that come up after. Don’t watch the video if you don’t want to, but also?

Don't buy dogs. Adopt them.

Can you believe people auction off dogs this way?


Image via YouTube