By Douglas V. Gibbs
During the latest episode of Founding Truth, Loki and I got into a heated discussion regarding puppy mills. Loki rescues Japanese Chins, and had a very emotional response regarding the horrors of puppy mills. In his opinion, all puppy mills in America should be shut down, and as a result all pet stores should not be allowed to sell dogs and cats.
I disagreed with him.
I did not pose opposition to his argument with the intention to defend puppy mills. I agree, from what I understand, that the industry is inhumane, and poorly regulated. The treatment of the dogs is poor, because all the owners of these facilities care about is the production of puppies, and making top dollar regardless of whether or not their animals are treated properly. Usually the animals are treated inhumanely as a result of the poor conditions present at these facilities.
I get it. Puppy mills are bad places.
As a general rule, however, I do not condone the complete elimination of an industry, especially by government dictate, because flaws exist in the industry. If there are regulations that need to be put in place by States (federal government has no authority to regulate industries), then the people should ensure that in their States these regulations are put into place, and enforced. If the puppy mills are so abhorrent to the general population that they wish the industry to become history, stop buying the animals. The free market is free to end the industry by simply not supporting it by buying the products.
Loki took exception with my opinion, explaining to me why puppy mills are so bad, making it an argument about the sins of the puppy mills.
He misunderstood my argument. I was not defending puppy mills, no more than I am defending insurance companies when I argue against Obamacare. My argument is that as a general rule, it is not any government's place to suddenly eliminate a perfectly legal industry because of a few (or a lot of) flaws, or the hysterical screams of a few activists.
However, if the people vote that such an industry should not exist in their State, that is their business - as unwise as a general practice it may be.
Once again, I was not defending puppy mills. I was defending any industry's right to exist - and that goes for any legal industry whatsoever.
Unintended consequences can be brutal.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
2 comments:
What's your view on prostitution or child trafficking? Good job we've signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Oh wait....
Those are illegal, and for good reason. As for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, should we really trust bureaucrats to dictate to parents on how to raise their children? The U.N.'s insidious program is very Marxist in nature. The U.S. should get out of the U.N. and avoid the international organization like the plague.
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