Do you think if stiffer penalties were enforced it would discourage people from running "puppy mills?

Stiffer penalties are a place to start. The principal of deterrence says that in order for crime (or other actions) to be effectively deterred, the punishment must be swift, certain, and severe. All three must exist together.

I think where we're lacking is the "certain" and the "severe. " Our culture actually seems to do pretty well with the "swift" because the community outrage at the sight of sick and abused animals is pretty big, and prosecutors often act quickly. Coupled with the public shaming, we're pretty quick to come down on someone for running a puppy mill.

However, few puppy mill scumbags are caught, so it's easy for someone to think they'll be one of the ones to get away with it. The punishment also doesn't fit the crime, in my opinion. While increasing the punishment helps, we also need to increase the likelihood of getting caught.

It seems a lot of puppy mills are busted when someone happens to find one while buying a dog, or when they get suspicious of a neighbor. We could increase the rate of catching these sadists if pet stores were reviewed regularly, and made to show proof of where their animals came from. Those breeders should also be inspected.

We could also do a lot more to educate the public about how to spot signs of a puppy mill sale when buying a dog. So long as our culture views dogs as fashion accessories, I think there's going to be a lot of temptation for scummy people to open puppy mills. We need to stop that, increase the penalty, and start actively searching for these creeps.

I think they should treat these people like other dealers and sieze all their personal assets as goods from an illgotten gain. Animal cruelty should also carry prison sentences not just fines.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.