Puppy Mills

[windsor]

I made mention in the WWWD thread...but thought this meritted a new topic. My weekend has been consumed with assisting in the rescue of nearly three hundred dogs from a puppy mill in Venice FL. That's right. I said three hundred dogs.

http://members.petfinder.com/~FL551/index.html


The media is calling it a hording situation, but the owners were known to provide puppies to pet and puppy stores, as well as selling them on the web.
This was a dog factory. In addition to the little dogs, there were a metric shit ton of labradoodles and goldendoodles. One of my friends is fostering a 10 year old female lab who was used as a Momma dog...she has almost no teeth (from poor nutrition while pregnant) and has lived her whole live in cage. She is terrified of grass - having never walked on it before. Her story is typical.

I spent the weekend bathing and rough cut grooming a bunch of these dogs. Rescue groups near me took in over 100 of them. It amazes me that dogs that have been so neglected and lived through such horror retain the ability to love and trust people.

So here is the moral of the story - do NOT buy a dog from a pet store , puppy store or website. With regard to websites, the red flag is selection...a good breeder will have one litter at a time, with a handful of dogs. If you see a wide variety then as sure as Carolina Sucks, it is a puppy mill, or they are working with puppy mills. Small locally owned pet stores that have puppies occassionally might be ok - they should be able to tell you where they got the puppies, and you should be able to check out the breeder. Don't be fooled by the claim that pups were 'home raised' these dogs came from someone's home, and I am sure they used those very words to market these pups.

Puppy Mills are hard to catch and even when caught the punishment tends to amount to a wrist slap and a fine. The first best way to stop Puppy Mills is to make it unprofitable. So please, no puppy store purchases....and education those you know.

Windsor not steps off her soap box and hugs her own badly spoiled puppers.

[Miles]

I made mention in the WWWD thread...but thought this meritted a new topic. My weekend has been consumed with assisting in the rescue of nearly three hundred dogs from a puppy mill in Venice FL. That's right. I said three hundred dogs.

http://members.petfinder.com/~FL551/index.html


The media is calling it a hording situation, but the owners were known to provide puppies to pet and puppy stores, as well as selling them on the web.
This was a dog factory. In addition to the little dogs, there were a metric shit ton of labradoodles and goldendoodles. One of my friends is fostering a 10 year old female lab who was used as a Momma dog...she has almost no teeth (from poor nutrition while pregnant) and has lived her whole live in cage. She is terrified of grass - having never walked on it before. Her story is typical.

I spent the weekend bathing and rough cut grooming a bunch of these dogs. Rescue groups near me took in over 100 of them. It amazes me that dogs that have been so neglected and lived through such horror retain the ability to love and trust people.

So here is the moral of the story - do NOT buy a dog from a pet store , puppy store or website. With regard to websites, the red flag is selection...a good breeder will have one litter at a time, with a handful of dogs. If you see a wide variety then as sure as Carolina Sucks, it is a puppy mill, or they are working with puppy mills. Small locally owned pet stores that have puppies occassionally might be ok - they should be able to tell you where they got the puppies, and you should be able to check out the breeder. Don't be fooled by the claim that pups were 'home raised' these dogs came from someone's home, and I am sure they used those very words to market these pups.

Puppy Mills are hard to catch and even when caught the punishment tends to amount to a wrist slap and a fine. The first best way to stop Puppy Mills is to make it unprofitable. So please, no puppy store purchases....and education those you know.

Windsor not steps off her soap box and hugs her own badly spoiled puppers.

Thanks for the post windsor, information is the first tool everyone needs to fight this abhorrent act.
The second tool is action and you kick some serious ass for stepping up acting! Speaking for Mrs. Miles, Rider and Soleil, I thank you!

[windsor]

I would love to have been able to foster, but Wizard and Dylan do not play well with others. The least I could do was give some time (and some toys, a crate, a couple dog beds....) . I did a lot of the first wash/rough cutting because these guys were flea infested and by an accident of biochemistry fleas will NOT bite me. Ever.

There were a lot of heros involved in this effort...a caravan of groomers that came up from Miami - the transport crews who drove dogs from Sarasota all over the state to waiting rescue groups, the vets and vet techs that gave their time...and the everyday folk who showed up or called wanting to help. When I say 'rescue groups' these are really not much more teams of dedicate volunteers who spend an enormous amount of time (and their own money) to help dogs. They have no offices, no building...just their own homes and incredible network of people.


The enormous task of getting all these dogs into foster homes for evaluation and some rehab and then off to loving, safe forever homes is just beginning. We've had inquiries from all over the country - the transport networks are just being put together (we drive dogs in shifts to relay them across the country...I've done many a run) to make sure that if the perfect home is in BFE Oregon we can get the dog there.

[lawgrad91]

Windsor, thank you for what you did for these dogs. This kind of stuff absolutely breaks my heart.

[CathyCA]

Windsor, you are an angel. Thank you for helping those puppies.

[windsor]

The work is hard, but the rewards are great....like the 4 year old labradoodle I was working on, trying to hack my clippers through 6+ inches of matted filth encrusted hair. This guy, who had lived his whole life in a pen and had next to no human contact put a paw on my arm when I started to clip his chest (I thought I hurt him) and when I pulled the clippers away leaned in and licked my face. (and yes, I went straight to the 'ugly cry' after that one!)

[lawgrad91]

The work is hard, but the rewards are great....like the 4 year old labradoodle I was working on, trying to hack my clippers through 6+ inches of matted filth encrusted hair. This guy, who had lived his whole life in a pen and had next to no human contact put a paw on my arm when I started to clip his chest (I thought I hurt him) and when I pulled the clippers away leaned in and licked my face. (and yes, I went straight to the 'ugly cry' after that one!)

Windsor, you're gonna make me cry, too.

I hate it when the dog officers come to talk to me about cases. Give me a beaten up person or a robbery or a dead guy, even the most paperwork inducing time consuming embezzlement, over a case involving dog abuse or neglect. PHB is just about as bad. He is forever giving me toys and treats to give to Merlin from "Uncle Bob."

[ArkieDukie]

Windsor, thank you for what you did for these dogs. This kind of stuff absolutely breaks my heart.

What she said. Scumbags deserve to live under the same conditions as their dogs.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Windsor, thank you for what you did for these dogs. This kind of stuff absolutely breaks my heart.

What she said. Scumbags deserve to live under the same conditions as their dogs.

Best idea I've heard in a long time.

Love, Ima

[Very Duke Blue]

Thank you Windsor. Your the best. It is so heart breaking to see abused animals. Dana's dog is rescue but not an abused one. He was well taken care of. None of us could stand the thought of Sully being put down.

Bless you Windsor.

[shereec]

Windsor, what a hero you are! All of our kitty-kids over the years have come from the SPCA or county animal shelter. These kind of stories break my heart - I can't even watch the tv commercials about abused and neglected animals (although John does try to get the cats to watch so they'll know how lucky they are...). Thank you for your beautiful work!

[IowaDevil]

Winds you are an angel as are all the folks who helped in this rescue! I also agree totally that the owners should have to live in those same conditions as their punishment - go get 'em LG!

[captmojo]

High praise and commendations belong to, and are deserved by you for this effort!

[Lavabe]

Well done, windsor!!