They live their whole lives in
disgusting, cramped cages. They have no opportunity to run, play, or interact
with humans or their own species. They don’t get to see the sunshine or feel
the grass beneath their paws. Much of the time these canines are forced to live
in their own urine and excrement. Over the years, as a Planned Pethood foster
parent, I have seen my share of puppy mill dogs. The scumbags running these
houses of horror do not have any remorse for the torture they are putting the
dogs through. They only care about the bottom line, money, money, money. There
has to be a special place in hell for these evil people where they live the
nightmare existence of these innocent creatures.
My sweet chocolate lab Imelda was a
stunningly gorgeous puppy mill dog. She landed in the pound because she either
could not or would not breed anymore at age four. She was unceremoniously dumped
to this dangerous kill shelter so they could euthanize her. She was of no use
to them anymore. Keeping any dog in isolation conditions is cruel but it is
especially inhumane for a lab because they so crave and enjoy human contact.
This poor girl was so needy that she never, ever left my side. She was the
ultimate 24/7 Velcro dog. She sooooo boosted the self esteem of everyone she
came in contact with. I wish I had a dime for all the times people said to me,
“she really loves me”. I never had the heart to tell them she treated everyone
like that. Except puppies, Imelda abhorred them. I am pretty sure that is what
landed her in the pound. God only knows how many litters she had, on arrival
her tummy was grotesquely stretched out, even at her young age. Mel was stuck
like glue to me for the short time she had left in her life. She passed away from
lung cancer at only six. But in those months, she made up for all that time in
a cage by spreading lab love everywhere she went.
Meldie’s transition was easy compared
to Samantha the pug. She was part of a breeding pair who were again thrown into
the pound to be euthanized. If you have had any contact with pugs, you know
they are happy, funny, affectionate little clowns. Not Samantha, she was
terrified of everything, especially human contact. Stairs, the ding of the
microwave, and all the normal household sights and sounds frightened her.
Thankfully, my nieces Samantha (her namesake) and Morgan, were visiting when
little Sammy came to us. Kid energy was the ONLY thing she could relate to at
first. I am sure it was the first human contact this poor breeding machine
experienced. But she and her partner Charlie were adopted by pug whisperer,
Gloria Wu. The last time I saw Sammy was at the high school where Gloria and I
worked. She was the belle of the ball, brightening up everybody’s day. It was
an unbelievable transformation. Gloria, who was never even permitted to have a
dog as a kid, has become Planned Pethood’s “go to” foster when we have pugs
enter the program. PPI alumni Samantha, Charlie, and now Nicholas reside in pug
heaven on earth with Gloria.
I get to know a lot of people from
walking my dogs and fosters in the neighborhood. This includes Rich who lives
on our route to the park. He lived happily with a resident English setter named
Tucker but got wind of a puppy mill female who was going to be euthanized. You
know that drill by now. He had the toughest time socializing Crickett and he
was never completely successful. His description of her haunts me. He said this
lovely girl acted like she was autistic. He was just not able to break through
to her. She had erected a wall that excluded human and even canine
companionship. At least she was able to live out the rest of her life in a
normal home setting with love and her own bed and yard even if it was not
reciprocated.
Hopefully this blog puts a face on
actual puppy mill dogs. So, what needs to be done to put an end to this
outrage? First and foremost, never, ever patronize the dog warehouses they call
pet stores, who buy from puppy mills. If you want a purebred dog, you can get
them from rescues. Planned Pethood takes them in on a regular basis. There are
also hundreds of breed specific rescues throughout the country. The second part
of the solution is tough regulations in each state. Ohio just passed a weak
reform law. But the standards need to be much more restrictive and they need to
be enforced without exception. For goodness sakes, there are laws about when
you must take out the trash or shovel the snow. These are lives we are dealing
with. These breeders are doing long term damage to the dogs. Overbreeding and
inbreeding are resulting in a myriad of health problems. My poor lab, Rudy, had
to be euthanized due to crippling arthritis, an issue many purebred labs have.
The time is now. Let’s band together and put these unscrupulous losers out of
business for good!
by Judy S.
