I haven’t written much about puppy mills for a few months now, when I last posted Part 6 of my series. I didn’t intend to get away from the subject for this long. I have to be perfectly honest here; the subject was starting to get me down a little a lot. Congress’ refusal to act on the PUPS act really discouraged me. A true animal advocate has to press on though, in spite of discouraging news. This will be my start of moving forward again, by sharing this Facebook page, Stars page.
Star is a 6 year old Yorkshire Terrier from England. In England I believe they refer to puppy mills as “puppy farms”. I prefer “mill” myself, as to me, “farms” have a good connotation. Whatever name you call them, they are still the same awful thing in England as they are here in the United States, or in any other country that has them.
I would like to share a letter in Star’s words from his Facebook page that tells about his life. Thank goodness he is in a safe, happy home now.
Hello My name is star, I am a Yorkshire terrier, I am now 5 years old, I want to tell you my story please read and maybe you will think differently:
I was born in 2007 in a Kennel, sorry I cant remember how many brothers or sisters I had, and I cant even remember my Mummy, you see, My mummy was forced to mate with her brother so her nasty lady owner could have Puppy’s to sell and make money..I wont tell you the name of the nasty lady owner because in the end she got shut down by the RSPCA, and sadly all my inmates were put down…they were too ill to treat…Sadly today in 2013 I find out today she is operating again;
When I was born My Doggy Mummy was sold.. I don’t know about my brothers or sisters but I know that I was left to fend for my self, I think my mummy stayed about two weeks with us , but after that she was gone.
When mummy left I was placed in a tiny dirty cage 2 ft x 2 ft with a concrete floor with another dog older and bigger than me, he was a bully but he was hungry and sad. when the nasty lady owner bought the food around, the other dog ate it and I got none! , I survived by eating urine and poo.. horrible isn’t it but I was hungry!..
The place I was born was Horrid nice on the outside horrid on the inside, I saw 10 Labradors, 10 GSD, spaniels stuck in a 6 ft x 4 ft cage. cages full of Chihuahua you name it all typs of dogs. they were stuck forced to breed then sold. We were all treated very badly.The other inmates were also very ill.with distemper,parvovirus , Gastroenteritis and some died.
At night in my very small 2 ft cage outside I could hear the other dogs howling and crying it was very sad, and I was very cold and scared. and hungry ..The nasty lady would just turn a hose on them to shut them up.
Our homes were cages with Concrete floors no nice things like blankets or bowls the food would be thrown in and my inmates would have to scamper for there food first come first served, so I sat quietly in my cage and watched, I was very scared seeing big dogs with big teeth., our cage was also our toilet.
I stayed with the nasty lady for a few weeks in the cage untill I was about about 4 weeks old and I felt very poorly, but then the nasty lady said you are going to make me some money today, I had no idea what she meant…
It was a very hot sunny day, I didn’t like it I was hot and thirsty and I felt so ill, but i was outside in my cage, no shade over us when this Huge noisy big thing came up…….and 4 people got out, 2 people went off to look at the other inmates , they started barking for help and the nasty lady was shouting at them to “comeback” but suddenly this hand came into the cage and picked me up, it was the hand of a young lady she was nice and she held me close, the other inmate in my cage jumped up and bit her but the kind young lady just ignored him and was being nice to me, it felt so good she was warm and cuddly like my mummy once was…another older lady came over and gave the young lady a blanket and I could hear her having loud words with the nasty lady then suddenly, I was in the big thing with a blanket and four nice humans who looked at me and made very nice sounds…I went to sleep….I woke up a while later to find it was cold now, and the Bigger Human lady was holding me, she was crying and there was another lady and a funny smell with something being stuck up my bum and in my throat…………I went to sleep….
It turns out I was very ill I had ,distemper,parvovirus , Gastroenteritis and Conjunctivitis My Human Mummy was told I wouldn’t live, but she fought to keep me alive, I was never left alone and each one took it in turns to put water in my mouth and milk (doggy milk), I slept with them and was carried everywhere, when I was 5 months old I was allowed to have my injections and walk for the first time outside…..but im left with lots of problems but my Human family love and look after me…….Its not good news for my inmates tho, the RSPCA went in and because all the dogs were in a very bad way they had to be put to sleep…..I am the only one who Survived!. miracles do happen !, but today I find out shes operating today like so many other puppyfarms, im lucky others are not!…please help to stop this.
This Is A true Story of a suvivor of puppyFarms!”
Earlier this week Star had a seizure and his trachea collapsed. This is a common condition for inbred dogs. He will probably fight illnesses all his life because of his start in a puppy mill. Thankfully, by the end of the week he was feeling better, and back to posting on his page.
Star’s page helps to raise awareness of puppy farms (mills), and raising awareness is one of the most important things we can all do. However, the page isn’t all about the sadness; he shares adorable photos and fun stories. His page is also about showing what a good life a dog can have when they are rescued from that situation. I hope you will visit his page on Facebook, like and share it, and enjoy his posts as I do.
On left, Star after a bath, which he did not appreciate!
On right, love those pajamas! 🙂
What a heart breaking beginning to life! Thank goodness Star was rescued, but it is so sad that so many dogs are forced to live like that. The more people that take notice of puppy mills, the more likely that they will be shut down.
I agree…that’s why we need to keep spreading the word….educating everyone is key. People need to know exactly where that puppy they are buying has come from.
Wow. That letter just broke my heart. Star is one cute pup, and I’m so glad he’s feeling better! Thanks for bringing attention to him and the plight of puppy mill dogs. (I’m with you… “farm” makes it sound too sweet.)
It really is just heartbreaking. I hope the more attention we can bring to it, the more that will get done to stop them.
makes you cry, so sad and horrible-and makes you want to help. Thank you so much, Jan, for doing your part.
Thank you for saying that, Lynn. I feel like we should all do more….but we each do what we can.