I don’t share a lot of news stories. I like to keep things more personal, and largely lighthearted on this blog. However, sometimes things can hit close to home and I’m compelled to share. I wrote a whole series on ending puppy mills when I first started the blog and my feelings about doing that certainly have not changed.
I know I’m preaching to the choir with my regular readers, so all I ask is that you share this story, or the video I’ll share below from our local TV station. I want this to serve as a reminder and to get the word out: if you choose to buy a purebred puppy, please, please know exactly where it came from, a reputable breeder, shelter, or rescue.
Be especially careful when buying over the internet, at a pet store (many pet stores now only have rescue and shelter dogs being adopted out of their stores), or at any kind of swap meet or flea market. The best practice is to be able to visit the breeder and see the puppies and parents (which is what we were able to do when we got our beagle Cricket, and our golden retrievers). If you love a breed, chances are you know or can find other people who love that breed. They can be a great resource for finding a reputable breeder or rescue for that breed.
It has been all over our local news (and I’m sure national news as well) this weekend that 84 Great Danes were rescued from deplorable conditions at a “mansion” in Wolfeboro, NH. When people think of puppy mills, they might think of states like Arkansas, Missouri, or Iowa, where far more rescues like this have happened. They don’t think of quintessential New England, and it makes me sad that my state is not better than that.
Yet I’ve known they’re here, many years ago some friends of ours got a puppy from what they figured out was a mill when they visited it, also here in NH. Yet they couldn’t face leaving that puppy at that place, and took it home anyway. I can understand how that can happen, even though it does not help the larger problem.
While I’m ashamed that my state doesn’t have better laws to prevent this from happening, the truth is the consumers, the ones buying the puppies, are the ones that can really put a stop to this. Greed is what drives these deplorable people to run these puppy mills, and if they are not making money, they will stop.
One of the saddest things about this story to me is that these dogs cannot go to homes until the legal process is settled; they are considered “evidence”. If you would like to donate to their care, and other rescues like this, please visit this link: HSUS Rescue Team.
I’ll leave you with the video from our local news station, WMUR-TV, that tells the more of the story. You may also visit this article from the HSUS for more information.
Getting the word out and educating everyone about where so many puppies come from is one of the most important and simplest things we can do to try and put an end to this horrible industry of puppy mills once and for all.
Even though my experience with Harley has a happy ending for the both of us, I will always call out a puppy mill in disguise to prevent them from profiting. Hate those fiends…. Great post!
Thank you! I hate that you had to have experience with one of them too, Cathy, but am so glad it was a happy ending for you. ♥
These people p*ss me off!! I’d love to sentence them to live out their lives in the deplorable conditions they keep those dogs in.
I wish all states adopted laws protecting these guys, and there was a good way to get this message out. My heart just breaks for these guys.
I know, my heart breaks too. I just saw on the news today where one of the dogs just gave birth to puppies. At least these are born in a cleaner place where they’ll be truly loved, even though it’s not ideal. I missed the whole story, I am hoping maybe they’ll at least be able to home the puppies.
Oh boy I didn’t hear about this yet. So so sad. I hope the case moves fast so those dogs can get in loving homes.
I hope so too! I worry about how slow the court system can go.
Those humans are just evil. We shared on Facebook and thanks for the reminder, we just read about those poor danes earlier today.
Thank you so much for sharing, Brian!
What a sad situation. Thanks for letting us know about it so we can spread the word.
One reason these mills can thrive is because more people are selling puppies online. I recently got a very polished email from a company selling itself as a resource for adopting puppies. Supposedly you could see ads from breeders all over the country.
But I’ve never heard of a responsible breeder who didn’t have a waiting list for their puppies. And they certainly wouldn’t need a national advertising network.
Now that fewer stores sell puppies, we need to tighten up the laws about online sales.
You are so right about that. Unfortunately, when it comes to evil people, when you close a door they find a window. We need to stay one step ahead of them.
You hit the nail on the head when you said it’s about greed. No reputable breeder would sell their dogs online or in a pet store. People just need to be educated about what’s really going on “behind the scenes”. We definitely need stronger laws when it comes to animal breeding and care (of all types).
I never even realized how my own state was so lacking in laws until I heard about this.
This looks to me more like a hoarding situation then puppy mill but that doesn’t make it any better. I’ve been involved with the puppy mill movement here to end them and it’s an impossible task because of the USDA and the people with money like the AKC, APPA and others working to keep them open. Thanks for sharing the information we can never do it too much.
You could be right about that, though I almost think it might have been kind of a combination of the two. Some of the dogs were found at another site which makes me think that they were somewhere for sale.
I know how hard you have worked to help the movement there, and how many roadblocks there are. That’s why I feel getting to the consumer is so, so important. I just don’t feel like we can rely on the government to fix these things with so much opposition out there.
Owning a mill survivor who has genetic health issues among other issues, I’m all to familiar with the evils of puppy mills. I shared the video on both our FaceBook blog page and tweeted about it. Getting the word out is especially critical. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you so much for sharing. You have done one of the best things to help – giving a home to someone who needed it so much. ♥
This sure is an important topic. Let’s spread the word
Lily & Edward
This is such a sad story. I don’t understand how people can be so heartless. Thank you for shining a light on this horrific practice of puppy mills.
I, too, have shared – on Twitter, FB, and G+ – to help get the word out.
I sometimes wonder what kind of environment Ducky escaped from – she was picked up as a stray when she was only about 3 months old – because I’ve seen other pups (though not in the last 2-3 years) that looked enough like her to have been her biological siblings. I just thank the good lord that my little girl did escape at an age where she was still “adoptable” in the shelter’s eyes.
Thank you so much for sharing, Sue. I’m so glad Ducky found her way to you…and it certainly seems like a strong possibility that might have been her background.
Actually, I think Ducky was the result of backyard breeding by people who just let their own family dogs “have their fun” without any concern for the health of the dog(s).
Well, I guess the only thing that makes that different is that they’re not motivated by greed, just stupidity! That’s the kind of situation that Luke came from too, so we can see what kind of results that kind of breeding can have….dogs with issues. 🙁
I wish we had laws what could ban this scary places… this is like slavery and I only hope that this people who misuse animals this way will get the hottest place once in hades. We bought a puppy mill dog in 1990, who knew about puppy mills that time… we thought all people who breed dogs will love them ….
Exactly. Those who love dogs as much as we do cannot even imagine treating them that way. Who knew back then? I just hope that knowing more now has at least reduced the numbers of those places, and will continue to do so.
Oh those poor babies, all of them! And Great Danes…
I didn’t know how close to me you are (by New England standards) Wolfeboro is only about a 1.5 hrs south of us. It’s so hard to recognize that this is going on nearby and not just in some far bubble. My ex-h and I got our lab from what was surely a mini puppy mill, not bad conditions, but heavy breeding, too many litters, etc. and I knew it, but I couldn’t leave the pup there and go look for a different one. We were those people who continue the pet trade then.
Now I write to educate on puppy mills, or, at least, on my puppy mill rescues, although I am going to share this post too because it is too important. Even people who consider themselves to be dog-knowledgable can miss the signs of a puppy mill.
I’m guessing that was a while ago you got that lab? None of us knew years ago, I didn’t even until I started working in the pet industry (and especially blogging) and learned so much more about everything. It’s so sad that things like this still go on….and the best thing we can do as writers is to just keep getting the word out.
Honestly, I can’t imagine myself walking away from a puppy, especially after finding them in conditions that didn’t seem right. It’s easy to say that’s the right thing to do, but not so easy to do it.
I have a feeling we might be closer miles-wise than you think! The truth is, I wasn’t even sure where Wolfeboro was when I heard this (I knew of it, just not the exact location).
We can’t imagine a puppy mill. Our breeders have been so good and are so wonderful. Such a sad thing with the puppy mills and even more sad how many people don’t understand it at all!
It just goes to show that you can find a good breeder for any puppy you want….even a rare breed like GBGV!
I’ve shared. It’s important for people to be aware.