The Humane Society of the United States has been working with state and local officials to cut away at the nationwide network of puppy mills.
Animal control officials in Independence, Virginia, sized twenty puppies from a suspected puppy mill. The officer in charge of the seizure said that the conditions were deplorable — puppies were malnourished and suffering from parasites.
Another suspected puppy mill in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania lost twenty-four dogs to a local SPCA shelter. Workers suspected that there had been more dogs at the puppy mill, but that they had been removed before the raid. The dogs who were rescued had skin and dental conditions. The facility had no heat — not exactly appropriate winter conditions for any pet, let alone fragile young dogs.
A tape from a Green Bay, Wisconsin NBC affiliate prompted Wisconsin animal control officials to seize nine dogs and threaten to shut down a breeding facility. The dogs were housed in stacked cages; dogs in the lower cages had their food and water contaminated by the waste from dogs above.
Even kennels with licenses may not be caring for their puppies as well as they could. A kennel in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania lost nearly eighty puppies in late November. The dogs were severely malnourished (some were more than twenty pounds underweight) and suffering from infections from drinking bad water.
The ASPCA and Humane Society suspect that there are thousands of secret puppy mills being run across the country. Most of them are relatively small (under 200 dogs). With raids happening more frequently, the shelters are starting to struggle to keep up with all the rescued animals.
What can you do to help?
- If you’re looking for a new pet, rescue from a shelter rather than buying from a pet store.
- If you are determined to have a purebred, make sure you are buying from a legitimate breeder. Inspect the facilities, ask about licenses. If conditions aren’t clean and safe, don’t buy your puppy there!
- Donate your time to a local shelter.
- Donate money to support the Humane Society, ASPCA, or a local shelter.