Across the U.S. puppy mill busts escalate » Blog Archive

Across the U.S., puppy mill busts escalate

July28

Puppy mill busts have stepped up over the last three months, with a bust occurring every five days or so somewhere in the United States. By my count 39 raids have taken place so far in 2010. And for every puppy mill unearthed, dozens more go undetected.

Here’s the latest:

May

Outside of Portland, Ore.,authorities found 22 dogs, including 13 Basset Hounds and one Lhasa Apso, languishing at a substandard kennel.
In Richburg, S.C., 87 Yorkies, Maltese, Chihuahuas covered with old urine and feces were removed from a home and from overheated storage units in the breeder’s backyard. The units were so full of stench that law enforcers have to ventilate them for several hours before going in.
In Central Okla., officials discovered 65 Chihuahuas, Schnauzers and terriers with severely matted coats, eye problems and bloody feet.
In Robert, La., more than 100 dogs, many of the Miniature Pinschers, were found stacked in filthy cages. The dogs had never stepped on solid ground and hopped about “like someone walking on hot coals” when they were set on the ground for the first time.

June

In Bottineau County, N.D., rescuers saved 18 Poodles, Collies, Pekingese and other dogs from a squalid kennel.
In Cortland, N.Y., 27 Boxers and Cockapoos were removed from filthy cages.
Authorities near Tuscumbia, Mo., found 108 Cocker Spaniels, Poodles, Pekingese, Beagles, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Shih Tzus crowded into 2 by 2-foot cages. The dogs were suffering from eye infections, overgrown toenails and malnourishment.
In Lee County, Fla., officials confiscated 26 puppies from a Missouri breeder who was selling them without a license or proof that they had been examined by a veterinarian.
A breeder in New Tripoli, Penn., was charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty after the discovery of 18 Bichon Frise and Neapolitan Mastiffs in deplorable conditions.
In Omaha, Neb., 35 dogs, mostly American Eskimos, with eye, teeth and coat problems were removed from a kennel.

July

A breeder in Knox County, Tenn., was arrested after officials found 27 Chihuahuas and two parakeets in bad shape on his property.
In Wilson County, Tenn., two dozen Shar Peis covered in fleas and ticks and lacking food or water were discovered at a kennel. When investigators returned to the property several days later to remove the dogs, they could find only 17.
Near Charlotte, N.C., authorities found 40 English Bulldogs, Chihuahuas, Boston Terriers and Maltipoos living with moldy water and food and suffering from worms at a kennel.
In Nashua, Iowa, 12 St Bernards, Dachshunds, Lhasa Apsos and other dogs were removed from an unsanitary kennel. Five dead dogs were also found.
At filthy kennels in Norman and Oklahoma City, Okla., rescuers seized more than 70 Maltese, Chihuahuas and Yorkies.
In Aurora, Neb., two dozen breeding Pugs in ill health were removed from a squalid kennel. The last dog to give birth ate her puppies “and usually that’s a matter of severe stress,” a Hearts United for Animals representative said.
In Harrah, Oka., officials charged a breeder with animal cruelty after finding ”countless” dogs living in weeds several feet high and covered with ticks and fleas.
Several rescue groups helped save more than 100 mostly small breed dogs from a kennel in Carriere, Miss. Take a look at a video the Humane Society of the U.S. posted after the raid. Incredible as it may seem, thousands of dogs endure this kind of life. http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2010/07/ms_puppy_mill_rescue_072110.html