Virginia puppy mills, undercover
The video above -- and I warn you it's disturbing -- is from the undercover investigation into Virginia puppy mills by the Humane Society of the United States
The five-month investigation found nearly 1,000 unlicensed puppy dealers operating in Virginia and led to more 1,000 dogs being rescued by HSUS.
In what the HSUS says may be the largest puppy mill rescue in U.S. history, more than 350 puppies and 700 adult dogs, including 650 breeding females, were removed from one facility, known as Horton's Pups. The operator of the facility surrendered all but 200 of his animals to Carroll County, Va. after realizing that he could not provide proper care for the dogs, just days after The HSUS released the results of its investigation.
"The HSUS investigation has brought relief to hundreds of dogs in an overcrowded and awful puppy mill operation," said Stephanie Shain, The HSUS director of outreach for companion animals, and the organization's leading puppy mill expert. "But now the state needs to adopt stronger policies to crack down on a large-scale industry that is severely mistreating dogs in the Commonwealth. And consumers should stop buying dogs from pet stores or through the Internet, and instead adopt homeless dogs from reputable shelters."
Comments
Have you ever read Susan Conant's Bloodlines? She's s dog-mystery writer, and this particular book takes on puppy mills. This is one issue I would much rather see taken on a national level. I am so tired of puppy mills and pet store dogs. When are Americans going to learn?
Posted by: danielle | November 21, 2007 9:28 AM
i adopted 2 dogs from a puppy mill. it took me months before my little doxie would come to my. she had lost all of her teeth we have no idea how she is. and i'll probably never get her house broke but, thats o.k. she gives me enough love to make up for it. my house looks like a newspaper office.(:::)
Posted by: peggy richardson | March 22, 2008 7:13 PM
You were right! That was very disturbing. That is so cruel, How can people do such a mean horrible thing to animals. Those poor cute dogs, I want to cry watching this video. VERY DISTURBING!
Posted by: Veronica | June 20, 2008 10:15 PM
I have been researching puppy mills for the last year or so. Is there a list of puppy mills or possible puppy mills in the state of south carolina? We need to make the public aware of where puppy mills are exactly located by a street name and city. Pressure from the public would allow and make law enforcement do something.
Posted by: susan buck | July 25, 2008 8:58 PM