You may (if you're a FB friend) know that my high school class recently had a 40-yr. reunion. It was wonderful seeing everybody after all those years & we all had a great time. During the reunion talk turned to the people who weren't there & what had happened to them. Turns out one of the girls (well she'd be 58 now so maybe we should say women) had recently been arrested for running a puppy mill! I'd heard about the raid but never would've imagined that my classmate was the person who was responsible for the deplorable conditions these little dogs were living in!
Pat and I had many classes together including Home Ec, which stressed cleanliness & good nutrition. Her Puppy Mill showed no sign of either of those things. I am just heartbroken thinking about what awful things must've happened to her after high school to bring her to the point where she could raise dogs like this and not see anything wrong with it.
There were over 110 dogs being kept in bad conditions behind her homes. The neighbors, when interviewed by the local tv & newspaper, all talked about how noisy & smelly the animals were. Some even mentioned that Pat's husband (now deceased) had been convicted of animal cruelty several years ago & wasn't even supposed to be keeping animals.
What I don't understand is why these neighbors never reported the situation to the authorities!! PLEASE, if you see animals being kept in bad conditions, call your local police or animal shelter & don't rest until something has been done about it.
If you are planning to buy a puppy, please don't buy it from a pet shop - or from somebody who wants to ship it to you or meet you somewhere with it. If the breeder isn't willing for you to come to their house & meet the parents & see where the puppies are being raised, RUN the opposite direction! You can bet they have something to hide. What they do is clean up a couple of the breed you're interested in & bring them to meet you. Sometimes they clean them up & bring them to a pet shop to sell for them. They may tell a flowery story about the wonderful place where the puppies live but don't believe it unless you see it.
When questioned about what she'd done, Pat refused to admit that she'd done anything wrong. Some of the dogs confiscated from her property were in such bad shape that they had mold growing on them. They had no water, had rats in the cage with them, poop everywhere. It just broke my heart to hear about it, and when I watched the video that showed the conditions I just cried & cried. Nobody, human or animal, should have to live like these little dogs did. I cried for them and I cried for Pat, the quiet, friendly, helpful girl from high school whose life has led her to this point. I pray that when the legal process is finished, these little dogs will find loving homes and that Pat will get help and be able to once again become a caring individual and overcome whatever it was that brought her to this low point.
(The video is entitled "Rowan County KY Puppy Mill Bust" and can be seen on You Tube.
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