puppy mills and "pet" stores

This was meant to be posted under shopping, not behavior--so hopefully it shows up that way...ooops.

What is the name of the group that your Mom's friend was part of? I would love to contact them. Mom feels that the house next to us is a puppy mill. As far as we know the lady does not sell to pet stores but most of the other criteria fits. We believe that the dogs condition is some-what better than the horrible story you told, but that doesn't make it right. The only reason she has them is to breed and make money for herself. Anyways, we have gotten NO WHERE at all going through local agencies: Animal Control, police, Mayor's Action Group. Maybe this person and his group can help out. When AC does bother to follow up on complaints they say there isn't anything they can do and she blames my Mom and Dad for them "snooping around"!!! Thanks Stevie for the post and any info you can provide. ♦♦♦DOWN WITH PUPPY MILLS♦♦♦

Although it would be horrible to play the part of a prospective owner and have to witness this outrage, it might be worth putting yourself through to get some awful "breeder" shut down. Please let us know what this group is, and maybe some of us can help.

I totally agree Madeleine and Mom would have no problem with that to help shut even one of these places down. The problem is this lady is our neighbor and knows Mom and Dad. She is already suspicious of us and blames us for AC coming now and then to take a look around. She seems to think we are the only ones that would be able to hear the 50+ dogs barking and the only ones that might be able to smell anything. Isn't the fact that anyone can smell it a problem? Or how about the fact that she has 50+ dogs in the city, in her basement, and we can hear them INSIDE our house? I guess not to her. It stinks so bad we can't even enjoy sitting outside in our own back yard. Anyways, it would be kinda hard for Mom to really do that with her but she would be glad to help in another case. Sorry to keep getting so wordy, the whole situation makes us really cranky...GGGRRRRRR!

Dixie - do you think if you talked to the Board of Health, they could look into it based on unsanitary conditions? That may sound silly, but we were just thinking it may work. This is ridiculous that Animal Control has not seized the dogs! What's up with that?!

That's terrible Stevie! You guys need to check out my latest post, it's about puppy mills too. All you have to do is put what news station you watch the most!

That is a great idea Beverly and we tried. We called the Health Department and wanted to remain anonymous. They wanted contact information to follow up and Mom wouldn't give it. They said they would look into it but we have no idea if they did or not. AC claims there is no limit to the dogs she can have. The 4 main things they look at are: 1. If the dogs appear to be in good health 2. If the cages the dogs are kept in are large enough 3. Shot records for everyone 4. ID tags or microchips for everyone. When AC does come out that is what our neighbor says they checked her for. Supposedly whatever she had in the top level of her house was ok. She let them in there. They have to have a warrent to come in if you don't want them too. Most of her dogs are kept in the basement, puppies and nursing moms are kept upstairs, and the guy from AC didn't go down there.

The group was mainly composed of Tipton County Humane Society Members--they also called the media on them and that's how everything is on tape (I think the media did a nice job!). It was discusting...I can't even fathom seeing that in person and I was watching a video...the filth, the horrifying conditions the dogs were in, etc....ugh. They did seize most or all of the animals I believe (don't know if the owners got any back or not). There was (or is) a lady in Cicero/Noblesville area that was selling fad dogs and "purebreds" under www.pocketpups.us....everyone I know that got a dog from her has had issues....my brother in law told me that she was "breeding miniatures" of things too. That used to be her website and the puppies looked abnormal--she didn't even spell the breed names right (DUH???!!) and always had a definate "adult weight" listed (like you can predict that on a mixed breed??). I tried her website a while back and it was down or gone...so I hope she's done.

You should have heard the lady on the video when she recognized my friend who "tried to buy the puppy for his girlfriend"! LOL...she said something like, "I knew you were a little shit!" (excuse the language)...it's all on video...ahhh!

Hmmm....I wonder what it would take to create a group who would rescue dogs of breeders...

My mom will do whatever she can to help. Ending puppy mills is her passion. she's been busy doing rescues lately but would love to help shut down some of these scum bags. They are lower than dirt in the street. People that profit from making dogs like me suffer will rot someplace very very warm. I think there's a special place in hell for people that harm children and pets. Mom wears her stop puppy mills shirt all the time and talks to everyone about it(endlessly). Knowledge is the key. Would people really buy dogs from pet stores if they knew the conditions they came from? I think not. But most people don't think about where it came from. The stores make it so easy, "Just $25 per week and you can take him home". Agghhh. I think I just burst a blood vessel!

My mom took me to Uncle Bill's on Washington St., regretfully, that place is just the worst. She only needed to get a reptile gauge for humidity and temp, but knowing her she just HAD to look at the reptiles and other animals. ( She's reported this store many, many times. )

Well, long story short, this store is almost exactly like what you're describing at this puppy mill. Just ungodly awful!

She really wants this store shut down, but everytime she reports them, they just get a small fine and just carry on. Plus she worried about the poor animals and what would happen to them.

Any help?

I took in the 2 WGSD during that raid. It took me a year to get them healthy enough to go to their forever homes. And the female still didn't trust people, so she had to go to a special place where she only had contact with a few people. And you forget that about the black bugs that came running out of the dog food bag when it was opened and the camera light was shined down in it. I was trying to eat my supper when I was watching that, and stopped eating at that point. Margaret