Faces of a Puppy Mill

Amy carrying a Yorkie the day of the rescue

Mickey after a good
grooming session

Happy boy Taz at his foster
parent's house

Mickey and Taz -
comfy on the couch!

Amy, "Mickey" & "Taz"

This wasn't the first rescue I'd been on over the years, and it took me a while to pinpoint what made this one seem worse than the others.  The other houses I'd entered that had this many animals were the homes of animal collectors - situations that had gotten out of hand.  The difference was the animals in those other houses, as bad as conditions were, had all gotten there because of caring.  The seed that started those animal colonies was love and concern.  This was the first rescue I'd been on where the entire motivation of keeping these dogs was greed.  Very few of the dogs we removed were slated to be sold to good, loving homes.  No, these were the breeders.  Their entire lives had been spent in those cages, and their futures were doomed to them as well.

My husband and I are fostering two of the male Pomeranians, who we've named Mickey and Taz.  I fell in love with Taz when I was working with the pups, and when I took him home to foster, Mickey came along for the ride.  Both pups are eager to please.  Neither knew how to walk on a leash, but we're working on it.  We're also working on housebreaking.  They now know to do their main business outside, but being unneutered males, they still have an urge to lift their little legs now and again.  They've had baths and I've been grooming them, and they're looking much better.  Anyone that watched the news reports may remember pictures of Taz and his long, curling toenails, so long that he couldn't walk.  I've also bought a toothbrush and some beef flavored toothpaste at the pet store, and I'm hoping to make a little headway on cleaning their blackened, rotting teeth.

Mickey, Taz, our two cats and I spend a lot of time together on the couch.  The more time we spend, the more I can't bear the thought that they were housed in wire-bottom cages, overcrowded and soaked in urine.  They walked around in their own feces, and I wonder if they ate it in an attempt to keep the cages clean like I saw some of them doing right after the rescue.  It's heartbreaking, really, imagining them living this way and wondering how many others around the country are housed in similar or even worse conditions.

What a disgrace.

Amy
Volunteer
Suncoast Animal League