News
It is Time for Dogs to Run Free from Puppy Mills!
May 13, 2009, 12:40PM MT
By Becky Monroe
A look back at my year of experience with dog auctions...
A look back at my year of experience with dog auctions...
By Becky Monroe, Best Friends Network Volunteer
I woke up last night to find Penelope snuggled against my side. She was laying on her back, legs wide open: she trusted me and she trusted where she was.
It has been nine weeks since the Thorp Auction. Nine weeks for me to come to some consensus on what it all means.
The auction barn where the dogs are kept.
It’s actually taken me over a year to understand the very Hell I walked into last March 12, 2008. And, truthfully, I still don’t understand.
I have become numb, angered, disgusted, embarrassed, and completely disturbed by the whole puppy mill business. I am trying to figure out why it exists in a world as modernized and supposedly, compassionate as ours.
On March 11, 2009 I attended my third auction. Unlike the others before, I had a designated mission. I knew which dogs from the dreaded auction list I would save. I raised money by begging friends and family and regardless of any of my emotions; I knew I would get the six dogs out.
Five of them were Chinese crested powder puffs. They were all from the same litter; only seven months old. When I saw them on the list, I was immediately taken. A year ago, it was a 4 ½ year old, male Chinese crested powder puff who stole my heart and changed my life. Thorp, as we call him, is part of my family now and a part of my life that always reminds me just how bad puppy mills are.
There was no doubt that I would have to get those five pups out. It was my responsibility. Knowing that Chinese Crested Rescue and Elmbrook Humane would help foster and place them, I also knew that, I, personally, would have to choose another dog who needed me. Another dog who I would foster and place as a small part of my contribution to save the world or at least educate people around me about the horror behind pet store windows that they never really see.
CC is now free.
When the auction list came out, as every time before, I was sickened and heartbroken. That list makes it all so real and all too horrible. Hundreds of dogs listed as though they were soulless. As though they had no beating heart or wagging tail, they are listed like commodities not pets.
I stare at that list when it comes out. I try to picture each of the dogs and then I always feel that lump in my throat. The lump that reminds me: none of these dogs realize that their fate is about to change; maybe for the better or maybe for the worse.
I hate that these innocent creatures are forced to be dependent on people who have no regard for their loyalty, their compassion and their unending desire to please. They are nothing to these people and yet they are everything to me – to each and every rescuer who is crying at the list and agonizing who to save and what it will take to end this travesty.
I left the decision to a dear friend of mine, Ellen. We became friends while volunteering at our local animal control. She knows me better than I know myself and whenever I am gone, she cares for my animals with such amazing patience and love.
Within minutes she picked one of the oldest dogs on the list. A 4 ½ year old female shih tzu whose listing read, “Good mother, in heat next week.”
Undoubtedly, the poor dog had been bred often and certainly needed a way out. Without knowing anymore or ever seeing her, I knew she was the one for me.
A week passed and the auction was here. The drive, the protestors outside, the parking lot and the walk into the auction barn had become all too familiar to me. I was numb to all of it.
The day was bleak and unbearably cold. Thirty five degrees below zero with the wind chill. It was frigid and yet, the inside of the barn was even colder. Unlike many people’s assumption that the dogs would be healthier, cleaner: they were not. The dogs were huddled in the backs of the wire cages, many of them matted, ill, and bearing obvious scars of being bred again and again.
Ironically, an English bulldog had a Band Aid on him… Yes, a Band Aid to hide the horrible, infected wound he had. The Band Aid fell off as did many of the masks these puppy mill people hide behind. Looking at the numerous cages and seeing the ugly truth glaring at me, left me breathless.
This rescued puggle will now know a loving home.
The crowd was huge and if anyone looked closely, they could see that many in the crowd were rescuers and of those, many were here for the first time. It was actually easy to spot them; they were the ones wiping the tears from their eyes and desperately looking for the hope that there were other people here just like them.
I remember feeling like that a year ago. I remember holding my breath and wiping tears. I remember being completely aghast at what I was seeing. I mostly remember feeling very alone.
I was focused on finding the Chinese cresteds and the shih tzu I promised to myself I would save. But, I was also busy connecting to other rescuers who, through email, had befriended me.
In some ways, I found it very sad to have become a part of this underground world of puppy mill auctions. I found myself in what was now familiar territory amongst the devil and his people. Could anything be scarier than that?
But, however unfortunate the situation, there was comfort in knowing I had become a part of a strong force. There were many of us bonded by a desire to not just save as many dogs as we could on this frigid day, but to find a way to end this business all together.
Our force wasn’t just comprised of people inside looking frantically into cages of despair; there was an entire army of protestors outside. They were letting others know that this is wrong and horrible. The protestors held that line outside for over six hours in the unthinkable cold all in the name of expressing the very unthinkable which was going on inside the auction barn.
While for weeks prior to the auction, many rescuers declared they were unable to rescue either due to lack of funds or a personal conflict with contributing to the business, the day of the auction 70 percent of the dogs went to rescue.
Proud and relieved, we loaded vans and cars and trucks with frightened dogs. I was able to get all five of the Chinese crested powder puffs out and to give them hope of a new life.
Susan and Becky are ready with a load of rescued dogs.
It is a rush to be part of something almost miraculous. It is a miracle to the dogs who get out—the ones who find a new home, a cozy blanket to finally sleep on and a loving family to call their own.
But beyond the unimaginable fear of looking back and watching an Amish puppy miller walk-out with a handful of pups and knowing what their future entails, is the gut wrenching fact: we just contributed to their profit and propelled the very business we despise.
And that is where I find myself at the moment: completely torn and disheartened.
Just a few weeks ago, a fellow rescuer attended an auction in Missouri. They came back with so many dogs and reported to us some of the saddest news I have heard to date. Many of the dogs they bought went for under $5.00. And there were a bunch of dogs who they purchased for $.01 – A PENNY. A penny for a life – a soul with a wagging tail.
I realize people give away dogs for free… but seeing a dog in an auction and sold for a penny, only demonstrates how little value these loving creatures have to the people in this business. A penny screams “this animal is worthless to me.”
Both IL and WI are in the midst of introducing anti-puppy mill bills. I have written and pleaded and like everyone else, I wait to hear the fate not just of the mill business but of the millions of silent barks waiting to be freed.
To buy or not buy isn’t really the question. The only question that matters is what will it take for both legislators and their constituents to believe what so many of us have witnessed? What do they need to see or experience to understand the inhumanity of it all?
All I know is this…the 4 ½ year old shih tzu, who I saved, is now known as Penelope. It’s questionable if I will be able to adopt her to anyone but myself. But, regardless of her past, she is the happiest little dog I have ever met. To imagine what her life has been like… her nipples are so enlarged, her paws were so matted that I couldn’t even see the pads or the nails and her teeth looked like someone glued concrete to them. To imagine that kind of neglect and to realize how resilient she is - is hope that the future WILL change.
Most of all, to see her lay, snuggled up against me as I sleep is a deep seeded reminder that dogs are not things or machines, they are little souls who long to be loved and who deserve, at the very least, respect and dignity.
Penelope is one of the lucky ones.
It is time to give dogs the dignity and the respect they deserve. Stuffing them in wire crates, in both frigid and scornful temperatures, literally ripping out their offspring and selling them under false pretense is plain and simply: WRONG.
In my 38 years of life, I have always maintained a positive outlook. A never ending belief that things will get better in time. However, in just one year, all of my beliefs about all people being inherently good has failed me. No good people treat animals this way and no good government sits back and watches it.
A group of rescuers and dogs at Clark County Humane following the auction.
Our world has both suffered and evolved, it is time to end the suffering for these dogs and it is time to evolve into compassionate humane beings.
Please call, phone, email your legislators and demand change. Unless they hear it from you, they will continue to believe that this issue is not important.
Currently, there is a petition to show support for the anti-puppy mill legislation circulating in WI through the NO WI Puppy MILL organization: http://www.nowisconsinpuppymills.com
Please sign it at:
http://www.surveyconsole.com/console/TakeSurvey?id=351478
You can also read more about the puppy mills and the pet trade:
http://network.bestfriends.org/truth/news/
Photo credit: lead photo by Becky Monroe (Penelope free at last!)
Other photos courtesy of Jody Hunter