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Rescued West Virginia Puppy Mill Dogs to Reunite, Virtually

June 02, 2009, 11:2AM MT

By Fran Farrell

Reunion on June 6

Reunion on June 6

by Turner Houston, Best Friends network volunteer

Nine hundred and seventy-three dogs rescued in August, 2008, from a puppy mill in the wooded hills of West Virginia are going to have a chance to reunite, virtually, June 6th. The reunion, the brainchild of the Parkersburg, WV Humane Society president, Carrie Roe, will provide a way for the puppy mill dog adopters to share the “happy endings” to their dogs’ tales of rescue and homecoming.

“We do a ‘Walk Your Paws’ event each year to celebrate animals and animal lovers in our community. We especially love seeing the animals we have adopted out and the great families who adopt them. We see alumni from past years and it’s a wonderful time,” said Roe. “Maybe it was selfish on my part, but I wanted to be able to hear what had happened to the dogs that we rescued. I wanted to see them again and to know how their happy tales ended, so I thought we could invite all the rescued dogs to submit their photos and stories to us and we’d put them up on our website for all to see.”

The puppy mill bust of the Whispering Oaks Kennels was a coordinated effort between the Parkersburg Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society, Wood County law enforcement officials and the Humane Society of the United States. “It was like a dream,” said Roe. “It didn’t seem possible that we could get all 973 dogs out of that mill, but, between all the organizations and the dozens of volunteers helping us, we did get the dogs out and to vet care and temporary shelter in two days. The dogs were mostly small dogs—dachshunds, Chihuahuas, and poodles, and they were all confined, often four or five together in very small, filthy cages about two by three feet. It was horrible, the conditions in which they were kept.”

When asked what the bust was like, Roe said, “It wasn’t just going in and opening cages and carting off dogs; we actually were collecting evidence with the sheriff’s department and everything had to be done by the book. Still, I think I cried for about 24 hours straight. I cried when I saw all the people working together to rescue the dogs. I cried when I saw the dogs and the conditions they were in. It was very emotional.”

Once removed from the mill and tended to by vets, the dogs were divided up and sent to various shelters around the country to recover and be adopted out. The Parkersburg Humane Society kept about 60 dogs to adopt out locally, 40 young puppies and 20 adults. “It wasn’t difficult to get people interested in adopting these mostly purebred dogs, but it was hard to place the dogs in the exact right homes. Puppy mill rescue dogs are mostly un-housebroken, don’t know how to walk on grass, and are not usually socialized. They startle easily and many have medical problems—especially the older, breeding stock,” said Roe, when asked if it’s hard to find adopters for rescued dogs. “A lot of people wanted to help these rescued dogs, but we knew that we had to find them homes where people would spend a lot of time and patience on rehabilitating the animals. And, in the end, we did find the right homes for all the dogs.” Pictured at the top of this story are Cooper, adopted by Cindy Winnett of Virginia Beach, VA, playing with Winnett’s twin daughters.

Happy ending stories are beginning to come in to Roe; and a marketing firm, Stonewall Marketing, is doing the pro bono website creation for the virtual reunion. For example, the story of Dash, a dachshund adopted from the Virginia Beach SPCA by Elizabeth Linville.

“I adopted Dash (aka Sparky) from the Virginia Beach SPCA in late September. Most of the puppy mill dogs had tons of applications on them, but the shelter staff told me that my dog only had one other application on him. When I went to visit Dash in his cage, he ran up to me and jumped in my lap, and he even walked around me. I knew once he gave me a sweet look that I had to adopt him. When the shelter approved me to adopt him, I was so excited because I really wanted to give one of those puppy mill dogs a good home. The first three months were a little tough for Dash. He didn't really know how to walk on a leash, really didn't care about dog toys, or dog bones, and would shake when he got scared.

No matter what happened in those months I tried hard to love him and tried hard to show him what a good home looks like. When January and February came, Dash slowly started to come out of his shell by waking up every morning with his tail wagging and being happy. Every time Dash went through a new step, it made me so happy to see him enjoying his life more. Dash is a smaller dachshund but he has a heart that is bigger than he is because he loves where he lives and he loves living a normal life.”

Stories like these will be shared when the Virtual Reunion site launches June 6th, on the Parkersburg Humane Society’s website. If you’ve adopted one of the Whispering Oaks Kennel rescue dogs, please send your story and pictures to Carrie Roe at: reunion@hsop.org.

Photos courtesy of Carrie Roe
Posted by Fran Farrell, Best Friends copy editor

Want to learn how you can take action to help stop puppy mills like the Whispering Oaks Kennels? Check out the Best Friends Network resources.

Read about the original rescue in August, 2008.

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