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Meet the Dogs Rescued from the Missouri Auction: Part One

February 14, 2008, 12:52PM MT

By Kelli Ohrtman

The beginning of a real life in Colorado

The beginning of a real life in Colorado

Last weekend, rescue groups from Colorado and Utah traveled to Missouri to attend a dog auction, and to pick up dogs that breeders were giving away. Click here to read the original story about the recent Missouri dog auction.

Click here to read Part Two, beginning a real life in Utah

“I would say that by a landslide, this bunch of dogs is the healthiest we have ever gotten,” said Theresa Strader of Mill Dog Rescue Network (MDRN) in Colorado Springs. She’s made several trips to Missouri to pick up “breeder dump” dogs. Her theory as to why so many of the dogs are young and relatively healthy this time? “I have a feeling that many of these were Christmas puppies that didn’t sell.” Maybe that’s why breeders gave away cute Cockapoo and salt and pepper Schnauzer puppies. They didn’t sell and all they were doing is sitting around, costing money to feed.

“I say this is the healthiest bunch, and it is, but we’ve got two Shelties in the ICU at the vet right now that I worry aren’t going to make it,” Theresa said. She knows that the Shelties in the group had been living in rabbit hutches—some for nearly a decade. One has an open pyometra; her uterus is infected and filled with pus, a life-threatening condition that unspayed dogs are prone to. The second Sheltie is in liver failure.

Theresa has made one little Chihuahua her personal “project” dog for the time being. “She’s a tiny little thing, looks like she’s full of puppies, and she’s a fear biter.” The rest of the dogs are simply exhibiting behavior common to dogs that have been kept in cages with little or no socialization or handling. “When a 12-week old puppy won’t look you in the eye, that says a lot about how they’ve been raised,” Theresa said.

Why Go to Auctions?
Theresa explained, “We go to the auctions because a lot of those dogs go for next to nothing, and we want to watch out for those guys. I have a great affinity for older dogs, and those are usually the ones that go for next to nothing.” But unfortunately, the older dogs are the ones with the most medical needs. Most have rotten mouths from years of drinking from rabbit-style water bottles, some have skin conditions and a few have serious eye problems. Dogs suffer these preventable or treatable conditions in the breeding facilities, but there, they go untreated. The majority of the 250+ dogs that have been through MDRN are not from auctions, but were given away by breeders who didn’t want them anymore. If rescue wasn’t there and willing to take dogs, they’d be disposed of by other means.

MDRN has space on the property to house thirty dogs, and Theresa stays firm about not bringing in more dogs than the space can comfortably hold. So it was a good thing that she had pre-arranged help from other Colorado groups who were there to meet the van and pick up dogs that they would foster and find suitable homes for. To contact other participating groups to help or adopt a Missouri dog, click on the links below:

-Pueblo Collie/Sheltie Rescue

-Teller County Regional Animal Shelter

-Every Creature Counts

Good Guys, Bad Guys and Getting the Word Out
Auctions are attended by hundreds of breeders who see no problem with their chosen occupation; the name of the game is money, and the industry is legal and accepted by state and federal governments. Meanwhile, sitting right beside them to raise her bid card when the most pathetic animals are brought out, is Theresa. People know she’s there to rescue dogs, and while that is tolerated, the breeders, brokers and the people who put on the auction do NOT like “animal rights activists” and they’re not wild about dog rescue groups either. In the same way that a room filled with 200 rescuers find the idea of commercial dog breeding and pet stores sickening, a room filled with breeders dislikes the idea of rescuers.

“What’s crazy about this is that rescuers spend sleepless nights and money we don’t have to save these dogs, and we’re the bad guys. Everyone is looking down on us in that environment.”

But when the rescue group leaves that environment, their reception is very different. The other goal of MDRN, in addition to being a safety net for unwanted dogs from the pet industry, is to educate. Two days after they arrived home from the Missouri trip, Theresa and volunteer Helen Freeman gave a presentation to high school seniors at a school for the deaf and blind. They talked about the commercial dog breeding industry, and how the dogs bred in it are the same ones that you find in pet stores around the country.

It’s no surprise that the young people in the audience asked the most important question in this fight against the problems with the pet trade. Theresa said, “There was one kid who asked again and again, ‘how is this legal?’

Click here to watch the story on FOX 21 news

How you can help:
-To learn more about dog auctions and what can be done about them, see the “what you can do” section of this news piece.

-Mill Dog Rescue Network is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that relies on donations to pay for dogs’ medical care. Theresa said no donation is too small, and every dollar counts. “If ten people donate five dollars, that’s a spay.” For more information about donating to MDRN, visit their website at www.milldogrescue.org.

They always need supplies to help care for and clean up after the dogs, including:
Towels
Paper towels
Bleach

For information on how to adopt a dog from MDRN, visit their Adoptions page.

Photos of the dogs were taken and kindly donated by Nanette Martin, professional photographer and animal welfare advocate. To learn more about her award-winning work, visit her website: www.nanettemartin.com

Comments

Posted February 19, 2008, 2:3PM by scratchtopaz

Thank you Kelli for sharing this infuriatingly sad story. As a person interested in the welfare of animals it is unacceptable to me to see companion animals viewed as some kind of stock item. I just wonder how anyone making a buck off the pet trade industry can have one good night sleep without being haunted by the misery that they cause. Thank you Best Friends for helping bring the sickening practice of commercial kennel facilities to light!

Posted February 14, 2008, 1:19PM by cattees

Happy tears!

Posted February 20, 2008, 11:30AM by KelliO

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know that the chocolate Lab (#14) whose picture was in another Network story was from a previous situation, not the recent auction. The GREAT news is that she went into rescue and was adopted by a patient and understanding family. We might get have a more detailed update on her soon!

Posted February 15, 2008, 1:24PM by bogiedew

I know..#14 haunts me..my heart aches for him. I want to scream everytime I see his picture.

Posted February 14, 2008, 1:58PM by carrie_fosters

I held my breath, hoping to find sweet #14's face among the rescues. I know . . . what a dreamer. Thank you so much for these educational articles! And many thanks to Theresa, MDRN and others doing this work. I honestly never thought there was a good enough "excuse" to buy from millers but this has been enlightening.

Posted February 18, 2008, 3:43PM by snowflake

Does anyone know what happened to #14?? His/her face haunts me too!!!

Posted February 21, 2008, 12:25PM by snowflake

Thank you, thank you, KelliO!!!!! :-)

Posted February 21, 2008, 12:54PM by rmlamasney25

Oh, thank God! I am so glad she is out of that horror! What's her name and how is she doing? #14 needs a name, was all I kept thinking, and a soft bed, and people to love her....an update, please?! Thank you Kelli!

Posted February 20, 2008, 1:14PM by bogiedew

Thank you KelliO for the update on #14!!! Her picture was so heartbreaking..I know we are all happy to know she was adopted. And an update would be wonderful!
BIG sigh of relief. Now I can look at the picture and stop closing my eyes whenever I open up that story!

Posted February 15, 2008, 7:25PM by rmlamasney25

I looked for little #14, too....my heart aches every time my sweet girl puts her head on my lap and looks up with her big brown eyes so full of love...and I think, that was #14's birthright, too, as a domesticated dog, to live with caring loving people with all his needs met. Instead he is a slave.

Posted February 20, 2008, 2:51PM by carrie_fosters

Thanks so much, Kelli! I think it's good you let her photo haunt us all for so long, though. We can't forget how many others did NOT make it out!

Posted February 20, 2008, 2:49PM by cattees

Whee! Great news re No. 14 - thanks KelliO!!