Better days ahead for 173 rescued dogs
UPDATE June 14: Best Friends made a visit to Nebraska Humane Society and brought ten dogs back to the sanctuary in Utah. Click here to read more. Also visit the Forums tab on this community to see photos and read stories from the dogs' foster homes! Click here to go to the forum.By Kelli Ohrtman: Best Friends NetworkSix animal control trucks, a borrowed zoo transport van, and a mobile adoption unit rolled into the Nebraska Humane Society at 11:00 last Wednesday night, carrying a very precious cargo. 173 dogs were unloaded, triaged by a team of vets and shelter staff and then left alone with clean bedding, dim lighting and soothing music. The dogs had made it out of a puppy mill—the only place some had ever called home.
By the next morning, a few of the little dogs had ventured out of their travel crates. Some have already started to warm up to shelter staff. By Saturday, most had had baths—probably the first in a very long time. “They feel so much better, it’s unbelievable,” said Pam Wiese, the shelter’s vice president of marketing and public relations.
Though many of the dogs are still scared and confused, life is already infinitely better than where they came from.
Last week the shelter got a call from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture; they asked for help in a very serious case. A state inspector had uncovered severe neglect and cruelty at a commercial breeder’s facility, and wanted to know if the shelter would take over 170 dogs if the owner would relinquish them. When Judy Varner, the shelter’s CEO heard about the conditions, she said “Absolutely; we can if you guys get this worked out.” The breeder was selling puppies over the Internet to unsuspecting buyers who had no idea what kind of a breeder he really was. Maybe his website looked great, but the reality behind it was a nightmare.
Luckily, the breeder agreed to surrender his dogs instead of going to court to fight the possible charges of animal neglect and cruelty. From that moment, his dogs were on a fast track to a new and better life.
Medical OverloadIt’s cause for celebration every time a bad breeder is shut down, but with that comes the responsibility of scores of dogs with mental and physical problems—sometimes severe problems. Dogs from puppy mills are often afraid of people, don’t know what living in a home is all about, and are often riddled with disease and other physical problems. That all adds up to an immense amount of work, patience, manpower, and money.
Pam said, “In terms of care, it’s probably going to be about a $50,000 investment before we’re all done.”
Most of the rescue’s hefty price tag will go toward surgery. “Out of 170 dogs, all but two have to have dentals, and ten need knee surgery immediately; several more will need knee surgery someday, but it’s not as urgent.” said Judy. Dental and knee problems are common in puppy mill dogs, especially small breeds like these. There are Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, Cairn and West highland white terriers, Poodles, Bichons and mixes of all of the above. All will need to be spayed or neutered. But the surgeries will get done over time, thanks to dedicated staff and area veterinarians who have offered to help. What’s going to be more difficult than fixing the dogs medically, is helping them mentally.
“We’ll be seeing some behavior issues common with animals that have had very little social contact, and also have been kept in very small places,” Pam said. She explained that as horrible as it was, some of the dogs were probably born in the puppy mill and have never known anything else. To put them in an environment where they get daily interaction with people who love and care for them can be completely overwhelming.
Going into a home can be just as difficult. Dogs from puppy mills usually don’t know how to do normal things like walk on grass or slippery floors, go up or down stairs, or meet new people. They don’t know about things like car rides and walks on a leash. In short, they don’t know what it’s like to be someone’s pet.
But these dogs are also survivors.
Nebraska’s breeder Problem
The pictures from the breeders “kennel” are as shocking as most busted puppy mills. The cages were tiny and filthy, with four or five dogs kept together in enclosures made of chicken wire. Spoiled food, feces and other garbage was strewn about the property. These conditions are enough to make one wonder how things are allowed to get so bad with both federal and state laws in place that are supposed to regulate commercial dog breeding.
Rick Herchenbach, Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s inspector of dog and cat commercial breeding kennels said, “We have approximately 400 licensed breeders in Nebraska.” Breeders don’t have to be USDA licensed unless they want to sell to pet stores or pet brokers, so for many a state license is all that’s needed to set up shop and start breeding animals.
The state also licenses boarding kennels, animal control facilities, shelters, and pet stores. Rick said, “When you combine all those areas, we’re pushing about 675 licensed facilities right now in Nebraska.” Currently, facilities are not inspected before permits are given out. In fact, they’re not inspected at all unless a complaint is filed with the department. Rick put it this way: “As far as any pre inspection or annual inspection, there’s none required right now in Nebraska.”
In theory, and what could have happened with this particular breeder, is that a person can operate for quite some time until a complaint finally comes in and Rick has reason to go check out the property. With around 400 licensed commercial breeders in the state, there’s no telling how many others have similar or worse conditions that no one has noticed or reported yet. Another problem is the number of inspectors to oversee all breeders and other kennels. Rick said, “I am the only inspector.”
Better Days AheadOnce the breeder’s conditions were discovered, Elizabeth Waterman, Dawson County Attorney, helped negotiate with the breeder to get the dogs out of a bad situation forever.
His surrender of the dogs to the Nebraska Humane Society, Elizabeth said, “Gets us in a position where we can save the dogs and get them on a fast track to finding new homes.” Everyone involved preferred this outcome instead of facing a drawn-out court case, with the dogs waiting in limbo. Elizabeth added that, “Part of the agreement for no prosecution was that he will not obtain any more dogs.”
In the meantime, the dogs are settling into their new environment at the Omaha shelter. Judy said, “Our vet community is phenomenal, in fact we had a vet come yesterday and take three dogs with her, and thirty are going to Boulder on Friday.”
Everyone is looking forward to seeing the dogs go into loving homes after the unfair and cruel life they’ve endured so far. Shelter staff is prioritizing surgeries and hopes to have the first dogs ready for adoption as soon as next week. Pam said that people have already asked about adopting dogs from the puppy mill.
What is most needed now is monetary support to help get the dogs well and to cover their care. Pam said, “I know that some of these guys are going to be long-term holds, I know that some are going to need surgical care. We want to put the money where it needs to go, which for these dogs will be the medical fund.”
Even with the extra care and time needed for 170 new dogs, Pam said, “We still get animals in every day.” Judy said the average daily intake can be, “As low as thirty and as high as over a hundred.” In fact, the new bunch aren’t the only dogs at the shelter who ended up there as a direct result of the commercial dog breeding industry. Pam said, “We got two little fluffballs in last week that someone bought in a pet store and then decided they couldn’t handle them because they were puppies, so they brought them to us.”
How you can help:Want to help the dogs rescued from the puppy mill? Click here to donate to the shelter.For the latest updates on the dogs, click here to visit the NHS website.Photos courtesy of Nebraska Humane Society=====================================================
Click here to read the story in the Rocky Mountain NewsClick here to read the story in the Omaha World HeraldVisit Nebraska on the Networkhttp://network.bestfriends.org/nebraska/news/