((PKG)) PUPPY MILLS
((Banner: Ending Puppy Mills))
((Reporter/Camera: Zahid Khattak))
((Map: Washington, D.C. area))
((NATS))
((John Goodwin, Director, “Stop Puppy Mills” Campaign, Humane Society of the United States))
In the United States, we love dogs. Dogs are standard parts of our family and yet, we still have millions of dogs who end up homeless for some reason or another and end up in animal shelters. And so, there's a large movement to adopt those dogs, to go to a shelter first to find a homeless animal who's had bad luck and needs a good place to go, because these are good animals.
((NATS))
((John Goodwin, Director, “Stop Puppy Mills” Campaign, Humane Society of the United States))
You see puppies for sale, or you see a website selling puppies. Remember, these are places that require a large volume of puppies to meet their demand. These are the kinds of places that go to puppy mills, but they're never going to tell you that. You can't walk into a pet store and know where the dogs came from because they try to hide that.
((NATS))
((John Goodwin, Director, “Stop Puppy Mills” Campaign, Humane Society of the United States))
Larger operations that keep the mother dogs in cages, oftentimes their paws never touching a blade of grass and sometimes these dogs are even killed when they're no longer able to produce enough litters.
((NATS))
((John Goodwin, Director, “Stop Puppy Mills” Campaign, Humane Society of the United States))
Puppy mills are still widespread throughout the United States. There are at least 10,000 puppy mills in the United States alone, producing over two million puppies a year.
((NATS))
((John Goodwin, Director, “Stop Puppy Mills” Campaign, Humane Society of the United States))
We get a lot of tips from people in the general public, who go to humane society.org, to contact us and let us know about a puppy mill that they're suspecting is operating in their community. And we will take that information to law enforcement and if a law is being broken, then law enforcement can get a search warrant and go in and see the cruelty or the neglect, and hopefully seize the dogs and take them to an animal shelter.
((NATS))
((John Goodwin, Director, “Stop Puppy Mills” Campaign, Humane Society of the United States))
When a group of dogs are rescued from a puppy mill, the first thing is that they need to be evaluated by a veterinarian. Some of them are going to have medical conditions that need to be treated immediately. After that, we put them in a temporary animal shelter, if it's a small area that doesn't have a nice facility for them to go to, or if it's an urban area, there may already be a good shelter and take them to. And eventually, the city or the community is able to take custody of the dogs and they can then be given to new homes where they can get a second chance at life, hopefully living in a loving atmosphere instead of a tiny cage.
((NATS))
((John Goodwin, Director, “Stop Puppy Mills” Campaign, Humane Society of the United States))
My dog was in an animal shelter and rescued, and she has rewarded me with so much love and attention and affection. She's really made my life better. It makes me question who rescued whom?
((NATS))
