The recent news headlines about 173 dogs being taken from a Central Nebraska Puppy Mill have a lot of people talking and asking questions.  People who know that I do animal rescue work come to me and want to know how this can happen, how people can live like this.  They want to know if Doberman Rescue of Nebraska took in any of the dogs.  They want to know what they can do about it.

 

The simple answer as to why people operate puppy mills is that they make money from it, plain and simple.  They breed their dogs just for the sake of having puppies, any quality of puppy will do.  They mass produce the dogs and sell the puppies to the unsuspecting public.  Who can resist a cute puppy?    These people find it to be an easy way to make money.

 

Whose fault is it?  Don’t blame just the people who operate puppy mills.  As long as they get money from it they will continue to do it.  The general public should buy puppies only from reputable breeders who have one breed and know that breed inside and out.  The breeder should understand breeding itself and care about what traits and health conditions are being put into that breeding and they should care about who is adopting their puppies.  A good breeder with quality animals cares as much about the dogs as they do about making money.

 

The question we are most asked is have we ever taken in any puppy mill dogs in our rescue group.  The answer to that is yes, we have.  Let me tell you a story, one dog’s story.

 

Meet Ruby, an 8 year old red, cropped and docked female.  She spent 7 years of her life being used as a breeding bitch in a puppy mill.  One day, she was rescued.

 

Ruby came to us covered in sores.  She could not stand upright and after a year with us, still cannot walk totally upright, from being kept in a cage that was too small for her.  In that cage she had countless litters of puppies.  She did not know the touch of human love or kindness or what it feels like to be a “real” dog.  She knew abuse, neglect and litter after litter of puppies.

 

Ruby came to us terrified of men and terrified, period.  She wasn’t fearful in an aggressive way.  She was just sad and withdrawn.  Her body had sores all over it and she walked crouched. (Note:  other puppy mill breeder females that have come to us had to learn how to walk so we were ahead of the game there with Ruby.)  Her ears had been haphazardly cropped.   For days she tried to just hide from her foster parents, afraid to trust, unaware of what life outside of a tiny cage is like.

 

Inside of Ruby is a big heart that could teach most human hearts a lesson.  Like her name, she is a jewel but she needed to be shined up a bit.  With a lot of love and gentle coaxing, she began to come out to her foster parents, and gradually she began to trust our male volunteers when they approached her.  Ruby has learned to forgive and to risk her heart to trust humans again.  This has come about because of the volunteers that have taken her to their hearts and gently loved her back into life again.

 

She’s been with us a year now, living in foster care.  She is what we call a “permanent” foster.  She will stay with her foster family unless the absolute perfect family comes to claim her.  If they don’t she has a home with her foster mom indefinitely.

 

To this day when she goes outside it is hard to convince her to come in the house.  She likes to go out and just lie in the yard and soak up the fresh air.  She is savoring freedom and the wind blowing in her hair and knowing that no one will ever hurt her again.  Sometimes she doesn’t want to eat each day.  Other days she wants to lie on the sofa and just rest.  When we go to visit her she is loving and full of kisses.  If you show love and gentleness to her she will let you sit by her side forever and just drink in that human kindness with a forgiving heart.  She has so much love to give.

 

We hope one day to place her with a retired person or couple who have no other pets who will just dote on her.  This is what she needs and deserves but they will have to be the perfect family – not just one who pities her – but one who understands the pain this dog has been through and has the ability to stick with her through thick and thin.

 

This is Ruby’s story but there are many like her.  If you are asking yourself what you can do this is what I suggest:  next time you want a dog, adopt a dog from your local shelter or private rescue group.  All of us have so many nice dogs that need a home and some times we do get puppies too.  If you must have a puppy, check out the breeder, meet the parents of the puppy you are selecting.  Know and understand the breed you are interested in and ask a lot of questions.  If the breeder can’t answer your questions and can’t show you the parents then look for one who will.  Try to stick to a breeder who doesn’t have multiple breeds of dogs.

 

Another thing we can all do is spay and neuter our pets.  Breeding dogs and cats is a lot more complicated than just putting two animals together to do their thing.  Most people have not researched and understood what it all entails.  Everyone wants to think their dog or cat is “the best” of the breed, but most likely, it is not.  There are so many unwanted animals.  Let’s do the responsible thing and not add to the unwanted population. 

 

If we all do our part maybe one day there won’t be any puppy mills to be raided and dogs like Ruby who live life in prison.