by Jacques Von Lunen , Special to The Oregonian

Saturday May 30, 2009, 7:22 PM

About 100 dogs from a puppy mill in Washington arrived at the Oregon Humane Society today.

These miniature American Eskimo dogs are part of the 371 dogs seized Wednesday at a Kennewick, Wash., puppy mill owned by Ella Stewart, 66. Benton County sheriff’s officials and local animal rescue volunteers seized the dogs from Stewart’s home and housed them at the Benton County fairgrounds.

OHS was contacted by representatives of the Humane Society of the United States and offered to take 100 of the dogs.

Three vans left Portland this morning to pick up the dogs. Temperatures were high today in Kennewick, about 93 degrees, so the team tried to get the dogs to the Portland shelter as quickly as possible. OHS animal care manager Autumn White was on site and said that about half the dogs are in bad shape with urine burns and coats matted with fecal matter. OHS had volunteer groomers on standby for Sunday and Monday to help these animals.

– Jacques Von Lunen; pets@jvonlunen.com

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“We just were heartbroken, about how these animals were kept, and we want to make a change in their lives,” said Al Moser.

The dogs were given names and numbers. more than 400 people offered to adopt just 68 dogs.

The chosen families lined up at Evergreen State Fairgrounds, adoption fees in hand, to bring home a new priceless member of the family.

“She’s probably going to puppy heaven, the things she dreamed about is where she’s going to live,” said Jay Pruehner, who lives just miles from where the dogs were seized.

But compassion is not confined by boundaries.

“We have people who made it here today from Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, from Vancouver, Wash., from Blaine up on the border and all the way out in Port Angeles as well,” said Hilary Anne Hager, Shelter Activities Coordinator for Everett Animal Services.

KING

More than 60 dogs seized from a Gold Bar puppy mill went to new homes.

Among the wagging tails, sniffing and smiling was a touch of sadness. foster families, who helped nurse the animals back to health, had to say goodbye.

“It’s hard to give them up for adoption and stuff but he’s going to a great home,” said one “foster mom.”

Each adoptive family walked away with a starter kit of leashes and toys, but they left a promise.

“We’re going to give her a good home,” said Al Moser.

More than a 150 animals were originally siezed from the Gold Bar home. The rest will be available for adoption through the Everett Animal Shelter or other rescues.

The couple accused in the case face six charges for animal cruelty.

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As a nation, we claim to love cats and dogs. Millions of households have pets, and billions of dollars are spent yearly on pet supplies and food. But as a nation, we should take a hard, sobering look at a different annual statistic: the millions of dogs and cats given up to shelters or left to die on the streets. And the numbers tell only half the story.

Every cat or dog who dies as a result of pet overpopulation—whether humanely in a shelter or by injury, disease, or neglect—is an animal who, more often than not, would have made a wonderful companion, if given the chance. Tremendous as the problem of pet overpopulation is, it can be solved if each of us takes just one small step, starting with not allowing our animals to breed. Here’s information about this crisis and why spaying and neutering is the first step to a solution.

Visit http://www.brightlion.com/ for more information.

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A Skagit County judge should compel the owners of an massive puppy mill operation that was uncovered by investigators to pay for the costs of the hundreds of animals rescued from the operation.

SKAGIT County prosecutors were right to ask a Superior Court judge to force two people charged in a massive puppy-mill operation to post bonds for the animals’ care — and the owners should.

The judge should agree and compel the defendants to help clean up the mess they made.

Cash-strapped animal shelters should not have to bear all the costs of caring for the hundreds of sick and diseased puppies seized during raids last month.

Some 600 dogs were rescued from two homes in Snohomish and Skagit counties and since then, local shelters and animal advocates have scrambled to provide care. About 80 percent of the dogs were pregnant and some have required costly medical treatment. Donations and a community fundraiser have helped, but the costs go beyond puppy chow.

The animal shelter in Skagit County has incurred $30,000 in expenses so far for the 70 dogs in its care.

A mass adopt-a-thon would ease shelter budgets and offer the puppies respite from the hell they’ve been through. Indeed, animal shelters ought to be the starting place for any would-be pet owner. But for now, the puppies remain evidence in a criminal trial. Technically, they are still the property of their owner while the case is adjudicated.

That could be awhile. Meanwhile, expenses mount. Dogs kept in cramped, unsanitary conditions tend to have health and socialization problems that could cost plenty to resolve.

A glimpse of what is faced by the puppies and those who care for them can be see through the eyes of Ruth Brombaugh. The elderly widow answered a classified ad and envisioned the Yorkshire terrier she purchased as a healthy, good companion and one who would alert her to strangers.

Instead, she ended up with nearly $1,200 in veterinary bills for a dog that was deaf, couldn’t bark and had to undergo a cesarean section to deliver two stillborn puppies.

Charging papers show similar complaints date back to the late 1990s. Someone ought to pay. The judge should start with the defendants.

Technorati Tags: animal shelters, puppy mills, shelter dogs

by Carrie Kahn

 

Carrie Kahn/NPR

Animal welfare workers hold two foreign puppy mill survivors that were sold at auction recently in Los Angeles: a miniature Yorkshire terrier and a miniature Maltese.

 

 

 

Carrie Kahn/NPR

Debbie Garringer of Claremont, Calif., holds one of the two dogs she won at the auction. Garringer paid $2,000 for this miniature Maltese.

 

 

 

Carrie Kahn/NPR

Hundreds of people turned out to bid on 10 purebred puppies at L.A.’s East Valley Animal Shelter. The auction raised more than $20,000 — money that will go to the city’s animal shelters.

 

 

NPR.org, December 30, 2008 · Purebred dogs go for top dollar in pet stores around the country, but buyers of cute, cuddly puppies may not know that some come from unregulated breeding mills overseas. So-called puppy-mill dogs are showing up sick and dehydrated at major airports around the country.

In Los Angeles, one recent shipment of dead and ailing puppies from South Korea got the city’s attention. Twenty of the dogs in the shipment seized at Los Angeles International Airport either had died or had to be euthanized after the trip. The 10 survivors were turned over to the city’s shelter.

Five months later, those survivors — five miniature Maltese and five tiny Yorkshire terriers — were ready for adoption. Hundreds of animal lovers, many wrapped in blankets to keep warm, lined up on a chilly morning in front of L.A.’s East Valley Animal Shelter for a chance to bid on the dogs.

Ed Boks, the general manager of L.A. Animal Services, was thrilled at the turnout. City law requires him to hold an auction when more than one person wants an animal.

"I want to begin with a few facts that you won’t commonly hear from your local pet store with respect to where animals, puppies just like this, can often times go for $3,500 or more," he told the crowd.

Boks said the 10 minipurebreds arrived with forged health certificates. The documents put their ages at 5 months, but they were actually only 5 weeks old.

"These puppies are the product of a cruel, factory-style dog breeding operation that produces animals with chronic health problems, temperament issues and hereditary defects, so our message to all of you this morning is buyer beware," he warned.

Overseas Puppy Mills Proliferate

Puppy mills began proliferating overseas about five years ago, at about the same time that U.S. authorities started cracking down on unscrupulous domestic breeders.

Tom Sharp of the American Kennel Club says that’s when he started seeing bulldogs arriving from Russia and Yorkies from South Korea. With the help of the Internet, Sharp says, dishonest pet stores and breeders could easily get puppies overseas.

"That way, they don’t have to be inspected by the different organizations and the governments here in the U.S., and avoid all the requirements," he says.

Right now, the only federal requirement an importer has to follow is to provide proof of a current rabies vaccine — documentation that is easily forged.

Federal regulators say that rule was written at a time when the only dogs coming into the United States were companion pets. Nina Marano of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Congress just passed a law banning the importation of dogs under 6 months old for resale.

But Marano says it will take at least two years for the ban to be enforced.

"We can try to regulate our way out of it, but another part is, I think, the issue about demand — that there needs to be a lot more public education about the demand that is being created for these puppies," she says.

A Winning Bid

The demand was high for Los Angeles’ puppy-mill survivors.

One winning bidder was Debbie Garringer. "I was really lucky, and I’m happy, so happy, and I will take care of it so much and it will have a beautiful home," she said.

All 10 of the purebred puppy-mill survivors got new homes, as did 52 other pets from the shelter. In all, Animal Services raised more than $20,000 and got its message out: Adopt, don’t shop.

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