Puppy mills: national attention; a local problem
April 8th, 2008 by admin
The tragedy of puppy mills received some much-needed attention last week.
Perhaps you saw Friday’s heartbreaking Oprah Winfrey Show which investigated puppy mills in Pennsylvania. Or maybe you read the article in Sunday’s Palm Beach Post about a private animal shelter in Boca Raton that rescued 40 dogs from a puppy mill in Missouri. The Post article included this excellent summary of the problem:
“Puppy mills are commercial breeding centers where dogs often are confined to small wire cages with no bedding or protection from heat and cold. They get little food and water, and often no veterinary care. So they suffer from untreated illnesses, infections and injuries. Often the mills are dark, filthy warehouses where the dogs are forced to breathe the stench of their feces, piled high under their cages. Females are bred continuously until they die. At as young as 4 weeks, puppies are taken from their mothers, packed several to a crate and sent to pet stores across the country, including to Florida.”
But puppy mills are not a problem that’s limited to Missouri or Pennsylvania.
Today’s Tampa Tribune reported that 120 dogs were seized Monday afternoon from the home of a breeder in Tarpon Springs. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office described conditions at the property as “deplorable.” According to a sheriff’s office press release, the dogs were living in small wire cages, “most of the dogs were living in their own feces and urine and some were injured or otherwise in need of medical attention.” The breeder, Teresita Hughes, sold Pomeranians, Maltese and Yorkshire Terriers through her website business, Raffinan Kennel. The dogs were for sale between $1000-$2000. The website boasted that the dogs were “CKC [Continental Kennel Club] Registered.” Charges are pending.
In another case involving a Florida breeder, a woman in Deland was arrested in February for violating Florida’s Pet Lemon Law after she sold sick animals using fraudulent health certificates. The breeder, Cheryl Lee Tyler, also sold animals through a now-offline website.
It’s astounding to us that people are willing to buy an animal from a website, but we hope that the message is getting out- that purchasing an animal from a breeder or a pet store, however well-intentioned, only encourages cruel breeders and contributes to the pet overpopulation crisis.
You Can Help
1. You can help prevent this suffering by promoting spaying and neutering, and by encouraging people to adopt animals from shelters rather than purchasing them from breeders or pet stores.2. Senate Bill 444, introduced by Sen. Larcenia Bullard, would strengthen Florida’s “Pet Lemon Law” by transferring the power to regulate the sale of dogs and cats in Florida to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The bill would also strengthen penalties for violations (allowing fines of up to $10,000), and provide funding to add one additional full-time employee to enforce the rules. Contact your state senator and ask him or her to support this bill (click here to find your elected officials).