Puppy Mill Horrors - A Life of Abuse and Torture for Dogs

The bane of existence for dogs, a life of neglect, abuse, torture and suffering, and when they have outlived their usefulness, an often brutal ending! Disease, malnutrition, dehydration, sickness and death flourish in cramped filthy cages, freezing in the winter, scorching in the summer. Females bred and over-bred from their first 'heat' cycle through every subsequent one until their bodies are so used up and broken down that death is a welcome release for them. They never know a kind word or a gentle touch.

And please believe me when I say that my description barely touches on the reality. If you have a strong enough stomach and hard enough heart, you can do a search engine query for 'puppy mill' and look at the images and read the horror stories.

Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania are known as the major puppy mill states but as you'll see from the few examples below, puppy mills are not confined to just these states. You can find them in any state, mostly in the more rural areas. Most of the time the owners skate right on the edge of the law, but they know, no matter how much they deny it, that what they're doing is not right, so they try to 'hide' their dirty little operations out of sight.

With recent heightened awareness of animal cruelties and abuses and more advocates fighting for ends to these abuses, you are seeing more and more of these inhumane 'commercial breeders,' as they call themselves, under scrutiny, raided, closed down and their owners finally facing charges of cruelty and abuse.

Burns, Idaho - Officials rescued 198 dog plus other animals from horrid conditions, living in their own feces and urine, no food or water in sight and owner, 60 yr old Dorothy Schatz charged with numerous counts of animal cruelty.