Printed on August 27, 2007
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Puppy Mills Exposed
Lead Investigator
Last Chance For Animals
When Last Chance For Animals' Special Investigations Unit (SIU) began looking into the practices of boutique pet stores in Los Angeles selling "designer" dogs for up to $3,500, I would pose as a customer with Kim Sill (our stalwart volunteer) and ask the sales person a simple question, "Where do your dogs come from?" Invariably the answer was that the dogs came from a "local breeder" and the mother and father dog live "on a ranch" - and this idyllic picture would be painted of where the puppy came from. In a way it makes the customer feel good that for the money they're paying, they're receiving something special. Smelling a rat, we worked backwards and found the location of the dog's origins, the idyllic "ranch" and drove out to take a look.
We found the "ranch" called World Kennel, 70 miles north of Los Angeles in the Palmdale area. With a simple look over a high fence with some binoculars and a video camera we discovered a breeding system where the parent of that puppy in the window is kept in a cage or on concrete its whole life. The noble "mother" portrayed by the salesperson was actually bred over and over again from various sires and most likely had no idea how to run on grass, or what a dog treat tastes like. We also discovered that the breeding facility which normally would be approved to keep as much as 265 dogs six months earlier had recently exploded to a population of 403! SIU kept World Kennel under surveillance and set out to discover several more breeding facilities or "ranches," as they like to say in the pet stores, which were also breeding dogs in huge numbers.
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7 Comments
I just watched the special and have to admit this really brought home what I've been hearing in the news. It was also quite the revelation to hear Cesar explain some of the erratic behavior of store-purchased dogs as being traceable back to their being raised in a mill environment. Kudos to Cesar for exposing what happens behind the scenes and to Last Chance for Animals for their work in helping to rescue the animals and increase public awareness. As much as I have felt reassured by buying purebred in the past, I now have to admit that its was a false sense of security coupled with my willingness to dismiss breeding problems as simply traits of the breed. My next pup will be a rescue. Thanks for the show!
This was an honest look at how mill dogs, specifically breeders spend thier entire lives. The behaviors from fear to circling are real and these are not isolated cases picked out for television. Been in mill work for the last 10 years and this was one of the BEST expose's I have seen with real dogs, real photos and video and real behavioral issues that almost all mills dogs experience in some form. Kudos to Ceasar Milan and Chris DeRose and NGC for having the guts to show the real deal!!
For me the show was a tremendously valuable evolution for The Dog Whisperer series. Exposing Puppy MIlls and creating the solution of Humane Pet Stores gives real hope to ending unneccesary euthanasia. I would love to see more shows with Cesar continuing to use his awareness, ability and celebrity to work at ending the puppy mill business. Cesar is the last person I would suspect would go undercover but he demonstrated his need to understand the psychology of the circumstances to help cure the problem. He and Chris DeRose are really heros. Please consider continuing more shows with LCA and Cesar.
Thanks,
Joel
My two favorite Dog Whisperer shows have been the puppy mills episode and the episode with the horse whisperer. I encourage Cesar and the production staff to work with other entities, such as LCA and the horse whisperer to expand on Cesar's philosophies towards animals in general and the way they should be treated. I would really like to see another episode with LCA showing how to handle traumatized dogs and to rehabilitate them psychologically back to a more normal type dog. Please consider a follow up to help all of us animal rescuers who need to know better how to act and react around traumatized animals. Thanks.
Roger Rittenhouse
Thanks to Cesar for using his influence to shine light in to a dark place. I missed the episode, but will be watching closely to see when it runs again. As a rescuer, I have several puppymill dogs. They are not 'normal' and need extra special care. It worries me when I see a puppy mill bust and the rescues are bypassed and the general public is allowed to adopt straight away. I fear they don't have a clue what they might be in for. Then when the dog is returned to the shelter, there might be a possiblity of euthanization. Those adopting puppy mill dogs could really use Cesar's help and I hope he will do many shows on rehabbing the PM dogs. Issues of anxiety, circling, inability to walk in a straight line, phobias about walking on floors, going down steps, potty training, being cripple, toothless, jawless, & blind are what I deal with everyday having a rescue. Elaine at PomRescue.com
Thank you for your episode about puppy mills which featured
LCA, Chris DeRose, and Cesar Millan. It was fantastic. It was
wonderful to see how Cesar worked w/ traumatized dogs and got
them to respond to his kind and compassionate handling. The public needs to see more of these shows to understand what
these animals go through. Cesar and Chris worked beautifully
together w/ a common goal; that is, a better life for these poor
creatures. It was truly inspiring to see how the dogs were able to
understand what was expected of them. Please consider doing
more follow-up episodes. These dogs desparately need compassionate souls like Cesar and Chris to help get them into
loving homes.
Lisa Lamancusa
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Patricia
http://largepet.info
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