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| copyright 2009 Carole J Sulser |
| Mixed Breed Puppy Mill |
| As more and more puppies are born, the situation worsens, until one wonders where it will all end. In the fall of 2005, they went from three dogs to 19, when Star and Annie each had eight puppies. One died from drinking bleach water, one got run over, one got lost, their daughter took one, and six are mine. Their daughter got a puppy from someone else, too, and then dumped it on her parents, so by the summer of 2007, they had ten dogs. And then Star had more puppies. The Mrs. didn't mention that this had happened, and kept them n the 6X8 pen with their mother, hidden behind rugs and blankets. One day in late summer, I took Ivy, my old Dalmatian, for a walk. Because it would probably be her last one, due to health problems, I wanted to go down to the church and back, as we always used to do before the neighbor's dogs became a threat. So I armed myself with a walking stick and a boat horn, and off we went. I was appalled to see, through a gap in the coverings, puppies in Star's pen. There was at least one white one with spots, but I couldn't see how many altogether. Sometimes after that, I would see some of them playing in the yard. One was black and tan. In the fall, I saw that they had been put in the Yorkie pen where the big old male, Chubby, was. I couldn't believe they were all in that pen with one little doghouse, but I'd see Chubby's big plume of a tail waving around in there. Then they moved him somewhere else. The day of the great adventure, as related on a previous page, there were three puppies, the spotted one and a light brown one, and a darker brown one. I wondered where the rest of them were, but I'm guessing they were in the rabbit pen. It;s a mystery what happened to those puppies. I didn't see the spotted one all winter and then he showed up, tied in the trees where Buster used to be. He has his own page called, One Dog's Personal Hell. I believe it was his two siblings that were in the Yorkie pen at that time. One day I saw the Mrs. walking a black and tan dog down the road, which seemed unusual, because I never see her doing that, and I never saw the black and tan pup again. There is one over there that could be the same one, or may be from the next litter. It gets more and more difficult to identify the dogs I'm seeing, when they are from litters that are kept pretty much concealed until they're too big to hide. The spotted one disappeared in July of 2008. I don't know what happened to him. I haven't seen the lighter brown one either. When the spring of 2008 rolled around, I began to suspect there were more puppies, when I heard little yippings in the tool shed. I believe they were Star's. I didn't see how many this time either, but there were two small white ones following the Mrs. one day, and I saw a darker one once, too That summer, there was a litter of pups in one of the pens that the Mrs. threw together. For shelter they had a small plastic crate, which was probably full of water most of the time. Over the top of the pens there was plastic that filled with rain water until it looked as though it would smash them or burst and give them quite a shower. They were already wet. This is where they were when we had terrible storms all day. On that same day, there was a reddish pup caught on the fence for over an hour. I don't know if he was from the same litter as the white ones or not. Later, in that pen, I saw puppies cowering under plastic during a storm, with no shelter at all. I presumed they were the same ones that had been in the other pen. I don't know where those pups are now. Some time in the summer of 2008, Star had another litter. I've seen three of them, a spotted one, a black and tan, and a grey female. I know she's a girl because she was in my garage one day, and I picked her up. I believe they're in the rabbit pen now. Late in 2008, I saw a spotted female who had obviously had puppies. I hadn't seen her before. She could be from the 2007 litter or spring 2008. She is now in the tool shed, and I had heard puppies in there before she made her appearance. I'm hearing them again. A tan pup that I photographed on top of a pen just before it toppled off the back side, hasn't been seen since then. Another red pup is tied to Buster's old box, behind the pens. Right now, I'd say there are two litters over there, and the one white female, who is actually cream-colored, is probably pregnant now. Star may be in heat, too. By my calculations, and from what I've seen, there must be at least 20 dogs and puppies, plus the spotted female's litter, and another litter due in about 60 days. There seems to be a preponderance of males over there, and I'm wondering what they're doing with the females. I count three of them, unless one of the red ones is female, but I don't think it is. Now, is this a puppy mill or not? No, they aren't selling them. But they're churning them out like crazy. It could be worse, if so many females hadn't vanished. And some males have gone missing, too. But they aren't making any effort to prevent pregnancies. I've had dogs, including unspayed females, for decades, with nary a litter. It can be done! With every new batch of puppies, the miseries increase. They aren't adding dog houses, nor repairing the ones they have. They aren't replacing worn cables. They aren't providing secure pens. They aren't providing any of the things dogs need, except food and water, and barely that. They don't clean up after these dogs, and I suspect they don't worm them either. Not sure if they get their shots. With all the scratching going on, I don't think they're doing anything about fleas. With all the cats they have, it's a losing battle. And it is very costly for me to deal with all the fleas and worms that are being transported to my property by their roaming animals. |
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| Creamy and a relative, both from 2008 litters. |
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