North Shore Animal League America’s Mobile Rescue Team huddled through tornado alerts with blaring sirens and then faced snow and below-freezing temperatures during their seven-state trip to rescue mill dogs and puppies. In a collaborative effort with our partner, National Mill Dog Rescue, we were able to rescue over 100 dogs— 61 coming to New York and 40 going to Colorado. These dogs will no longer have to face the cruel and inhumane horrors of commercial breeding facilities.
“We faced more challenges this time besides the weather. There were a lot more dogs than we expected and we had to reorganize and make room.” says Karla Agostinello, Rescue Coordinator for Animal League America. “We don’t like to turn away any dogs because their fate would most likely be death.” It was upsetting to the rescue team on this trip to see how the coats of the poodles were severely matted and frozen. These dogs were also very under socialized.
In these commercial facilities, known as puppy mills, both female and male dogs exist only to breed. Both receive no medical care and little human contact and often live just in wire cages never seeing the light of day. They are confined like this, day after day and year after year. These operations, which supply pet stores across the country with high-priced, purebred dogs, put profit over animal welfare and it’s the dogs who suffer.
Please support our Rescue efforts and help us continue to pull animals out harms way.
The rescued dogs arrived safely on the Animal League America campus on Saturday, February 9th and were immediately set up in comfort with food, water, and warm beds by caring staff and volunteers. There are Pekingese, Poodles, Dachshunds, Chihuahuas, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Shih Tzus, Shiba Inus, and Japanese Chins, among others. Next steps for these dogs involve grooming, medical evaluations by veterinarians, and behavioral evaluations by the Pet Behavior team. They often arrive scared and unsure and it is extremely rewarding to see them respond to the love and care they are getting while they are being treated.
“Puppy mill rescues are always special to us because we see the rescues come full circle,” says Karla. “They start in the mills, we rescue them and we nurture them on the truck for three days. Then they get more love and all the care they need at Animal League America and find responsible, loving homes. It’s a great feeling!”