When I first decided to move my advocacy to an actual website with content, as opposed to just having a Youtube channel, my plan was to expose people who care for animals to some subjects they might not otherwise know about. I considered myself pretty informed on “animal issues” a decade ago but I just wasn’t. There are a host of serious issues related to companion animals in our country that are just not on the “public radar,” for lack of a better description. Most people who care for and spend their lives with companion animals are focused on what affects them personally and don’t spend much time thinking about issues outside of their own household or community. One of the first issues I learned about years ago was about puppy mills. Most Americans have heard the phrase puppy mill and don’t give it a whole lot of thought. I want you to think about what it means because whether you know it or not, puppy mills affect us all, even people who don’t consider themselves “animal people.” Puppy mills are commercial dog breeding operations where dogs are produced in large numbers for profit and with little or no regard for the “breeder stock.” As I have written about before, this is big business in America. Whether a mill has hundreds of dogs or a handful of dogs, they are infusing dogs into the market and into American homes by the millions each year. The products pretty much sell themselves. Puppies are cute and it is easy for us to either not think about where they came from or not care about it. At the same time that mills are producing millions of dogs a year and making big money off of our love affair with the canine species, millions of dogs are being destroyed in our “animal shelters” each year using our tax dollars. You may think those dogs are sick or damaged in some way. You may even think that they simply cannot be saved because we just have too many of them. The reality is that the vast majority of dogs destroyed in shelters every day are perfectly healthy and treatable and there are homes for those dogs. They are destroyed because that’s what we have been doing in America for about 150 years and it’s just easier to keep doing it than to stop and ask “why?” More and more no kill communities are being created across the country with each passing month and year, but most shelters in most cities are places where animals essentially go to die using our money and while we are blamed for that process. The mind set is that if we were just more responsible, if we cared more, if we spayed and neutered more, if we did not treat our pets as disposable, etc., the animals would not have to die. It is not a coincidence that millions of dogs are bred in mills and then millions of dogs die in our shelters. Millers, both large and small, put millions of products in front of us which we find incredibly hard to resist and we keep buying them. As long as we keep buying them, millers will keep producing them. And as long as millers keep producing dogs by the million, we will continue to destroy dogs in our shelters who have been overlooked or stereotyped, simply because they are unfortunate enough to have landed in our sheltering system. Yes, there are people who surrender animals to shelters and who should never have an animal in the first place. But not every animal entering a shelter is there due to someone’s callousness or irresponsibility. Pets get lost, people die, people get sick, houses burn down, people lose jobs and people often to not make the best decisions about their animals when life gets really hard and they aren’t thinking clearly. Every shelter animal deserves to be treated as an individual and to be given an opportunity for a new life. To do otherwise blames the animal for the failings of our society and of us as individuals. I got an email recently from an advocate in New Jersey named Candace Quiles about a dog auction being held in Missouri on August 6, 2016. A miller with a terrible reputation for abuse is auctioning off his “stock” through a company called Southwest Auction Service and Marketing. I was contacted to see if there was something I could do to stop the auction. I cannot. Dog auctions are perfectly legal in our society and they happen all the time. This is what millers do and this is part of the business of puppy milling. Millers breed dogs, auction them off to brokers, individuals or even to rescue groups. Some in the rescue community have been known to pay thousands of dollars for a dog while describing their behavior as “rescue," leaving millers laughing all the way to the bank. Make no mistake. People who mass produce dogs for a living think no more of those dogs than they would any other form of livestock. The USDA is to thank for the mill industry and it is high time that the USDA got out of the business of regulating that industry so we can work to bring an end to them once and for all. Just because farming dogs is easier than farming cotton or soy beans doesn’t make it right. And just because rescuers can come up with 5 grand to "rescue" a dog in an auction doesn't mean they should.* A sale is a sale is a sale. After I was contacted about the auction, I looked into a little bit even thought I knew I could not stop it. I found the sales list for the auction. If you squint just a little bit and don’t look too closely, you might think this was an auction for used farm equipment or auto parts. It is an auction of living, breathing, feeling, sentient creatures and while those hosting it and attending it may find it perfectly normal business activity, I find it sickening and horrific. Puppy mills may very well be one of the two greatest public shames in the American society regarding companion animals, the second being our broken animal sheltering system. We consider ourselves animal-friendly. We hold ourselves above other cultures where animals we keep as companions are consumed or bred for fur. But how can we possibly claim moral high ground while mills still flourish in our country and while we still kill dogs by the millions with our collective funds? Man’s Best Friend. Made in America. Shame on us. (click on the image to view a pdf copy) *Position Clarification on Auction Payment for Dogs I received a comment on this blog from a rescuer related to my position on rescuers who go to auctions. I want to clarify my position in light of her comments to me.
I fully support organizations and even rescuers who work with millers to have mill dogs relinquished to them and which then turn around and work to educate the public toward ending the mill industry. I volunteer for a national organization which does just that. I even support organizations which pay some small, nominal fee to save breeder dogs through direct contact with the miller. I do not support people who go to auctions and who pay large sums of money for dogs using the label of rescue. I have first-hand accounts from people who have been to auctions and have seen thousands of dollars paid for a single dog. They have seen rescuers buy puppies for huge sums while leaving the parent dogs behind. In some cases, this behavior has driven up the prices. Some millers use shills in order to target those in the rescue community and drive up prices. Any person or organization which pays large amounts of money for puppies or dogs under the name of rescue is enabling the entire process. You are putting money into the millers' pockets and to them you are no different than a broker or than someone who will take the dogs and sell them to a pet store to then sell to the public. For them, this is not an emotional topic at all. By making it an emotional topic yourself, you are helping them breed and sell more dogs. The plight of mill dogs is heart breaking. But if we behave emotionally about a multi-million dollar industry, we will not change it. If you really want to help mill dogs and end mills, saving dog A, B, C, or D is not having the effect you desire and may very well have the opposite effect. I do not need to go to an auction to know that buying dogs which come with a huge price tag is not helpful related to ending this industry. Many of my contacts have first hand experience about auctions and their knowledge is good enough for me. If you think that paying $5,000 for a mill dog to “rescue” that one dog is a noble effort, consider this. You could use that same money to help many more relinquished mill dogs be rehabilitated and find homes while helping to educate the public to stop the industry. And if you didn't pay big money for the sick or injured dogs you see, they may very well be relinquished to an organization which will help them. Some millers rely on rescuers to pay big money for dogs as a result of the very behavior of some in the rescue community.
Christine
7/29/2016 12:18:54 am
I do agree with most of your post. What I do NOT agree with is that these dogs at the auction should not be rescued. I have gone to this auction in April with my rescue. I have walked the rows of sad, abided and frightened dogs. I have gone behind my horse trailer and bawled because this is not right and we cannot save them all. I have heard the Auctioneer say "she can't walk anymore due to pregnancies, but she's a great mother, so just breed her!" It is repulsive! Why should that poor dog be forced to have little after litter and she is crippled! They see all her eggs as $$-signs. If you have not been to an auction. If you have not seen with your own eyes, you cannot say, you cannot judge, those that do go in there and rescue these poor dogs who did not ask to live this way. Who never knew that the touch from a human could be kind and loving. If you don't know, then you cannot judge!
Aubrie
7/29/2016 01:28:59 pm
After corresponding with you in email, I have decided to approve your comment. As I wrote to you, I believe you misunderstood my position or I was not clear. I added a new section to the blog this morning to be very clear about my position. I think it will help you understand my philosophy better and will help others who had the same negative reaction you had.
Mary Parker-Reid
7/29/2016 08:02:12 am
These people are crazy to think that helps. How many more could be saved if you spent small amount and adopted? How about buying seniors or sick ones? Adopt and give the remaining funds to a reputable rescue. 7/29/2016 05:32:17 pm
Very well-written and I agree with you 100%. I have been to many dog auctions, and while there used to be a time when you could "rescue" dogs from the auction for $5 or $10 (and even less occasionally), that is a thing of the past. Over the last 3 years many rescues go to auction to "buy" dogs and some of the rescues actually bid against other rescues just to get the young and pregnant dogs. I've seen rescues pay more than $1000 for a dog. Where does that money go? Right into the breeders hands. It perpetuates the cycle.- not unlike purchasing a puppy from a pet store. There are actually breeders who produce puppies just to sell to rescues at auction ... so wrong! I realize there are rescues with really good intentions and those good rescues will do their best to get the old, sick and scared dogs out of the auction, BUT there are are also (bad) rescues at auction who will, for example (and I've seen this), take all of the young and pregnant Frenchies, paying thousands and thousands of dollars for them - and leave all the old Frenchies behind. I think rescues are far better off if they try to convince the breeders to release their unwanted dogs to them (instead of killing them), free of charge, and then they can spend their money on providing medical care. People with good intentions want to help rescue dogs, but this is NOT the way.
Aubrie
7/30/2016 03:48:24 pm
Rudi, your insight on this topic is invaluable. Thanks for sharing your observations and insights from first hand experience and years of advocacy. Good intentions often result in completely unintended consequences.
davyd
8/1/2016 01:05:31 pm
I battle with buying from auctions. I could not let a dog go at an auction if I was physically there and their life was in danger, so i fully understand the predicament of compassionate people that go to them. But at the same time I worry by letting the millers generate revenue from animals they consider "Defective" or "Too old" to produce. It would be great to find a way as a bridge to get them to release those animals for free to rescues. If no one wants them, why not?
You bring up a big problem. The fact of the matter is that if someone is going to one of these auctions, they need to be emotionally tough as nails. Because horror is all around at these events. The emotions of that can be and are manipulated by both millers and auctioneers in order to get money from the "bleeding heart" rescues. They actively market dogs at the auctions to the rescues expected to come. That alone tells you that a lot.
Cathy stoops
7/30/2016 07:05:45 am
Why can we not get these types of things stopped? Puppy mills and auctions.
Aubrie
7/30/2016 03:43:52 pm
We can, but it will take time. We have to stop buying mill dogs, help educate others about this insidious industry, support legislation which works to stop milling (local, state and federal) and adopt and rescue our animals. We also need to support the life saving work of nonprofits which are saving mill dogs and helping to educate both adults and children. It is up to us to be the change we seek.
Mastiff Mom
7/31/2016 03:08:50 pm
Cathy, we try very hard to stop it in Missouri. There was a legislation package passed a few years ago by popular vote that would have stopped a large number of millers. Unfortunately our State Legislature gutted it. The head of the AG committee is the son of HSUS "Horrible Hundred" millers. Others in the agricultural community saw it as a "slippery slope" that would lead to more legislation affecting the farmers who raise livestock animals. Supposedly the new guy in charge of the MO inspectors has promised to stop the practice of millers who are shut down from auctioning off their dogs and profiting from them. I'm not sure why this miller is being allowed to sell his. You really can. You can change law in locally and in your state to at least make it difficult for now. You will not remove them overnight and nationwide. It's too big a business for that. But you can make change. read this book and learn all about the industry. We can find solutions to lower the number of animals entering the market each year and saving more of those entering the sheltering system each year. https://smile.amazon.com/Dog-Merchants-Business-Breeders-Rescuers/dp/1681771403?ie=UTF8&keywords=dog%20merchants&qid=1463752102&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1 There is a wonderful book that came out earlier this year called The Dog Merchants. The opening chapter is about an auction. But the book follows the dog selling industry through the mills, breeders, rescues and shelters. It is called the dog merchants and i highly recommend it. It is of course incredibly difficult to a compassionate person to leave any homeless pet behind, and possibly buy from an auction. But it is far more complex and issue and the solution has additional complexity. One we should hope to achieve as rescuers. Check out the book. It really helps define the issue and hopefully some of us can learn enough to start battling this cycle of production of new puppies and cats each year to the detriment of homeless pets. https://smile.amazon.com/Dog-Merchants-Business-Breeders-Rescuers/dp/1681771403?ie=UTF8&keywords=dog%20merchants&qid=1463752102&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1 12/4/2017 09:15:20 am
I'm stuck a bit here. On one hand I absolutely agree that going to an auction and handing an Amish miller $5000 for a dog is ridiculous. At the same time, I have two Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy mill rescues; one being a former breeding female and one being an "unsellable" puppy due to a heart murmur and luxating patellas. The rescue I got my dogs from has connections with two Amish puppy mills in Ohio and they travel from here (Northern Northeast) out there twice a year to collect dogs before they go to auction. In order to keep the dogs from going to auction in between their trips however, they do have to pay a "no kill" fee, usually a couple hundred dollars. Now that's not $5000 but they are still putting money in the millers pockets. And Amish ones at that. But they also have an agreement now, after working with these millers for several years, these guys will pull females at a slightly younger age, they offer all their young dogs to the rescue first, etc., even though they know they can go to auction and easily get that kind of money for a Cavalier. In the Northeast, we have to bring dogs up and in to the area as there often aren't enough dogs to meet the demand (which is GREAT!!!) But then, if rescues are constantly pulling needy dogs from shelters in the South and there's even a rescue here is set up for dogs from Puerto Rico, is it still wrong to try to rescue mill dogs too? I ask these questions not because I am necessarily defending any stance, but because your post has me thinking and I honestly wrote stream of consciousness. - Molly This should not be a predicament at all. Given ANY money to puppy millls/auctions keeps them in business, to the point where the auctions and mills are now actively marketing to rescues. It is also untrue that there is a shortage of dogs in the Northeast. I am currently speaking with shelters in the Northeast that are trying to reduce their kill rates, which, currently, are pretty high. There are high kill shelters in nearly every state in the Northeast, and several of them have actually been making a fair amount of news lately. So, even the importation of dogs from out-of-state is unnecessary, and does more damage than good.
Molly O'Hara
12/4/2017 11:05:26 am
Hi Mike, Comments are closed.
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AuthorI am an animal welfare advocate. My goal is to help people understand some basic issues related to companion animals in America. Awareness leads to education leads to action leads to change. Archives
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image courtesy of Terrah Johnson
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