[Gudrun's Mom]

I volunteer at our Humane Society and have seen a couple of large cases where they have taken dogs from local puppy mills. Needless to say it was very upsetting. I admire the Humane Soc. workers as they go into these deplorable places and have to try and rescue the dogs that are left. It takes a lot of time proving neglect and legal procedures to close a puppy mill and generally the Humane Soc. must have a police escort with them to go onto the property. Fortunately a good many of the dogs can be rehabilitated and placed in loving home but a certain percentage never can be adopted due to their health and temperaments.

Let's hope that Oprah's show creates more awareness of this problem so potential dog owners will seek their puppies from reliable breeders. If the demand from the pet shops isn't there the puppy mills will not make a profit and close up. However it just isn't the pet shops that are selling these pups, it's also directly from ads in local papers. When I see an ad that offers many breeds of dogs it is a red alarm that they are simply breeding for a profit. Public awareness is the only way to stamp out puppy mills and even then some will slip through the cracks.