Puppy Mills

Thanks for posting this, Dyan! We really need to stop this horrible practice. I can't believe what some people will try to make money off of. Other helpless creatures' pain.
 
Argh.

And I'm ashamed to know that my state of Ohio is one of the worst! Thank God that someone is trying to put a stop to it! 

Look at my own state on dog fighting, Dyan! It's not a felony here and because it isn't, it is causing some issues. It's hard when your own state is weird about animal abuse.

Yes, your sure right!!!  

Thank you for posting this!  I got the dog I now have from Ohio.  She is very sick still and has been tattooed by the prior abuser.   We must shut these people down.  They are SICK!

Dyan, I found this topic and wanted to comment that I live on the boRder of Holmes and Wayne counties and I know that more than 3/4 of the ads in the papers are from Amish puppy mills.  I never knew about this problem until a friend told me about it (I went all the way down to Guernsey county to get Ruby from a good breeder).  If you call the ads, most of them will tell you right off that if they don't have what you're looking for, they can get it for you.  They'll say they're going to go pick up a "load of puppies" so they can get you what you want.  No guarantees on the health, though.  And their prices are atrocious!  This just makes me sick. I have never, ever considered myself prejudice or even an unkind person but there is so much about their culture that flat out angers me.  This is icing on the cake. Christi

Hi my3sonsohio

The dog I got is from Ohio.  Is this all considered to be Amish country?  I don't know a whole lot about the Amish people. 

Therese, It looks like Fairfield county is southeast of Columbus, right?  I don't know if it's "Amish country" but it's fair to say that the Amish live all over Ohio.  Holmes county boasts the largest Amish population in the world, even larger than Lancaster, PA. You say your dog came from an abusive situation?  Did you get it from a shelter or a humane society?  You would definitely know it if you got it from an Amishman; they're not easily mistaken for English (what they call us).  How long ago did you get your dog?  Maybe it's not too late to report the abusers to the authorities?  I hope your pup is doing well now. I feel I should add that I have met some very nice Amish people.  I buy a lot of my produce in the summer from an Amish guy who lives nearby and he is such a nice man.  Very kind to my children, always has a pleasant story and gives great advice about gardening.  But like so much else in life, things are not always what they seem. Christi 

Dear my3sonsohio,

The dog I have is about 3 years old.  The dog has a congenital deformity and was bred!  Seems the owner of this "kennel" or whatever it really is is breeding animals knowing that they have the defects and selling them.. 

I'd be hard pressed to place all of the blame on the Amish in Ohio as I know nothing about them.  I do however, know enough about the abuser I got this poor dog from.
 
I've also heard there are many problems with puppy mills in Mexico with the puppies being along the borders. 
 
 

I am in absolutely NO way defending these people.  But, understand the Amish are only filling a "need" and supplying pups to fill demand.  To them, the pups are no different than the cattle or sheep or pigs that they raise and sell.  Yes, what they are doing is abhorant, but is it really all that different from raising cattle or chicken for the slaugher?  they are FARMING.  And that's how they think of it.
 
They are wrong all the way around, but this is their mindset.

Glenda, you are 100% right about it being a farming mentality.  The solution, in Ohio or anywhere else it happens, is to create a situation where there is no market for that particular "crop".  Don't buy a mill dog, even to "rescue" it.  Every time someone does that, they perpetuate the system that produced it.

The problem is that NONE of us can stand the thought of those animals being put down.  But if ONE batch is, that's hundreds less in the system, living a life a bare existence, and one step closer to shutting these people down for good.

Okay, I'm not really trying to go after the Amish people...they are a religious culture and fine people. Glenda is right, they treat the dogs as though they are farm animals,  but the difference is so great.  And of course there are probably enough puppy mills that are NOT Amish right here in Ohio also.   I am NOT specifying the Amish, it just that I have read over and over that many of them are the ones operating puppy mills, and to be honest, in my small pea brain,,,I was SHOCKED that a strong christian based community would be the ones to do this. 
This is way beyond NOT BUYING PUPPIES FROM A PET STORE...this has to be stopped.  If you don't buy the puppies from the pet store, they will just keep moving the puppies from the front of the store where they will be the first to be seen, to the middle and then to the back and then God only knows where,,,only to be replaced with new pups at the front. You will NOT get people to not buy puppies from a pet store, they always have and always will. We need to STOP the stores of buying them from the puppy mills,,,we need to stop giving the puppy mills the right to do what they are doing.  I don't know the real story,,,,but I see that Pet Supply Plus does not sell cats and dogs, and I see that Petco and PetSmart offer a service where they help people get rescue dogs, rather than selling dogs from puppy mills. At least that is what I understood (correct me if I'm wrong.)  BUT do I believe for one half of second that those stores would NOT be selling puppies if it were not for people making a lot of noise???  I think that there has been enough in the media that they are looking bad if they do,,,so the stopped this practice. We need to make enough noise so that others do also.   One of the problems is probably that there are so many chain giant pet stores popping up that the small ones can't make a living just selling food, the place that I USED to by my dog food from has signs out every weekend that they are having a PUPPY SALE!

I hadn't really thought about any of this until recently and after talking with another friend who is a farmer, not Amish but deals with many through her farm, she agrees with what you've said, that they really just think of them as stock.  She went on to say a whole lot more, too.   I have to admit that when I first moved here I was "smitten" with the Amish and their lifestyle.  Went on lots of tours of Amish farms, bought lots of souveniers.  Don't let their simpleness fool you, they are VERY wealthy people.  Then I went to work part-time at a grocery store for a while and a very large percentage of their customers were Amish.  That's where I learned the most about them, through interacting with them.  I don't want to be rude so I'll just leave it at that.   Anyway, now to the point of this post.  Here are two ads from my local free paper this morning: "Any purebred puppies wanted to buy for a well-run established Petland.  All breeds, will buy entire litters.  Fair market prices offered."  Two cell phone numbers listed in the ad. "AKC puppies: Maltese, Yorkies, Havanese, Cavaliers, Pugs, Bostons.  Healthy, out of good stock."  Cell phone listed in the ad. Is it fair to assume that these ads are from puppy mills?  What is Petland?  I don't think it's a pet store around here, I've been to all of them, I think.  There were 26 ads for dogs and puppies and most of them had Amish names and cell phones (most Amish around here have cell phones).  I'm asking because I'm trying to learn more about this problem.  I feel so limited in what I can do.  I will definitely be writing to my representatives and congressmen about passing the above-mentioned legislation.  Is this a good place to start?   S - Anne, there's an ad for a 6mo. old registered, female, spayed Aussie.  I wonder why they're getting rid of her.  I've called and left a message.