by Julie Hauserman
Ann Church has been with The Humane Society of the United States for more than 20 years, most of that time working for better animal welfare laws in the legislative affairs division.
In October 2007, she found herself dealing with the challenging task of helping manage a series of high-profile mass rescues from inhumane puppy mills. She had just come on board at The HSUS in a new capacity as director of the five-state Eastern Mountain region, which includes Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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| Ann Church comforts one of more than 900 animals rescued from a West Virginia puppy mill in August.© The HSUS |
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The puppy mill cases began in October 2007 when about 650 animals were evacuated from a puppy mill in Hillsville, Va. In June 2008, 700 animals were evacuated from a Tennessee puppy mill—the largest seizure in the state’s history.
Then just two months later, Church and The HSUS’s rescue team descended on a puppy mill in West Virginia to rescue 927 animals. We recently sat down to ask her about the past year.
Q: How long have you been involved with the issue of puppy mills?
I’ve been involved with the issue for a long time, mostly from the legislative end, trying to get stronger laws. It was so gratifying to see a precedent setting puppy mill law enacted in Virginia earlier this year and then another soon after in Louisiana.
We will be tackling the issue in other state legislatures in the region in 2009.
I hadn’t been involved so much on the ground, actually evacuating animals, until this year.
It is so rewarding now because, in the past, we rarely had an opportunity to go in and close them like this. The HSUS now has the well-equipped Emergency Services team that is able to do it. And we’re doing it.
For local agencies, removing more than 100 animals is often more than they can handle. It is especially difficult and expensive when these animals have behavioral, physical and medical problems. So, that’s where we can really help.
Q: What have you learned from being immersed in these puppy mill cases?
I’ve always come at everything from a legislative standpoint. My experiences reinforce, for me, the need for strong laws. We have to have the legal right to get in to see a facility. If someone won’t show you where they are keeping their animals, there’s a problem. If we can’t get in, we can’t help.
I see a change. Because public opinion is with us, law enforcement is more open to hearing from us and prosecutors are willing to take these cases to court to press charges. But the law has to be there so we can get into the facility and see how the animals are being treated.
The animals didn’t do anything to get put in that cage. We’ve got to get them out.
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This dog was one of 700 animals rescued from a puppy mill in Tennessee. ©The HSUS |
Q: What were some of the challenges in raiding puppy mills?
In general, it is getting law enforcement on board, but they are becoming more willing to work with us.
In Tennessee, HSUS State Director Leighann McCollum received anonymous tips about inhumane conditions at the puppy mill, and local prosecutors agreed to pursue the case.
In the West Virginia case, the local humane society went onsite three years ago after a complaint, but were unable to make a case. The owner refused to cooperate and show them around. We believe the owner was tipped off beforehand. This summer, a customer looking to buy a puppy went to the facility and saw the deplorable conditions. He called the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and let it be known that feces were running into the river.
The EPA went out and found water pollution and served the property owner with a warrant for illegal dumping of hazardous materials. The EPA called local law enforcement about the animal cruelty there and worked together with the local humane society in Parkersburg, WV. They contacted The HSUS.
They called me the day before I went to evacuate animals from the Tennessee puppy mill. I get this call saying they may have as many as 1,000 dogs that need to be rescued in West Virginia, and I’m leaving for Tennessee, and I know we’ve got 700 dogs there.
I felt totally overwhelmed, but excited about the idea that we could save that many animals.
In August, local animal control officers arrived on site at the West Virginia puppy mill. We came in to manage the evacuation after the owner agreed to give up the animals and agreed not to breed ever again.
Q: What aspect of the puppy mill rescues moved you most personally?
It’s the breeding mothers. When you see the young ones, they are very protective of their puppies. But the older mothers are sort of listless. They know their puppies are going to be taken away. In general, it is the mothers that suffer the most as they spend years in awful cages with no hope of ever having a better life.
The first case I went on in North Carolina took me a long time to get over. I saw cats in cages where they didn’t have room to stretch fully. I saw dogs with nails so long they couldn’t walk. I saw animals who had been born in tiny cages and never let out. Every night, I would go to bed remembering those animals in those cages.
Q: How has the public reacted?
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| Prancer was rescued from the Tennessee puppy mill and adopted into a family of his own.© Eleanor Blackford |
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In West Virginia, in particular, the public has been outstanding. We’d go into stores and restaurants and we’d be wearing our HSUS shirts, and people would come up and thank us. People were bringing us huge handfuls of towels for the emergency shelter we’d set up. People were cleaning up their own crates and kennels and bringing them for us to use.
I think when Oprah Winfrey showed the reality of puppy mills on her show and in her magazine, more people became aware of the issue. Most people had no idea what kind of horrible conditions these animals faced at puppy mills.
Q: Will the exposure of these puppy mills lead to stronger laws?
Yes. It is already happening. Because of the puppy mill raid last October, Virginia passed a comprehensive law. Louisiana passed a similar one.
In the West Virginia raid, a state legislator came and saw the facility and the rescue. He has agreed to sponsor legislation. The most important thing we can do is ask people around the country to contact West Virginia legislators to pass a strong puppy mill law when they meet for their legislative session in February.
Q: Will we see more puppy mill rescues in your region?
The bottom line is, The HSUS has done a great job of showing puppy mill operators—or anyone holding a large number of animals inhumanely—they should be watching their backs.
