The HSUS

Animal Control Officer Latichia Duffy sees a dog  off to a better life.

On April 17, The Humane Society of the United States deployed personnel to assist with the transport of 47 dogs from an overcrowded shelter in Osceola, Mo. to Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs, Pa. 

The dogs were rescued from a hoarding situation and Missouri puppy mills.

With the dogs safely on the road to their new adoptive homes, The HSUS spoke with Osceola's only full-time animal control officer, Latichia Duffy, who works on a shoestring budget with no county animal control in place to offer assistance.

by Pepper Ballard

Osceola, Mo. Animal Control Officer Latichia Duffy is no stranger to overwhelming situations: For the past seven years, the veteran animal welfare worker has used minimal funds to operate a tiny shelter in a location surrounded by nine puppy mills.

Although she's accustomed to adopting out dogs nearly as quickly as the county mills drop them off to her, Duffy only has room for a dozen at a time. So when she learned recently that a St. Clair County couple was hoarding nearly 30 dogs, she realized she needed help.

"My goal in the beginning was to save as many as I could. I never dreamed we would save them all," Duffy said.

After a flurry of phone calls to area shelters, Duffy got connected with The Humane Society of the United States' Animal Rescue team. On Friday, the team and Duffy loaded nearly 50 dogs—Corgis and mixed breeds from the hoarders and other dogs from the mills and shelters—onto The HSUS' 75-foot, custom-built animal transport vehicle. The HSUS then took the dogs to Main Line, a Philadelphia shelter that was featured along with The HSUS on a national talk show that recently highlighted the horrors of puppy mills.

The HSUS

"The stories that we get back (after a dog has been adopted out) are so heartwarming."

"She's the one who got this ball rolling. She wasn't too proud to call out for help," said The HSUS' Senior Director of Emergency Services Scotlund Haisley. "She's struggling, with nothing."

Since Duffy is a city animal control officer, she has no jurisdiction over the nine county puppy mills that drop off their unwanted dogs to her. St. Clair County, which is the second largest county in the state, has no animal shelter or animal control workers to come to her aid.

The HSUS: What types of dogs do the puppy mill operators take to your shelter?

Latichia Duffy: They bring the animals that can no longer breed, the ones that are vicious with other animals …These people used to take (unwanted dogs) to auctions, shoot them or drown them.

HSUS: What helps you handle the emotional strain of seeing so many unwanted dogs dropped off at your shelter?

Duffy: The stories and the photographs that we get back (after a dog has been adopted out) are so heartwarming. They all deserve it— every one of them—even the one that runs around in circles (a little poodle, but he'll get over that; they all do eventually).

HSUS: What are the most common misconceptions about puppy mills?

Duffy: I don't think people think about puppy mills. Down here, they're a form of living. Down here, they're livestock, they're just dogs.

HSUS: What is your biggest frustration with puppy mills?

Duffy: So many people think the animals they get from animal shelters are second-rate ... when in reality that's what they're buying (when they buy dogs from puppy mills).

HSUS: How do you try to curb the behavior of the people who bring you dogs from puppy mills?

Duffy: Education. I'll start checking (the dogs') teeth … and I tell them, I've got to make sure they can eat … I never try to discourage that person from bringing the animals in. It's one of those fine lines you walk. You stand there and you bite your tongue.

The HSUS

"I don't think people think about puppy mills."

HSUS: What should people know about animal hoarding?

Duffy: Hoarding is a disease … [Hoarders] really think that they love the animals, but they're not out to save the animals.

HSUS: How well do you think the operation went, moving the animals from the hoarding situation and the shelter to Main Line?

Duffy: It was phenomenal. I could not have asked for anything better, for anything to have gone off any smoother. The HSUS, they stepped up and did something I didn't even think was possible. It gives you something to smile about, considering it's what we do every day.