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Cricket with a toy in Nashville, Tenn. © Barbara Harris |
by Julie Hauserman
In homes across the country this summer, nearly 750 animals rescued in June from Tennessee's horrific Pine Bluff puppy mill are becoming the family pets they never had the chance to be.
Take Cricket, a 5-month-old German shepherd puppy who was so traumatized she would barely lift her head when she was rescued. She's finally stopped cowering in the corners at her new home in Nashville. And Lillee, a 2-year-old pug who spent her short, caged life as a profit-making puppy machine. She got the life-saving operation she needed to remove painful bladder stones, thanks to her new owners in St. Augustine, Fla.
A New Sensation
A fluffy Shih Tzu named Bullet, now up for adoption at the Nashville Humane Association, was terrified of people and snapped when anyone approached him. After behavior training, the former breeding dog has learned to trust both people and the ground under his paws—a new sensation, as he spent his entire life standing in a wire cage.
Largest Puppy Mill Rescue in TN History
The rescue at Pine Bluff, coordinated by The Humane Society of the United States, was the largest known puppy mill rescue in Tennessee history, and one of the largest ever in America. As authorities prepare a legal animal cruelty case against the puppy mill operators, families in eight states are patiently working to get rescued survivors healthy and happy again.
Some of the dogs are so traumatized they don't know how to play. Some are ill. Others refuse to eat. And some of the puppies simply didn't make it, despite veterinarians' efforts to save them.
"I'm so glad everybody was able to get together to shut down that horrible place," said Barbara Harris of Nashville, who adopted Cricket, the German shepherd puppy. "I knew about puppy mills before, but now it's personal."
The Rescue
The rescue was set in motion by The HSUS Tennessee State Director Leighann McCollum, who received undercover tips and worked with state investigators to document the animal cruelty at the puppy mill. After removing the 747 animals—mostly dogs, but also livestock, exotic birds and a few dozen cats—from the deplorable conditions at Pine Bluff, volunteers and animal welfare workers took the survivors to well-established shelters in seven states (Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia) and the District of Columbia. The frightened animals were evaluated for behavior and medical problems, spayed or neutered, and then put in foster homes or offered for adoption.
Word Travels Fast
That's when things got interesting. Hundreds of people saw news stories about the rescued animals and showed up en masse at shelters to adopt. In Atlanta, about 1,000 people lined up, some of them even camping overnight to be the first inside the shelter. Some 200 people showed up at the Nashville Humane Association in Tennessee. More than 150 people lined up at the Humane Society in Broward County, Fla., and another 150 at the Tampa Bay SPCA.
In St. Augustine, Fla., so many people called about the rescued Tennessee dogs that the shelter had to install a separate phone line. On adoption day, the crowd was so big when the shelter opened at 6 a.m. that workers handed out numbered tickets that allowed people in small groups to view potential pets. People stayed in line until the shelter closed at 4:30 p.m.
More Forever Homes
One bonus, say shelter operators, is that many other waiting pets also got attention from the big crowds and were adopted into forever homes. Several shelters broke their monthly adoption records.
"It helped all the animals in the shelter," said Atlanta Humane Society president Carl Leveridge.
"When we said 'puppy mill,' everybody automatically thought 'puppies!'" said Connie Brooks, Operations Director of Tampa Bay SPCA in Florida. "The special people were the ones who came to adopt the 'mom and dad' dogs who had spent their entire lives breeding in cages. They are giving these guys a second chance, one where they never have to be in a cage again."
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A mini Doberman pinscher gave birth to five puppies after being rescued from the Tenn. puppy mill. © Paul Studivant |
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New Mom, New Home
All of the animals were spayed or neutered before adoption.
For one mini Doberman pinscher at the Washington, D.C. Humane Society, however, it was too late for spaying: she gave birth to a litter of five, and the puppies will be put up for adoption along with the mother when they are old enough to be weaned.
Special Care
Shelter workers advised people who wanted to adopt the rescued dogs that they should be prepared to deal with medical and behavioral issues.
A Yorkie adopted by a couple in Bowling Green, Ky, for example, has to go to the veterinarian two to three times a week for a long list of medical problems, including an enlarged heart and massive infection.
Some who adopted the puppy mill survivors paid hundreds of dollars to fix bone fractures, dental problems, and other medical issues.
"It was worth every penny," said Carolyn Waterman, who paid for Lillee the pug's Florida operation. "She is just blossoming."
In 'The Big House'
To help socialize traumatized dogs before they were put for adoption, the Nashville Humane Association used its unique program at the Tennessee Prison for Women. Inmates, who have been trained by dog behavior experts, work with the dogs 24 hours a day in their cells and outside, teaching them to walk on a leash and obey simple commands. That's where Bullet, the Shih Tzu now up for adoption in Nashville, got over his fear of people after working with inmate trainers Danielle Jordan and Sherika Coplen.
Progress
In Hendersonville, Tenn., each day brings a little progress for Molly, a 2-year-old boxer rescued from her breeding cage in Tennessee and adopted into a new home. Mostly, she's terrified and stays inside her crate, said owner Cerrie Gammons, who adopted Molly from the Sumner County, Tenn., Humane Society.
"We're calling her 'The Phantom,'" Gammons said. "She really wants to be loved and love in return, but she's still really afraid. Every day is a new experience for her."
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Prancer in St. Augustine, Fla. © Eleanor Blackford |
A Bright Future
Like many of the once caged dogs, a 5-year-old pug now at the St. Johns County Animal Control Pet Center in St. Augustine, Fla. is spooked by walking on hard surfaces.
The shelter's Department Manager, Paul Studivant, watched the dog's unusual high-stepping and named him Prancer. Studivant is smitten and has decided to keep the pug.
"He has so much spirit," Studivant said. "I will use him as an educational dog when I do programs at libraries and schools to teach people about the high cost of these puppy mills."
