Another day, another puppy mill story. I can’t wait for the day when I don’t hear stories like this because we’ve finally outlawed one of the worst forms of cruelty to animals.
The Cleveland APL just rescued 33 Shih Tzus, 24 dogs and 9 puppies, from a hoarding/breeding situation at a home in Parma Heights. The pictures of these dogs are horrifying. The matting is so severe on one of them that it caused him to dislocate his shoulder and cut off circulation to his paw, which will now have to be amputated. The horribly matted dogs were likely used just for breeding puppies that they could then sell.
Cleveland is one of the most dog friendly cities around, so the outpouring of help has already been incredible. I saw multiple groomers reach out on Facebook offering to help groom when the APL posted about them last night. Beyond just the grooming though, the APL is going to need a lot more help. Many of dogs have other health issues and all of them will need to be spayed or neutered. Donations can be made to help with the high vet bills for these dogs here: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/GeneralDon?code=Second%20Chance%20Shih%20Tzus%20Emma
Seeing this again in the span of just a couple of months in our own backyard is really upsetting. We all need to rally together to ban the sale of dogs at pet stores and make sure that there are stronger penalties for animal cruelty cases such as this one and the Geauga County case. If dogs aren’t able to be sold to stores, puppy mills will not be necessary. Several cities have already banned the sale of dogs and cats at pet stores and I really want Cleveland, and Ohio, to follow suit. Ohio currently has the most puppy mills in the country, so we really need to take a stand here to make a significant impact.
I’m planning to write a letter to my representatives, but I’d love to hear more ideas about how we can take a stand here in Ohio. Best Friends Animal Society has great resources on their site for contacting legislators: http://bestfriends.org/Resources/How-To-Write-A-Letter-To-Legislators-And-Newspapers-About-Puppy-Mills/
Will you join me?
(photos courtesy of the Cleveland APL website)
Dogs in the CLE 
I would like to adopt one of the puppies when they are available.
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Great! I just saw on the APL Facebook page that they don’t expect any of the dogs to be up for adoption before Friday. I’d keep an eye on their FB page for more info on when they will be available. Good luck!
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