ASCHAE’s DogBlog

Source: ABC27, October 15, 2009

East Earl Township, Pa. – A local animal rescue group says it has given more than 4,000 dogs a bright future by saving them from being put down.

Volunteers with A Tail to Tell say some breeders kill hundreds of dogs. The rescue group finds homes for unwanted animals, usually sick puppies or older dogs that can no longer breed.

“We’ve seen probably more than most people would like to see in their lives,” said the group’s founder, who did not want to be identified.

She says breeders will sometimes kill dogs by any means possible. “They were killing their dogs by hitting them over the heads with shovels and cremating them on their property and - not on purpose, but quite by accident – we stood in the fire pits and saw the little paws jetting out of the ashes.”

“Whatever the puppy miller wants to do with those dogs is what’s going to happen,” said Tammy Holroyd, who volunteers to foster puppies. “Some of them even just stop feeding them so they starve to death.”

Volunteers say they save dogs from these fates every day. They say most dogs they rescue come from Amish and Mennonite communities and that many have suffered terribly.

“They are scared to death of people because they are used to being beaten, not being fed every time. They see a person, they shy away because they don’t know what’s going to happen to them next,” Holroyd said.

Volunteers offer to pick up dogs free of charge from any breeder or kennel, but say they will not pay for any dog. “We had to walk out leaving dogs we know are dying in a puppy mill, but we refuse to put money in their hands because we’re just perpetuating everything that we dislike about puppy mills,” the group’s founder said.

“As long as the public keeps going to the puppy mills to buys dogs, keep going to puppy stores and keep buying these dogs, they are going to continue breeding,” Holroyd said.

Rescued dogs are given medical attention if needed and retrained through foster families to get them ready for their “forever home.”

“These dogs deserve more and we want them to have the best home,” Holroyd said. “We want them to be in their forever home the rest of their lives.”

A Tail to Tell is looking for foster families and people willing to adopt. They run solely on donations. They are holding a “Hogs for Dogs” rescue ride in Lancaster County on Saturday.

For more information on adopting rescued dogs, or the Hogs for Dogs Rescue Ride, visit www.atailtotell.com.