Mountaintop Natural Pets

Lucy is a darling 5-6 month old GWP puppy that was part of a hoarding situation. She is extremely happy, and gets along with the other pups here. She has been fully vetted, will be spayed soon. She will be microchipped, on frontline and heartgard. She is learning some basic obedience, crate and leash skills. She is a typical GWP puppy that will require a lot of exercise and attention. She can climb a 6′ chainlink fence and is very proud of this….see our website www.GWPRescue.com for an application to adopt Lucy.

~~ PLEASE CROSS-POST~~

Last September, 175 hunting dogs were seized for cruelty and neglect in South Dakota. The dogs seized were GWPs, GSPs, Weims, Vizslas and Brittanys.  Within a couple weeks of the seizure, 37 females whelped another 150+ puppies. These poor dogs until now have been in legal limbo. The numbers are tentative and fluctuate daily, but we know there are atleast 12 adult GWPs that need help.

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Source: Reposted from The Examiner

Following a fatal car accident Friday, May 28th in Robert, Louisiana, law enforcement officials went to the home to inform the next of kin.

There they discovered a run-down house filled with stacked cages of puppies and dogs living in filthy conditions.

The St Francis Animal Sanctuary (SFAS) in Tylertown, Mississippi was called and has now removed over 100 animals from the property to their shelter.

Many of the dogs and puppies are miniature pinschers.

Pam Perez, SFAS President, says right now they need “hands to help.”

Perez says they are receiving thirty 10 by 10 kennels that will be set up in a two-acre play yard.

Their immediate need is for volunteers to help clean up the animals, get them fed and settled in and to begin socializing them.

Quoting from their email for help, Susan Lancaster, SFAS Administrative Director, says the most daunting aspect of this tragedy is the amount of care these animals will need in the upcoming weeks. None of the dogs seem to know what it’s really like to be a dog. They are all in dire need of socialization to people. Their whole lives were limited to one person and tiny, filthy wire cages. They are scared of people and new environments. Even going outside and walking on grass is terrifying to them right now. It’s a huge undertaking and we need all the volunteers we can get.”

Due to the amount of work involved, the phones at SFAS may not be answered throughout the Memorial weekend.

Please call Pam Perez’s cell number, 985-630-7627, if you would like to go to the sanctuary to help.

And, of course, monetary donations are always needed.

The sanctuary is located at:

97 Obed Magee Road
Tylertown, Mississippi

The dogs will all be up for adoption after proper time and care.

Source: Associated Press, May 26, 2010

An internal government report says dogs are dying and living in horrific conditions due to lax government enforcement of large kennels known as puppy mills.

Investigators say the Department of Agriculture agency in charge of enforcing the Animal Welfare Act often ignores repeat violations, waives penalties and doesn’t adequately document inhumane treatment of dogs. In one case cited by the department’s inspector general, 27 dogs died at an Oklahoma breeding facility after inspectors had visited the facility several times and cited it for violations.

The review, conducted between 2006 and 2008, found that more than half of those who had already been cited for violations flouted the law again. It details grisly conditions at several facilities and includes photos of dogs with gaping wounds, covered in ticks and living among pools of feces.

The report recommends that the animal care unit at the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service immediately confiscate animals that are dying or seriously suffering, and better train its inspectors to document, report and penalize wrongdoing.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Tuesday that the department takes the report seriously and will force immediate action to improve enforcement, penalties and inspector training. He noted the investigation was conducted before his time in office and called it troubling.

“USDA will reinforce its efforts under its animal welfare responsibilities, including tougher penalties for repeat offenders and greater consistent action to strongly enforce the law,” he said.

The investigators visited 68 dog breeders and dog brokers in eight states that had been cited for at least one violation in the previous three years. On those visits, they found that first-time violators were rarely penalized, even for more serious violations, and repeat offenders were often let off the hook as well. The agency also gave some breeders a second chance to correct their actions even when they found animals dying or suffering, delaying confiscation of the animals.

“(Animal care) generally took little or no enforcement actions against these facilities during the period,” the investigators wrote, adding that the agency placed too much emphasis on educating the violators instead of penalizing them.

You can download the USDA Inspector Generals report here: http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/33002-4-SF.pdf

Source: Media-newswire.com

Scores of new complaints from heartbroken puppy buyers are streaming in to The Humane Society of the United States after Animal Planet Investigates: Petland premiered Monday night. In the one-hour special, Animal Planet followed HSUS investigators as they tracked down puppy mills that supply Petland stores. The expose also featured tragic stories from several buyers who discovered their puppies were ill. After the airing, The HSUS began receiving additional complaints from across the U.S. about Petland puppies with severe congenital disorders and diseases like parvovirus and pneumonia. At least two people reported the awful news that their puppies died the day after they were purchased.

“The stories are heartbreaking,” says Stephanie Shain, senior director of The HSUS’s puppy mills campaign, who was interviewed for the special. “But as heartbreaking as the reports are, we are encouraged to know that the show will help warn potential puppy buyers never to buy a puppy from a pet store or from any seller whose operation they haven’t personally visited and screened.”

Excerpts from some of the heartbroken families’ stories include the following:

“I can not begin to describe the heartbreak and emotional turmoil we went through with the death of [our puppy ….] It was horrible on our entire family. Weeks of unanswered and unreturned phone calls from the Petland owner, crying kids, crying mom, no puppy at Christmas time…” – Stephanie, El Paso, Texas

“I bought my beautiful little Havanese puppy, took him home for five days, and fell in love with him. He became ill on the fifth day with vomiting and diarrhea, was hospitalized, diagnosed with Canine parvovirus which was incubating in the puppy when I purchased him, as confirmed to me by the hospital. He died after 5 days of treatment for this terrible and highly contagious virus. We are heartbroken.” – Janet, Bronxville, N.Y.

“Petland told us she was from a good breeder, we even had her certificate of registry, and that there were no genetic problems or health problems. The vet prescribed Mindy drops and ointments to take several times a day, but it wasn’t working and her left eye was looking worse, so we took her to a specialist. She needed surgery right away that cost us $2,500 dollars. They saved her eye but now she has monthly appointments and medications that come to about 250 dollars a month, she will need these treatments for the rest of her life.” – Christina, Tucson, Ariz.

“Normally, I would NEVER buy from a pet store, but I went to [a Petland store] to purchase bird food for my brother’s birds every few weeks and Little Red was in one of those tiny cages and I watched her grow until she could no longer sit upright in the cage. I couldn’t leave her there – she looked so sad. Within a few days, she developed a limp. She had bilateral hip dysplasia. In fact, according to the vet – she had the worst dysplasia he had ever seen in all his years of practice. Both hips were completely disarticulated. Surgery was not an option due to the degree of malformation of both the hip sockets and heads of her femurs. The vet said there was no way the breeder didn’t know this condition was present in his dogs.” – Melissa, Poteet, Texas

“I had asked time and time again if the dogs today are from puppy mills and the employee expressed over and over that their company may have received puppy’s from mills back then, but DO NOT deal with any form of puppy mills today. This was assured to me after explaining my previous history and concern with Petland. […]Frustrating and expensive is what this clearance puppy has been to our family. We will do the best we can, but none of it is surprising to me anymore!” – Amy, Park Ridge, Ill.

“Sadly I learned a hard lesson. I had heard from people before tell me ‘oh don’t buy from pet stores’ but I felt like oh no my husband did business with [the pet store owner] Peter and he assured us he buys from breeders, I guess you just don’t expect to be lied to, everything he said in the Animal Planet Investigation were a lot of the same things he told us. I’m very sickened that he would cover up where the dogs really come from and make up lies.” – Christina, Tucson, Ariz.

The HSUS urges consumers who have purchased a sick puppy or who want to report a puppy mill to share their concerns with The HSUS at humanesociety.org/puppymillstory.

Source: decaturdaily.com, April 4, 2010

Limestone County authorities found 42 dead dogs wrapped in plastic in a woman’s freezer Friday, an investigator said.

“They were in the freezer of the fridge where her food is stored,” Sheriff’s Department investigator Eric King said. “We (also) found one dead dog in a kennel.”

Authorities charged Nan Johnson, 63, of 25779 Putman Circle, Elkmont, with 43 counts of cruelty to animals. Sheriff Mike Blakely said Johnson was running a puppy mill.

“We took the ones we found alive to the shelter,” Blakely said.

30 dogs found alive

King said about 30 dogs and puppies were found alive in kennels and cages but most were malnourished and dirty, so more charges are pending. Those dogs and puppies went to veterinarian Dr. Thomas Pitman, who serves as the county’s animal shelter provider.

King said some kennels were in good shape but others were unclean and full of feces. The types of dogs found included Yorkie, dachshund and Chihuahua mixes. Johnson had buildings, kennels and kennel runs for the dogs, King said.

“We have no idea how long she has been running this, but it had to have been for a while because it was a pretty big setup,” King said. “We got a complaint that something was going on out there.”

Deputy Johnny Morell responded, saw mistreated dogs and called King in to investigate.

Authorities were interviewing Johnson on Friday night, and it was not immediately known why she kept the dead dogs’ remains, King said.

Source: KBIA.com, April 4, 2010

Sutu Forte is organizing “Puppy Love,” a community jazz workshop with a focus on animal rights.

“And it’s going to be combined with a monthly workshop. It’s a class for the community to come and learn how to play jazz in an ensemble. And we’ll take time out to sing “Puppy Love” and to talk about the Puppy campaign and then we go back to playing our jazz music.”

At the concert workshop, Forte will be collecting signatures for a ballot initiative aimed at improving puppy mill conditions throughout Missouri.

The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act would mandate better living conditions for dogs. If enough signatures are collected, it will be placed on November’s ballot.

Missouri’s Director of Agriculture Jon Hagler says this act doesn’t address key issues with puppy mills. He identified the large number of unlicensed breeders and a lack of funds to oversee animal facilities as main concerns.

Forte’s signature party will be tonight (Tuesday, April 6), at the Underground Cafe in Columbia