Poem from a Puppymill dog

I saw this on the WI Humane Society website in my area. It is very sad and really explains what these poor animals go through. Although it's about dogs, we all know cats go through the same thing, unfortunately. Anyhow...it really makes you think. I know I'm trying to figure out a way I can help this kind of thing from happening!


Before I Die
A poem by the author of "How Could You?" and "The Animal's Savior"
Copyright Â[emoji]169[/emoji] 2002, by Jim Willis
www.crean.com/jimwillis


----------------------------------------------------------------------

'Tis lonely here in prison,
I dream of sun, of fields,
I saw them from a window once,
but I don't know how they feel.

I've never known a caress,
a friend, a bone, a toy,
I'd happily companion,
a human girl or boy.

But some men have decided,
with selfishness and greed,
that my fate shall be a cage,
and for my keep, I'll breed.

What should fuel this folly?
My kind may bark in vain.
We care not for your commerce,
and few know of our pain.

We're hidden well from justice,
for our freedom some may cry.
God grant me, please, just one request -
Let me play once before I die.


* * * * *

How sad

I had the privelege once of being part of the investigation and consequently the shutting down of a puppy mill. Nobody dared step forward and report the jerk who was running it because he has a reputation of being a very nasty, vengeful man. So, I stepped up to the plate after seeing the results of his mill- a puppy brought in to the Vets office with a severly infected tail stump- this man docked them himself and sold the pups to pet stores. I don't even want to think about his tail docking procedures

Unfortunately there are so many more mills out there You can rest assured that if I hear of any more in my area they will get reported as well,no matter what.

It's upsetting and unthinkable, but it does happen. I'm glad you were able to help close at least one, Melissa.

There is a lump in my throat now....

Puppy mills are awful, aren't they? I wish too that they didn't exist. I feel we can all help a little by never buying anything from a pet store that sells dogs etc from these mills. I mean nothing, not toys, food, animals....nothing. And tell everyone we know about the puppy mills and urge them to never buy from such a pet store again. You see one way to stop the puppy mills is to help shut down the pet stores that keep the mills in business by buying from them. Also, I try to visit the pet stores near me and if I see anything that looks like cruelty, I report them immediately. Of course, pet stores are awful and usually do not take good care of their animals anyways. But, if I see something visibly cruel.... For instance, I once was in a Debby's Petland and saw that the cubicles were overcrowded with like 6 or 7 dogs in each. And their was one pup so emaciated I could count his every rib. So, I reported them. I feel this is a way I can help.

I don't believe any reputable pet store would sell puppies or even kittens, because of the lack of space. When I was raising collies, Champion sired-one litter a year, with a winning dam, the pet shops were selling collies pups for much more money! These were pet quality, which is fine, but worth less. It's shame the public doesn't know what's going on. They would never buy a pup at a pet store! They'd go to a private breeder where the pups or kittens are raised underfoot with a loving family, under the best possible conditions.

I know there's this guy in WI that is absolutely terrible and they can't close him down for some reason. He's stated publicly that if any animal rights activists come around he'll shoot them. He also states that he's already had fines or something for firing firearms. Total creep! I just cringed when I read the stories and saw the photos from this guys puppymill. I know he's not the only one and it makes me so sick to know that these poor animals are suffering like this. Ugh!!! What can we do??? It's a horrible situation.

One thing is clear; (Blank) doesn't want any animal activists snooping around his property, trying to shut him down. "Besides that, I'd kill 'em if they came. (I've) been arrested twice for misuse of firearms. Next time I can't leave no witnesses."

(Blank) may be joking, but the look on his face was serious — dead serious. When asked if he was joking, he said, "A guy's gotta protect his place. Home is his castle. They leave me alone, I'll leave them alone."
_________________________________________________________________
I took the name out because I didn't know if I could put it in there. For more on this -

http://www.egressetch.com/WisconsinP...interview.html

Sandi, That story would break your heart. The man obviously believes that animals are fine without enough room, heat, or love. And he says "the Humane Society people don't know nothing." I really appreciated the quote the reporter added:

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures
from the shelter of compassion and pity,
you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
— Saint Francis of Assisi

A close friend of mine pursued a puppy mill for some time. She hounded and hounded the woman running the mill. She managed to talk the woman out of some of her dogs. One in particular was a special story, his name was Leroy.

Leroy was kept in a small crate in an unheated barn in central PA. A Short haired dog, he shivered all through the winter, with no room to run, no other animal to play with, and no one to give him love or attention. After 18 months of nagging and begging my friend, Tina, finally was told to get him today or else. Tina and a friend drove the 60 miles and picked up Leroy.

Leroy was thin and in poor condition, but amazingly loving and friendly after such an unhappy start in life. He was placed in a foster home where he was fed, loved, and two other dogs to play with. He responded quickly, put on weight, and became a handsome boy. One day his foster mom was taking him for a walk and, as she described later, Leroy began to act very odd. He pushed her and grabbed her cloths and pulled and would not let her cross the street. He pushed her to a grassy area. The next thing she knew she was waking up and Leroy was standing there protecting her, she'd had a seizure. Leroy kept her from having the seizure in the street, and had forced her to a safe area. She claimed over and over since then that Leroy saved her life that day. Twice more over the next few months he predicted seizures. On both of those occasions she was home and sat in a safe place when he did so. Leroy passed away from a congenital heart condition, he lived less than one year after his rescue. The breeder knew she had this problem in her lines, but bred them anyway because of the $400-800 she managed to get for puppies.

Over time Tina managed to collect enough information to finally be able to send animal control to shut down this breeder. Saddly, Tina also passed away a few months later, from an an aneurism. She was 45.

Tina and I worked together to save a number of dogs. I had no hand in Leroy's rescue, but Tina had shared with me all along the way as she worked to get him. My heart will always be with the puppy mill dog that saved his foster mom's life.

George

That's a touching, but sad story. I have seen programs on that exact subject on educational tv. Evidently, some dogs are able to detect the impending onset of seizure disorders. Tina was a special person, and Leroy a special little dog.

George -

What a wonderful thing Tina did! I'm sorry she's not with us anymore. We know she's truly an angel in heaven. What a wonderful rescue for Leroy. I'm sure he appreciated the great chance at life he was given after being kept in such horrible conditions. I just can't understand how anyone can treat these poor animals like they do at these mills (or anywhere for that matter). It's too bad that the almighty buck means more than a living breathing animal. I'm sure I'd lose it if I ever visited one of these places in person. We can only hope that the people (if you can call them that) who are subjecting these poor creatures to a life of horror get what they deserve in the long run. I'd like to see all of them (puppymill people) stuffed in a cage without proper nutritional food and water laying in their own waste in the freezing cold. Maybe then they'd get a little taste of how it is. Ugh. Unfortunately, you can never get through to them.

Tina was an extraordinary person. She rescued her first dog one night when her then neighbor, recently separated from his wife, had been drinking and was going out to shoot his dog. Tina saw him out there and ran out in her robe in the rain and stood between him and the dog until he gave the dog to her. The poor dog had not been socialized, was desparate for attention and affection, and only weighed 25 lbs at 8 months of age. Tina knew little about dogs at the time, and nothing about Pit Bulls. She learned all about both working with this dog, Co Co. The dog now lives with Tina's 75 year old mother and is her constant companion and best friend.

Starting with Co Co, Tina had saved over 325 dogs before she passed away. She knew where every one of those dogs was, and how it was being cared for. Her contracts allowed her to reclaim a dog if it didn't get proper care or wasn't treated as one of the family. On two occasions she even got the sheriff to go in with her to reclaim a dog. She and her 20 year old daughter stepped between a group of drug dealers and a dog they were beating on one occasion. I guess the drug dealers were shocked by their grit, they turned the dog over to these two women and it ended up with a happy life. I feel very privileged to have known her.

George