On January 31st, Placing Paws rescued a bunch of dogs from two different puppy mills in Missouri. A puppy mill is a commercial breeding facility where puppies are mass produced for profit without regard for the health or well being of the puppies or the breeder dogs. The mills house their dogs in deplorable conditions, they are fed inadequate food and seldom if ever receive veterinary care. The breeding dogs are never allowed outside of their cages. They are forced to live in wire bottomed cages 24 hours per day where they have to eat, sleep and go potty. There are an estimated 4,000 puppy mills in the U.S. that produce more than half a million puppies a year. When the puppy mill is done with their breeding dogs, they will either euthanize them or sell them at auction. The lucky ones get rescued and get a second chance at a happy life.

Bernard, Jacques, Cullen, Maurice, Macey and GiGi arrived on Sunday night in horrible condition. They were all scared and unsure of what was happening to them, as they did not understand human kindness and gentle touch. They were filthy with feces matted tight to their skin, their nails so long they were almost curled under. The night they arrived they stayed overnight at our vet’s office. The next day all 6 were scheduled for exams and vaccines. Before we could schedule them for their surgeries they all had to be groomed. It took a few short hours to shave away the years of neglect of their coats. It will still take time to heal their bodies and their spirits. One by one they were examined, weighed, vaccinated, and an age was guessed. Determining the age is very difficult on a puppy mill dog because the condition of the teeth is what is used to age a dog. Puppy mill dogs commonly have terrible teeth because of the poor quality food they are fed. Their teeth are commonly a color not meant for teeth, it is a combination of brown, grey and black. Upon examination each one had the same story, poor body condition and lousy teeth. All but one was determined healthy enough to be scheduled for spay or neuter.

Bernard, a Toy Poodle, was treated for an ear infection and diagnosed with a heart murmur, the vet recommended that we wait a bit to let him recover from the stress of the transport before putting him under for surgery. A chest x-ray was taken which revealed that his heart is slightly enlarged. Bernard also had what appeared to be a hole under his eye.  This in fact is an ulcer that is common in puppy mill poodles.   When the hair on the face gets too long the tears collect and keep the skin wet constantly.  Eventually the tears burn a hole in the skin.  His new owner will need to make sure that the hair on his face is shaved when he gets groomed so that the ulcer doesn’t come back.  Over the next couple of days all of the dogs except for Bernard were altered, received microchips, a heartworm test and had their teeth cleaned. Some were lucky to only have a few teeth pulled. Some were not so lucky. Macey is one that was not so lucky.  Macey was found to have a fractured jaw, a tooth so rotten it ate a hole up into her nasal cavity, and a mammary mass. Dr. Luaces at Care Animal Hospital was able to surgically repair the hole in the roof of her mouth by placing a gingival flap of skin over it. The mammary mass was sent out to the lab and the results showed it to be a carcinoma.  Macey will need to be watched to see if the mass comes back.  Cullen, a black Toy Poodle had 3 teeth pulled.  Jacques, a Malti-Poo also had to have 3 teeth pulled.  GiGi, a white Toy Poodle had 4 teeth extracted and required bloodwork and urinalysis to make sure that her kidneys were functioning properly.  Maurice was treated for an ear infection and had a complex dental cleaning.  All of the dogs are now in wonderful foster homes. Thank you to all of our great foster families that opened up their hearts and homes to these puppy mill survivors. They are helping them become the dogs they were meant to be.

These recent expenses are a huge financial burden on a small organization like Placing Paws. It could greatly jeopardize the number of dogs that we will be able to save in 2010. We know that in the current economic times, it can be very hard to make a large donation. Please know that donations of any size WILL make a difference. We also have created many other ideas and opportunities for you to help.  If we all pull together and help out just a little, it will help out a lot and continue to allow us to save more animals. This is especially needed in these difficult times because the animals need us now more than ever.