Rescuers trying to save a group of dogs from a Missouri puppy mill ran out of time on Thursday before they were able to give the dogs a second chance. According to one rescuer that was working to save the animals, their breeder killed 31 dogs this week because the rescues didn’t have room to take all 31 of the animals.
“On days like today when you get the message about the 31 dogs, you just want to put your head down and cry,” says Leann Lund founder and president of the Crossroad’s Shih Tzu Rescue (CSTR). Her rescue was slated to receive one Shih Tzu and three Maltese from the group. “Unfortunately, some breeders have this all or nothing policy when they are dealing with the rescues. They either release all of the dogs or none of them. Rescuers were working to find other organizations to take some of the dogs and we thought we had until Friday (October 20), but the breeder decided not to wait.”
Lund’s rescue works with a network of individuals in Illinois and Missouri that will forward a list of dogs that breeders are willing to release to rescues and shelters. These dogs may have stopped producing as breeding dogs or may be puppies that are not selling through pet stores for a variety of reasons. This week, the various organizations were working frantically to save dogs on lists from five different breeding operations.
The need for foster homes
“There are just not enough homes for the number of dogs that the puppy mills produce. They are coming out in floods and some days, I feel like we are swimming upstream,” says Lund. “We currently have just 10 foster homes and we’ve been able to find homes for 80 dogs this year. If we had more fosters, we could rescue more. I can’t save them all, but I can make a world of difference to those dogs I do save.”
CSTR works in the Chicago-area, Northern Indiana and Tallahasee, Florida, where Lund is now lives. She encourages people that are interested in fostering to go to their website and read the information about adopting and fostering. After potential fosters fill out an application, CSTR interviews them, checks references and does a home check. She encourages people who already have pets to check the maximum pet limits in their community to make sure they will be in compliance before fostering.
“We don’t mind foster flunks – people who foster and end up adopting the dog or dogs they foster,” says Lund. “However, we don’t want people to take a dog to foster when their whole intent is just to try out a dog for possible adoption. We want people who are committed. For every foster you take in, that is a life saved and for each one that a is adopted that opens a spot for another dog.”
Rescuing from puppy mills
Since the organization’s inception in 2008, their goal has been to rescue dogs from the puppy mills. Lund initially got involved 10 years ago when she first lived in Tallahasee because there were so many mills and backyard breeders in Georgia. Local animal shelters on the Georgia/Florida stateline became the dumping ground for their unwanted animals. Of the 80 dogs that CSTR has adopted out this year, 36 have been rescued from puppy mills and many of the rest have come from Chicago Animal Care and Control.
Because many of the dogs that CSTR saves from puppy mills and CACC often have health issues that must be addressed, the group is always in need of donations. Along with fostering, the organization also needs volunteers to help out with many aspects of the rescue. Learn more about the organization online, follow them on Facebook, or check out dogs looking for homes.
