98 dogs rescued from a puppy mill in the Midwest have arrived in Michigan. The pups deplaned at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport on Friday afternoon. The large group of canines represents just under half of the animals recovered from the puppy mill.
Animal advocates welcome 98 dogs rescued from puppy mill
Authorities are not releasing further details about the puppy mill, but according to WZZM 13, they recovered 225 dogs in total. Rescuers are spreading the dogs across the country in the hope of finding forever homes for them.
The Bissel Pet Foundation stepped up to transport the pups by plane to The Great Lakes State.
“These dogs have lived in pretty tragic circumstances,” Brittany Schlacter of the Bissel Pet Foundation said. “They’re from locations where they didn’t really receive human interaction. They were with other dogs and crowded conditions. They likely never received medical treatment of any kind, very little grooming, and they were just bred.”
The group of rescues is a “wide range” of dog breeds, though most of the pups are on the smaller side. They are primarily over 1 year old. The dogs were used for breeding. Some had multiple litters of puppies.
Dogs lived in horrendous conditions
Prior to their rescue, the dogs lacked basic care and socialization.
“They never have walked on grass,” said Jen Self-Aulger, the executive director of Harbor Humane Society. Her organization took in 28 dogs. “They don’t know how to jump down from furniture. They haven’t been used to having regular meals, toys, things like that.”
The Harbor Humane Society will place dogs in foster homes for several weeks “to just really kind of have that decompression period and acclimate,” Self-Aulger said. “Then we’ll work on finding them adoptive homes.”
Because these dogs will need all kinds of care to recover from their pasts, the Bissell Pet Foundation and the National Mill Dog Rescue are accepting donations. Support their efforts here.
