I've posted a lot about puppy mills - I'm not going to editorialize what I think about this story (at least not first
) -- but I thought the tv station did an interesting job trying to present both sides of the issue in Indiana. They interviewed this couple & a legislator. I'll include the story - but I encourage you to go to the website & watch the video - both the version that ran apparently for their viewers & the 2 sets of raw video (it's really hard to hear the lady talk - but other than that you can hear most of it.) One of the interesting things that was left out of what they aired to the viewers - was the man trying to explain their return policy (course, I haven't seen their contract.) - ok, enough from me.
Puppy Mill? Local couple worried about breeding legislation | WSBT South Bend - Your Local News Leader | Local News
Puppy Mill? Local couple worried about breeding legislation
by Kelli Cheatham (kcheatham@wsbt.com)
Story Created: Mar 10, 2009 at 6:30 AM EDT
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — It's a controversial issue happening locally — breeders raising hundreds of puppies and then selling them for a profit. Some call those operations puppy mills and are pushing to shut them down.
Some Indiana lawmakers are trying to at least cut down on the number of dogs those breeders have. But local breeders we talked with say they love what they do, and claim their puppies are in the most humane conditions possible.
A Kosciusko County couple gave WSBT an exclusive look inside their large breeding facility. They say they started raising puppies 20 years ago.
"It's our goal to raise the nicest, healthiest, cutest little puppies," said the woman, who did not want WSBT to use her name.
Her husband said they have just a little over 200 adult dogs. That number doesn't include the dozens of puppies kept in the front room where customers can see them.
"The wire [in the cages] keeps them out of their feces, keeps them out of their urine," explained the other owner.
He also pointed out each pen's automatic water and feeder.
The couple said they started with just 18 dogs. It's grown into a huge operation.
"Even with a down economy we have not had any problems selling dogs," the man said.
They took our crew through the whelping area — 30 crates where mothers give birth — all full during our visit.
He explained they try to keep that area quiet so the youngest puppies and their mothers are not disturbed by customers.
There's also a grooming and bathing area in that same room. Another nearby studio is set up for a full time photographer to take pictures of the puppies for the couple's website.
Rarely does anyone see the rest of the breeding facility.
The couple first took WSBT to a room with 40 kennels, full of adult dogs. The owner said about 90 dogs were in that one room.
Through the glass behind closed doors, our cameras also saw two more rooms with adult dogs in the back of the farm. One had about the same number of kennels as the first. The other one allowed the dogs to be inside or out.
It was the first time the couple opened the entire facility to news media. We set up the day and time we would be there two days before our visit.
When asked why they decided to open their facilities to us, the woman said they think they have a nice, clean facility where they take care of their dogs.
"It seems like the news media just wants to find the worst things they can find," she said.
The couple said they employ about 18 people — 10 of those are local kids called "puppy players" — paid to help socialize the dogs.
"If you come and the puppy doesn't like you, you're not gonna like the puppy," the man explained. "We spend a lot of time and money keeping our puppies socialized."
But the couple faces plenty of opposition. A billboard that says "Stop Puppy Mills" sits about two miles from their farm. The message is clearly directed at them.
"We feel the people that would be opposed to us would have more of a thought process that animals are equal with humans," said the man. "We are Christians and we know the Bible does not make it that way."
The couple insists their breeding facility is not a puppy mill.
"We feel a puppy mill is someone who is raising dogs, who really doesn't care about them. Their idea of raising dogs is 'All I'm in this for is just to raise the dogs when I come home from work and slip in a couple extra dollars,'" he said.
But local animal rescuers, the Kosciusko County Animal Welfare League and even some state lawmakers disagree.
Representative Jackie Walorski, a Republican from Elkhart, was one of 81 legislators in the Indiana house who voted in February to regulate these so-called "puppy mills" or breeding facilities.
"I'm looking at puppy mill as if you have x amount of animals, purely for the motive of making profit," Walorski told WSBT. "They're not family pets, they're not a domesticated part of your family unit, they're not for really any other reason than commercial enterprise."
Walorski said she's concerned about the industry.
"[It] begins to blur the lines between what we've done historically in the state of Indiana and now commercially selling, breeding, puppy milling domestic animals that the community is raising questions about," she said.
Walorski visited the same Kosciusko County facility two weeks ago, the same day WSBT did. The couple who owns the facility invited her.
"It has a reputation for being clean, a lot of local people buy from there," said Walorski. "I just really wanted to kind of see it and get an idea — what is the good side of the industry?"
When asked about her impression of what she saw, Walorski said it was what she thought it would be.
"I'm very familiar with puppy mills," she continued.
But she did say it's much different than some of the other Indiana puppy mills she's seen.
"For the most part, these dogs are all in good condition. And they're clean, the place is clean," she said.
Too many others, she said, are not. Pictures from some of those puppy mills were shown to lawmakers in the Indiana House of Representatives. Walorski said those photographs showed chewed off legs, embedded collars splitting necks, lack of medical treatment, malnutrition.
But the couple running the Kosciusko County facility said they do everything possible to make sure their dogs don't look like that.
When it passed the House, the so-called
"puppy mill bill" said Indiana breeders can't have more than 30 adult dogs on their property, and dogs over 12 weeks old must have access to a grassy area for at least one hour a day. It also said commercial dog breeders must register with the state Board of Animal Health every four years.
"One of the big problems [with this legislation]," said the man who runs the Kosciusko County breeding facility with his wife, "is we're gonna have some dogs we'll need to move, or sell or to give away."
And guess who already foots the bill when unwanted animals end up at local humane societies and shelters?
"At the end of the day," said Walorski, "the taxpayer on this issue is still holding the bag with the unwanted, unused, no longer worth anything older female dogs. And it's costing people money."
The Kosciusko County couple agrees there are kennels that need to be regulated.
"And there's not a system in place in Indiana to regulate dogs," said the man. There is a need in Indiana for this kind of bill."
But how restrictive should it be? The owners of the Kosciusko County facility said they buy almost everything local — including their dog food from a supplier in Mishawaka. All their employees are from Elkhart and Kosciusko counties. And unless there are major changes to the HB 1468 in the Senate, the couple says the bill just isn't fair to them.
"As a farmer, the next thing I think is gonna happen is they're gonna tell me I can only farm a certain number of acres, I can only milk a certain number of cows," he said. "What gives someone the right to come into a viable business and say 'You can only do this much'?"
Walorski said those are the kinds of things lawmakers have to continue to explore to find out where the balance is in the issue.
A Senate committee is expected to consider the legislation this week. Indiana Senators could vote on it by the end of the month.
We want to hear what you think. Please join our LIVE Chat from 8-9 this morning with your comments, questions and concerns. An Indiana humane officer will be on hand as well.