Start with her county's local humane society. Also loop in the sheriff's office of the county she is in.
That said, things are about to get MUCH harder for stopping puppy mills in Texas. There was a bill passed in the last lesiglature session that takes effect on 9/1. SB408 updated the due process language in the section of Texas law that deals with animal cruelty cases (Sect 821). Before this amendment, the owner had appeal rights against a seizure if the animal was being put up for sale, but not if it was going to be give to an animal rescue or euthanized. Now, the appeal applies to any seizure. Under the new language, the owner must put up a bond to care for the animals during the appeal process which must be complete within 25 calendar days. But, elsewhere in Texas law it states that if you can't afford an appeal bond, the judge can waive the requirement for the bond -- meaning that all of the costs can be put on the organization running the temporary shelter. I fear that means that organizations like Humane Societies will have to think harder and be more selective about which puppy mills they go after.
Please folks -- regardless of where you live, stop what you are doing and write to your state representatives TODAY. Tell them that you don't accept that the rights of the puppy mill operators are more important than the rights of the animals. Tell them that cruelty can never be condoned or permitted in the name of profitability. Unless we can drown out the voices of folks like "Responsible Pet Owners of Texas", and lobby groups that feel that animals are chattel and the owners can do whatever they feel like, we are going to see an end to seizures instead of an end to puppy mills. |