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Originally Posted by omichka  I have been thinking about it for a long time. I want to work with small breeds from puppy mills, mostly local (too bad - we have many in our state).
How and where I get dogs from puppy millers? I do not want to support them at all, although some rescues go to a dog actions in MO, for instance, and buy (condsiders as saving) some dogs..
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As you probably know, Oprah did a show about puppy mills in April 2007. Bill Smith, the director of the Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs, PA was a guest and he explained how his rescue gets dogs from puppy mills. He has been working to develop relationships with puppy mill owners in Pennsylvania over the past several years. Eventually, their breeding dogs get too old to produce puppies any more, and sometimes they have puppies who are very sick but they don't want to incur any vet bills. The millers used to just take these dogs out and shoot them, and according to PA law at the time, this practice was perfectly legal. The director said that he asks them to contact him when they have dogs that they don't want any more. He doesn't pay them anything for the dogs, the millers give him only the dogs that are useless to them, so that they don't even have to "waste a bullet" to get rid of them.
He said it has taken him a long time to develop these relationships, and that it's horrifying to go to the mills to pick up only a few dogs and leave so many others behind in misery. But he has to remain detached or else the millers won't call him any more and will just take their unwanted dogs out and kill them themselves.
I have the highest respect for Mr Smith and the work that he and his organization does. This method of dealing with puppy mills directly is not for everyone, though, and will take years to build these relationships.