Another Puppy Mill Seizure and Closed Down

Ok, so I've been trying not to post more than once per day, but I couldn't pass this one up. I flew through the roof this morning when I saw it on the news. Here's the link to the news article about yet another puppy mill being shut down in my area. The basics are:

- 100 dogs seized from puppy mill in deplorable condition
- The breeds seized included Bichons, Pekingese, Papillons and Lhasa Apso types
- Upon conviction, the accused could face a maximum fine of $60,000, two years in jail and a lifetime prohibition of owning animals
- If charges are laid, this will be the fourth puppy mill raided by the SPCA in Ontario this year.

Please remember that I am glad they shut the place down. Quite honestly, I wouldn't want them to continue running. But that nasty little common sense voice inside my head is saying "WOAH!!" (Just like when Barrie OSPCA seized 300 meat rabbits from a farm and then couldn't figure out what the heck to do with them all.) So here's my issue ...

What are we going to do with 100 more dogs going through the shelters in Ontario? I thought all the shelters were already full ... guess not? This brings me right back to the post I made earlier about working with the owners, spaying and neutering all the dogs and having the owners house and feed the dogs until suitable homes could be found.

Don't EVER forget that the OSPCA is NOT a no-kill. It will euthanize the dogs and cats if they are too full, don't have the right behaviour, or sometimes just have a bad day. That means that if they don't find adoptive homes, foster homes or even just kennels at other shelters, fast for these dogs, the dogs' time will run out.

The kicker that sends me through the roof? Read that last point again ... it reads IF ... not when ... IF. That means that this person may go away from this without being charged because that the OSPCA is not sure whether or not they have enough evidence to convict.

Not to mention that not one of those dogs will be adoptable until the owners surrender them! They are all still owned by that person! Ugh ... let's not even get into THAT one!

I wonder how many of those 100 dogs will be euthanized?