Sporting dog group wants Pennsylvania puppy mill investigation
By Kim Campbell Thornton
April 9, 2008
The American Sporting Dog Alliance is calling for the U. S. and Pennsylvania attorneys general to investigate the kennels seen in last Friday’s Oprah report.
“The report on the Winfrey show by special reporter Lisa Ling showed video footage of several puppy mills in Pennsylvania…operating in clear violation of existing laws,” writes ASDA founder John Yates. “None of the terrible and heartbreaking things shown in the report would be happening if current laws were being enforced.”
Yates goes on to question why the laws aren’t being enforced, whether the kennels are licensed and inspected, and why rescue groups that obtain surplus dogs from the kennels haven’t reported them to the authorities.
Will we see puppy millers and rescue groups testifying in Congress any time soon? One can hope, but I don’t remember that outcome after 20/20’s puppy mill expose in the 90s.
Gratuitous puppy blogging: Harper was Best in Class last Saturday when we practiced walking on a loose lead. Not that I’m biased or anything. She makes me laugh every time I see her copying everything Bella does, right down to the way she sits and looks at me. And when I look at them under my desk, it looks as if I have a double-long Cavalier because Harper lies with her head resting on Bella’s rear. Bella used to keep moving around to get away from her, but apparently she has given up and accepted the inevitable.
“And when I look at them under my desk, it looks as if I have a double-long Cavalier because Harper lies with her head resting on Bella’s rear. Bella used to keep moving around to get away from her, but apparently she has given up and accepted the inevitable.”
If that isn’t an “Awwww!” moment, I don’t know what is!
Awwwww!
Comment by The OTHER Pat — April 9, 2008 @ 8:52 am
That e-mail he sent out is so conspiracy theory-ish and he just goes on and on. If he wants to reach more people, he needs to be concise and get his facts straight. The hamster wheel type cages he mentions were not the sole enclosure for the dogs. The wheels were adjacent to an indoor cage. I don’t think he’s helping anyone here.
Comment by slt — April 9, 2008 @ 9:10 am
Uh, this organization proposed a boycott of Oprah’s advertisers before the show even aired.
I think he’s just riding the coat tails.
Comment by Christine — April 9, 2008 @ 10:01 am
You can read a much longer version of Yate’s comments here:
http://caveat.blogware.com/
You may or may not agree with everything he says, and like most groups, has a vested interested one way or the other, but he brings out some very interesting points. He points to specific examples of what should be labeled as animal cruelty under Pennsylvania statutes and wonders why if the people are currently breaking cruelty laws, and so many people (including rescue people) know about it, why nothing is being done. It’s a very valid question.
Comment by Brent — April 9, 2008 @ 10:13 am
Absolutely it could have been better written and more focused, but he knows a good opportunity when he sees one. If national parent clubs, rescue groups, etc. followed suit, we might actually reach a tipping point and see a real national investigation/conversation on puppy mills that could make real changes. Then again, my mother spent a lot of time yelling at me for daydreaming…
Comment by Kim — April 9, 2008 @ 10:44 am