Knowledge is Power (Puppymills), UPDATE, Oprah doing Show

[disneyaggie]

What was the title and singer that played during the tribute to Sophie? I can't place the singer's name or the title of the song. It was tear jerker!

 

[louey]

It is sad really sad, at least now many more people will know about puppy mills and what really goes on. Hopefully it changed the minds of people who are thinking about getting a pet, maybe now people will think twice about buying a dog. Or better yet maybe volunteer with a local rescue, believe me you they always could use extra foster homes that it a huge help. For anyone who watched Oprah now you can educate people about puppy mills spread the word!!! It is just so upsetting to think that right now this is going on. I won't bump this anymore I just hope the footage was an eyeopener for some folks. If you do buy you now know you have to do your homework on reputable breeders or you could end up supporting those heartless, greedy __________ etc...(insert whatever you like)

http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200804/tows_past_20080404.jhtml?promocode=HP21

 

[Aimeedyan]

Well done show, I'm glad she finally did one on puppy mills (I emailed her show years ago and requested one!).

Cried like a baby, esp when they were at my city shelter putting down dogs, but I hope it reached someone out there.

I was thankful they pointed out that almost every internet "breeder" and pet store get dogs from these places.

 

[ampc3]

I watched the show today with my kids soo sad, and unbelievable! I have to tell you , that I am not what you would call an animal person, never grew up having anything other than a fish.
My kids and DH really want a dog someday, and I would have had no problem going down to the local pet store and getting one. I had NO IDEA what a puppy mill was and certainly could NEVER have imagined what REALLY goes on!
So I promise to all you dedicated animal lovers that when the time comes for our family to get a dog,I will do my homework and most definitaly get one from a shelter/rescue! I will never ever think of going to the local petstore/mall again! That was a very educational show!!!

 

[louey]

I watched the show today with my kids soo sad, and unbelievable! I have to tell you , that I am not what you would call an animal person, never grew up having anything other than a fish.
My kids and DH really want a dog someday, and I would have had no problem going down to the local pet store and getting one. I had NO IDEA what a puppy mill was and certainly could NEVER have imagined what REALLY goes on!
So I promise to all you dedicated animal lovers that when the time comes for our family to get a dog,I will do my homework and most definitaly get one from a shelter/rescue! I will never ever think of going to the local petstore/mall again! That was a very educational show!!!

Amen and thats exactly why Oprah doing this show will make so many people aware of the awful truth behind those innocent sweet faces sitting at the pet stores or online. Now you know what hell the parents of these sweet puppies live in every day. I am so glad to hear you say that this show was educational.

 

[MichelleVW]

I just cried like a baby. Especially when they got to the part
where they showed how they select who they have to "you know" (sniff sniff)
( I just can't say it) , It was just sooooo Sad , I wish I had the money and a
nice big place to give those that no one wants a good home.

I hope this show gets the awareness it deserves.

omg...that part just killed me....

 

[Nynaeve]

I watched the show today with my kids soo sad, and unbelievable! I have to tell you , that I am not what you would call an animal person, never grew up having anything other than a fish.
My kids and DH really want a dog someday, and I would have had no problem going down to the local pet store and getting one. I had NO IDEA what a puppy mill was and certainly could NEVER have imagined what REALLY goes on!
So I promise to all you dedicated animal lovers that when the time comes for our family to get a dog,I will do my homework and most definitaly get one from a shelter/rescue! I will never ever think of going to the local petstore/mall again! That was a very educational show!!!

Your response and reaction was the reason why this show was done, good for you!

This show was heartbreaking. But, hopefully it will make an impact. These dog torturers need to be put down, and thrown in jail. How anyone can treat an animal that way I just don't understand.

I had to give my sweet shelter rescued dog a hug and a few extra treats today. I was in tears when they showed the shelter dogs being euthanized. That could have been my sweet girl, if I hadn't gotten her.

I think for Mother's Day, I'm going to ask my DH to donate money to the ASPCA instead of buying me a present.

I loved seeing all the pictures of your pets, and reading their stories. Here's my Holly, a dalmatian mix. I got her from our then local Animal Control when I was 18. She's the sweetest, most loving girl.

 

[NMAmy]

I watched the show today with my kids soo sad, and unbelievable! I have to tell you , that I am not what you would call an animal person, never grew up having anything other than a fish.
My kids and DH really want a dog someday, and I would have had no problem going down to the local pet store and getting one. I had NO IDEA what a puppy mill was and certainly could NEVER have imagined what REALLY goes on!
So I promise to all you dedicated animal lovers that when the time comes for our family to get a dog,I will do my homework and most definitaly get one from a shelter/rescue! I will never ever think of going to the local petstore/mall again! That was a very educational show!!!

This is wonderful. I really hope there are others like you that have come to the same realization.

I cried so much during the euthanization part that my adorable golden, Sunny,(from the Humane Society) came running across the room to hug me. Well, jeez, that just made me cry more.

I hope you don't mind if I share this story. Sunny almost died when she was a puppy herself. My dd had been nagging me for a new puppy. We'd been to the Humane Society and they didn't have any appropriate puppies at the time. They called me on a Wednesday to tell me they'd just gotten some puppies in. I wanted to wait until the weekend but my dd was insistent. We found Sunny and adopted her on the spot. She was taken to another part of the building and was spayed that day and we picked her up a couple of days later.

By the weekend, news had come out that there was a problem with the ventilation in the building. Every animal at the Humane Society had to be put to sleep. They called me to see if Sunny had any symptoms--she didn't. Because my daughter had been SO insistent on picking her up that day, she was only with the other dogs for a couple of hours and did not contract any of the diseases that caused the other animals to be euthanized.

Our vet calls her Lucky. We are so happy to have Sunny in our lives.

 

[kacaju]

If you are looking for a certain purebred dog, take a look at infodog.com. this is a site that many purebred dog fanciers use to find out info on dog shows. You click on the dog show schedule pick the state you live in and all the dog shows for that area will come up. Go to a few dog shows and talk to the people there. They will help you find a dog you are looking for. Did you know that most breeders will take a dog back for ANY reason? Our breeder currently has a 5 year old dog that someone returned to her. You can always get a rescue dog that way too.
We recently got a second dog, this one came from a breeder. We happen to show this dog, so we got a show dog. Most breeders have *pet* dogs available to good homes. This just means that for some reason the dog is not right for the show ring and will be sold as a pet.

 

[ckay87]

This show came at a great time for us. DS, 12, and I watched it together.

Do you remember that Oprah made some kind of statement about how men don't like to have their dogs neutered? Well it is TRUE. We had our dachshund neutered 2 days ago and DS has been LIVID with me, saying "why did you do that, that is so wrong, etc." I explained it to him every way possible, but this show painted a better picture for him than I ever could. He completely understands now. So, although I had a good understanding of all of this, Oprah did reach one more person in my family.

When the dog was put down .... did you see his tail wagging as they led him into the room? I wept uncontrollably. I mean nothing on TV or in movies...nothing has ever done that to me. But it's such a helpless feeling that there is not much more we can do. I adopted our dogs and will always do so. But most people don't have that much sense. I live in Amish country, not far from those farms and those Amish people....they are fine people and all and can grow some great vegetables. BUT I know for a fact that they have no concept of how to be decent to an animal.

 

[k_null81]

I just wanted to say that I did have my mom DVR this episode for me. I haven't watched it yet but as soon as I read your post about that dogs tail wagging I started crying. It just breaks my heart that so many pets go unwanted.

This show came at a great time for us. DS, 12, and I watched it together.

Do you remember that Oprah made some kind of statement about how men don't like to have their dogs neutered? Well it is TRUE. We had our dachshund neutered 2 days ago and DS has been LIVID with me, saying "why did you do that, that is so wrong, etc." I explained it to him every way possible, but this show painted a better picture for him than I ever could. He completely understands now. So, although I had a good understanding of all of this, Oprah did reach one more person in my family.

When the dog was put down .... did you see his tail wagging as they led him into the room? I wept uncontrollably. I mean nothing on TV or in movies...nothing has ever done that to me. But it's such a helpless feeling that there is not much more we can do. I adopted our dogs and will always do so. But most people don't have that much sense. I live in Amish country, not far from those farms and those Amish people....they are fine people and all and can grow some great vegetables. BUT I know for a fact that they have no concept of how to be decent to an animal.

 

[ckay87]

I just wanted to say that I did have my mom DVR this episode for me. I haven't watched it yet but as soon as I read your post about that dogs tail wagging I started crying. It just breaks my heart that so many pets go unwanted.

I keep seeing that dog in my mind and am only comforted by the thought that his story probably touched a lot of people, and therefore saved the lives of many other dogs.

Even I picked up a boatload of extra treats last night at the store for my doggies and they have the Oprah show to thank for that.

 

[disneyaggie]

I live in Amish country, not far from those farms and those Amish people....they are fine people and all and can grow some great vegetables. BUT I know for a fact that they have no concept of how to be decent to an animal.

I have heard this before and it absolutely floored me! I would think of all folks, the Amish would treat the animals like humans since they are "God's animals".

 

[mjkacmom]

Your response and reaction was the reason why this show was done, good for you!

This show was heartbreaking. But, hopefully it will make an impact. These dog torturers need to be put down, and thrown in jail. How anyone can treat an animal that way I just don't understand.

I had to give my sweet shelter rescued dog a hug and a few extra treats today. I was in tears when they showed the shelter dogs being euthanized. That could have been my sweet girl, if I hadn't gotten her.

I think for Mother's Day, I'm going to ask my DH to donate money to the ASPCA instead of buying me a present.

I loved seeing all the pictures of your pets, and reading their stories. Here's my Holly, a dalmatian mix. I got her from our then local Animal Control when I was 18. She's the sweetest, most loving girl.

My IL's are having a 25th anniversary party on Sunday. They requested no gifts, but I donated $100 to the organization on the Oprah show in their name.

 

[disneyaggie]

Here is a link that will let you send an already written letter to your congressmen against puppy mills. It is very simple to do -- and can make a difference . . .

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/puppymills_oprah?rk=mpLA2Y7qH4jQE

 

[disneyaggie]

Here is Oprah's e-mail address . . .

http://www.oprah.com/email/tows/email_tows_main.jhtml

I am sending her two "thank you's" -- one from me, and one from one of my rescued fur babies (I think she would get a kick out of that).

Hopefully if enough folks write in, then she would feel the "kuddos" and be willing to do a follow up story on this topic so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

 

[MyGoofy26]

I managed to get home early yesterday. My 7 (almost 8) year old cousin goes to school a block from here and comes to our house every Friday. I explained what I was going to watch and told her she could watch TV in another room or play. She wanted to see it. She said she'd heard of puppy mills before but didn't think they really existed. She was quite saddened by the footage and said she'd NEVER get a dog at a pet store. Her mom got their German Shephard online, was one of the lucky ones that actually got a dog after paying. So they have a $2000 dog with no papers and liver problems.

My cousin just kept petting my dog and saying, "I'm so glad you got Pippa at the shelter."

We have a no-kill shelter around here. They're having a run/walk next weekend. I might see if I can get her for the day and see if she wants to do it. She's such an animal lover anyway.

 

[ckay87]

I have heard this before and it absolutely floored me! I would think of all folks, the Amish would treat the animals like humans since they are "God's animals".

I know, but the way it was explained yesterday by Lisa Ling is that they view it as man dominating beast.

I live in PA and I understand that we are the worst state for puppy mills. I am sure it is because of our large Amish population and the fact that legislators don't want to mess with the way Amish do business. It always feels like the Amish are held in such high esteem, as if they can do no wrong when, in fact, they are simply a religious extreme just like any other.

 

[louey]

I know, but the way it was explained yesterday by Lisa Ling is that they view it as man dominating beast.

I live in PA and I understand that we are the worst state for puppy mills. I am sure it is because of our large Amish population and the fact that legislators don't want to mess with the way Amish do business. It always feels like the Amish are held in such high esteem, as if they can do no wrong when, in fact, they are simply a religious extreme just like any other.

I don't understand it either, why are the Amish allowed to continue this practice it is Barbaric!!!! I don't believe the state of PA benefits monetarily from this??? I don't know, (do the Amish pay taxes?) that is the only reason I would think that people would just look the other way. It makes no sense!!! I am definately attending their "Puppymill Awareness Day" in September in Pennsylvannia to even learn more and possibly to start volunteering to foster.
DON'T BUY FROM THE INTERNET OR PET STORES!!!

http://www.awarenessday.org/pdf/awarenessdayflyer1.pdf

 

[DisnyMama]

I watched this show yesterday and was deeply, deeply moved. To me, this was the best show Oprah has ever done!

Yes, it was sad and even heartbreaking but there was also hope.

Whenever Oprah does a show about anything it causes a reaction. People will react to this show. After seeing this show there will be those that will get there dogs spayed/neutered. There will be an increase of adoptions at animal shelters...for a while. Donations to the shelters and the ASPC, etc will increase for a while. These are all good things. I think Oprah should repeat this show on a yearly basis so we are constantly reminded and those that didn't get the message the first time might eventually get it.