More than 1,000 dogs have a new lease on life after teams of rescuers with The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) arrived here to save them from a massive puppy mill operation. The removal of the dogs—which is thought to be the largest puppy mill rescue in U.S. history—was prompted by The HSUS’ five-month undercover investigation of the puppy mill business in Virginia, which found nearly 1,000 unlicensed puppy dealers operating in the Commonwealth.
More than 350 puppies and 700 adult dogs, including 650 breeding females, will be removed from the facility, which is known as Horton’s Pups. The operator of the facility surrendered all but 200 of his animals to Carroll County, Va. after realizing that he could not provide proper care for the dogs, just days after The HSUS released the results of its investigation.
Transport vehicles from animal shelters in nearby states have been arriving since Monday, at the request of The HSUS and the Virginia Emergency Operations Center. The dogs are being moved to shelters after receiving veterinary checks by the Virginia Department of Agriculture, Carroll County Animal Control officers, and other organizations. The shelters will evaluate the dogs, address their medical and health needs, and place them up for adoption. The animals will all be spayed or neutered in accordance with each individual agency’s policies. A specially designed HSUS animal transport trailer arrived in Virginia on Wednesday evening along with HSUS staff to assist with caring for the animals.
“The HSUS investigation has brought relief to hundreds of dogs in an overcrowded and awful puppy mill operation,” said Stephanie Shain, The HSUS’ director of outreach for companion animals, and the organization’s leading puppy mill expert. “But now the state needs to adopt stronger policies to crack down on a large-scale industry that is severely mistreating dogs in the Commonwealth. And consumers should stop buying dogs from pet stores or through the Internet, and instead adopt homeless dogs from reputable shelters.”
“Carroll County is pleased with the response from The Humane Society of the United States and volunteers from animal rescue and adoption agencies from the Mid-Atlantic states as well as the other resources made available to us,” said Gary Larrowe, Carroll County administrator. “We are extremely concerned for the welfare of the animals and have garnered as many resources and have responded as quickly as possible.”
“If you aren’t going to adopt from an animal shelter, you need to see firsthand where that puppy was born,” said Shain. “That’s the only way to make sure you aren’t unknowingly fueling the demand for puppies from puppy mills. Pet stores and Internet puppy dealers are very smart about deceiving people. These dogs are a cash crop for the puppy mill operators and the pet stores, and it’s reprehensible.”
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