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Dogs From Suspected Puppy Mill Tug Hearts

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By ANNIE GOWEN and DONNA ST. GEORGE, The Washington Post

Published: November 11, 2007

WASHINGTON - Some of the adult dogs arriving at the Montgomery County, Md., animal shelter Thursday acted like newborn pups with splayed legs, wobbly as they tried to walk. They had never been on solid ground.

At first, they didn't know how to eat from a bowl, so accustomed were they to the troughs at the puppy mill in southwestern Virginia from which they had just been rescued. Several had matted hair around their eyes and couldn't see. The pads of their feet were sore or cut from being confined to wire cages.

When word of the dogs' plight surfaced last week on the Humane Society of the United States' Web site - that officials in Carroll County, Va., had seized nearly 1,000 dogs from a suspected puppy mill - reaction from animal lovers was immediate and intense.

Volunteers from the Washington region joined others from Florida and New York who streamed to the rural town of Hillsville near the North Carolina border. Families began calling to ask when they could adopt the dogs. Donations rolled in; PetSmart sent a trailer full of kibble and other supplies.

"It's been incredible," County Administrator Gary Larrowe said of the outpouring. Larrowe had declared a state of emergency after hundreds of dogs were found living in filthy cages. Officials said they think it is the largest puppy mill ever found in the state.

Volunteers from a local animal rights group said that when they visited breeder Junior Horton's property undercover, they were overwhelmed by the number of dogs crammed into cages. In one, whelping mothers lay with their bellies under heat lamps, waiting to give birth. The dogs appeared to have food and water, but there was feces under the cages.

Larrowe said Horton had a local license to run a kennel for 500 animals and had exceeded that twofold. He also did not have the required U.S. Department of Agriculture license to sell dogs to commercial operations such as pet stores.

Carroll County Sheriff H. Warren Manning said the matter has been referred to the commonwealth's attorney. A decision on whether to file criminal charges against Horton is expected within a few weeks.

Animal welfare advocates say puppy mills have proliferated as demand has increased.

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