NEW HAMSHIRE -- (NEWS CENTER) -- More than 84 Great Danes were rescued from a puppy mill in a New Hampshire mansion by the HSUS with assistance from the Wolfeboro Police Department, said The Humane Society.
Sad and broken, their once bright happy eyes, were red or swollen shut like human boxers that had taken too many hits in a long fight. The humane society said they should have been treated like canine kings and queens, but instead, were caged inside a mansion with no sign of available water, “just some remains of raw chicken parts strewn around the dogs.”
The Humane Society said these beautiful dogs spent countless hours in cages. Their paws appeared to be infected and were especially large for Great Danes.
The rescuers said an overwhelming smell filled the air in the mansion and some of the rooms contained high levels of ammonia that caused the rescuers’ eyes to tear up. “There was feces and debris smeared across all the walls to the point where the windows were opaque.”
The dogs were saved and taken to a temporary shelter, “where we will continue to work on healing their medical conditions and mending their spirits,” the Humane Society said. “So they know what it means to truly be loved.”
The HSUS is tackling the puppy mill problem on multiple levels, but they said policymakers need to crack down on the cruelty. “We have to adopt federal and state policies that prevent situations from deteriorating to this point, where we can intervene only when the situation is so severe that a puppy mill case becomes a crime scene and a case of animal cruelty,” the Humane Society post.
Under New Hampshire’s current law, breeders are only required to be licensed by the state Department of Agriculture, “if 50 puppies are sold in one year.” Making it difficult to enforce this law with breeders who are not honest.
The Humane Society warns of a new bill being considered by lawmakers in New Hampshire. The proposal would lower the state’s mandatory inspections for all pet licenses, like shelters, pet stores, and commercial breeders. “If that attempt succeeds, the mandatory inspections will be replaced by a voluntary, complaint-based system, making it even harder for abusers to be held accountable.”
