This past weekend my youngest sister adopted an 8 month old puppy from the local Humane Society. She is a French bulldog/pug mix (the dog, not my sister – har har!) and has been named Ellie May. 
Ellie was rescued a couple weeks ago here in Minnesota: “They were in a barn in wire cages with cobwebs everywhere, sitting in their own feces,” [a Humane Society Rep] said. Don’t puppy mills sound lovely!? Yes, they sound lovely to me too. In case you’re wondering, no, that’s not her brains you see in that picture. She had a rather large cyst removed, and while it looks pretty awful right now, it’ll heal, and hopefully look like this eventually (thank you, amateur Photoshop skills):
Anyway, back to this puppy mill business: Ellie May has escaped quite a horrible fate, and stepped into the lap of luxury in joining our family. She doesn’t know it yet, and still thinks we might be trying to hurt her at any given moment, but when she figures it out, I imagine she’ll be quite happy about the whole thing. In the meantime, she is a big hot mess. Potty training has been interesting to say the least. Having been confined in a filthy kennel every day of her whole life, she hasn’t quite figured out that “we don’t go potty inside”. In general she just doesn’t act like a “normal” dog—for example, she is so submissive that she shimmies along the floor on her belly – she hardly stands up at all. Her tail stays firmly tucked between her legs except when she is playing with other dogs (something she is just learning how to do). She doesn’t want humans to touch her, and positions herself in a room so that she always has her back to a corner and her eyes on everyone in the room. It is really quite depressing, and makes me wonder what the dogs who were at this place for YEARS are like if she’s developed these behavioral issues in 8 short months.
And guess what? The woman who is responsible for treating Ellie May and hundreds of other animals this way is going to get some of the animals back. Thank you, Criminal Justice System, this is a great idea. Don’t worry, she is only getting a total of 43 of them back. FORTY-THREE. Let me just say that I have a hard enough time adequately caring for my (albeit very high-maintenance) dog and cat, and she’s going to get 43 animals back to provide such wonderful care for again. It makes me so angry that people can treat animals like this and get chance after chance after chance to do it again.
Mindy, you should write a letter to the reporter who wrote the original story on this case to request that the verdict and the return of animals to this woman get treated with equal weight in the paper. (his phone # and email are at the end of the story.) Something along the lines of, “Thanks much to you and to the Star Tribune for the effort and space you devoted to covering the Viola animal cruelty case last week. Situations like this are tragic and horrific to witness, but your coverage of them as they happen helps expose the public to the harsh realities of animal mills and animal cruelty, and in turn that helps enlighten people and prevent cruelty like this from happening or spreading. You may have heard that the courts have agreed to return 43 animals to this woman (or whatever the actual verdict was……..) and I’m writing to ask you and the Strib to consider covering this follow-up news with equal weight and priority to the original story. Reading that original report, it seems nearly impossible that the state would see fit to return animals to this woman’s care. A story updating your readers on this would be enlightening to your readers on the harsh realities of how hard it is to curb terrible cruelty against animals…………”
I dunno. I was going to write it, but it would sound SO much better with your wordsmithing and passion behind it.
Ellie Mae is a cutie. I hope she’ll learn to trust her new family soon and enjoy her life of love and leisure. Thanks to your sister for adopting her out that hell hole. That woman should be in prison, not preparing to further ruin the lives of more canines.
Mina is so great and she’s the love of my life that I thought about finding a reputable Wheaten breeder (Mina is a “Wheatable” a Wheaten mixed with some other terrier) when the time comes. But the more research I did the more I realized that I need to walk into a shelter, or two, and see who steals my heart – whether or not she resembles my Mina.
I’ll think about that tomorrow.
That said, I agree with Becky and you should send that letter.
s.
What the f?? She’s getting some dogs back?! This woman should be banned for life from ever even getting near an animal again… This enrages me!!
But on a happier note, your sister is so awesome for adopting Ellie May! For reasons that I will never understand, so many people think buying from breeders (or *shudder* a pet store) is much more desirable than adopting… Yay for your sis! Ellie May is gorgeous, and will be even more so once that wound heals. Poor girl.
Thanks for this post! My sweet lil’ dog (Mabel) is adopted, so this issue is especially close to my heart. There is an INSANE number of wonderful animals that need good homes.
P.S. I have been meaning to get here FOREVER to say that it was great meeting you at TLOV a couple weeks ago!
I hope to see you again soon–maybe at a vegan meetup, or perhaps we could arrange a meetup ourselves to walk our adopted pups sometime?
There’s a lot of problems here.
First animals are considered in the eye’s of the law, property. Unless that changes, animal abuse charges, are not going to have any real effects.
And two, It’s an absolutely wonderful notion to advise people to adopt dogs. The problem with that is, very few people want dogs, and everybody wants puppies.
So, unless we as a society change, the horrors of puppy mills will never go away.
BECKY – YOU are quite the wordsmith. And you’re right, I should do this!
NOTHONEY – I think that’s a good strategy. I sometimes get to thinking I need another boston terrier when I decide to adopt again, and if there is one in rescue I might just do that, but like you said – you have to find one that tugs at your heart, regardless of what breed/look, etc. A lot of times the ones that really get me are the older black lab mixes (very prevalent here in MN) because I know how difficult it will be for them to get adopted and they are such sweeties! So I’ll probably end up with some big black mutt, which would be A-okay by me!
JESS – Great meeting you too! I look forward to hanging out next week!
SPIRIT DOG – I couldn’t agree more. Personally, I think puppies are too much work. I got my dog when he was 1.5 years old and he came already trained. I think so many people overlook that benefit in favor of a cute little puppy face. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Mindy!
I rescued a five year old Brussels Griffon dog from AHS (Viola puppy mill seizure) and am interested in taking action against her..
I have one of the mama’s from there and she is just the sweetest dog ever.. She loves being loved it is such a treat for her.. She has some issues including pottying inside, but at least now she’s going. She was too afraid to go before and would make a loud panting noise while doing it, most likely bc this is what she did for years in the confines of her small living space. After much encouragement and patience she is catching on! Yay Betty! (also took her to the vet, so no infections, it’s all behavioral)..
She also is very anxious, so I’m working with her on that (dog whisperer tricks, giving treats to her or petting her when she’s in a calm state).. She is becoming more acclimated to my living area as well, but I feel she prefers the comforts of her kennel when I’m not at home or sleeping.. This will probably change once she feels more comfortable.. I have to say that coming in and out of the kennel is easier for her, she does it mostly on her own now.. At first she expected that I was going to grab her and move and her was very stiff and rigid.. I’m guessing the only time she was touched was when Shelly Whelan or whoever restrained her for breeding purposes.
She also does the dragging of the belly thing, I thought it was maybe from the surgery (spaying).. ??
Frequent breast exams will be performed on her because she is susceptible to cancer from all the breeding.. Her mammary tissue hangs very low..
Betty did not deserve the treatment she received during her 5 years at the puppy mill.. No dog deserves a puppy mill for one, for two no dog deserves the cruelty and neglect brought on by Shelly Whelan.. She SHOULD NOT be allowed to operate her dog business, I don’t care how frequently the mill is inspected.
Let me know if you would like to join forces..
Jill
p.s. Betty also really likes running around the backyard, going for walks (the leash was new for her but she does great), and playing with toys (she just started doing this, it is SO cute).
When i watch those videos, i can’t even begin to imagine what Ellie went through before i got her. It’s been 11 LONG days
and already i can’t imagine my life without her – regardless of how much work she is. How can those poeple treat these dogs (animals) in the way they do? She ALREADY owns me!!
Thanks Min, for being so passionate!
JILL – I’m so glad you have your new doggy! Isn’t it cute that she is learning how to play with toys? Ellie likes to carry remotes and phones around like they are her own. She doesn’t chew them, just wants to carry them around. It’s almost like she’s just so happy to have ANYTHING to call her own. It’s adorable! Good luck with your girl!
LAURA – Ellie is definitely already part of the family. Imagine how big that cyst would have gotten, too, if she hadn’t been rescued. I bet it would’ve covered her whole face!! Poor thing – well, poor thing until NOW! Now she’s living the good life.
Best of luck with Ellie May. I would expect that time will heal and she will be a great companion. It will take time for her so patience is key.
A website was started to let people know about Mystic Elegance. http://www.mysticelegancepugfraud.com/
Thank you for helping to spread the word.
[...] 7, 2008 by mindy A couple weeks ago my sister and I took my Boston Terrier, Otis, and her new puppy mill rescue, Ellie, for a long walk around Lake Calhoun. It was something of a nightmare because Ellie still [...]
[...] 27, 2008 by mmg Update #1: A while back, I told you that my sister adopted a pug/french bulldog mix from the Humane Society. Ellie is a darling little girl with huge ears and a sweet disposition. [...]
looking to adopt an english bulldog. male or female brn&wht
To whom it may concern,
I tried adopting a dog 3 years ago. I tried and looked for one and a half years! I can tell you from experience that they (rescues)are crazy people!! Most wanted me to fly a couple of people in to check out my home & they wanted me to put them up in a hotel!!!! I ended up buying a dog from a breeder because of these weirdo rescues. Their screening procedures are terrible. How am I unfit, because my dog only went to a vet once a year. Good luck adopting…I might add that I only chose dogs that they said were great with children and other animals. My experience is that most of them don’t really want to adopt out any of the dogs, at least the ones we requested. What a shame. Our then puppy that we bought is a healthy, happy three year old! These crazy rescues send people like me to in home breeders, as well as the puppy mills. When you want a family dog, you want a family dog. I never, ever thought I would buy a dog, but because of them….I DID and I don’t regret it!!