Victoria Stilwell Shines Light on Puppy Mill Awareness Day

Using her star wattage to shine a light on one of the darkest corners of the animal world, celebrated dog trainer and Pet Professional Guild Special Counsel member Victoria Stilwell has unleashed a video of the rescue of over 500 dogs in recognition of Puppy Mill Awareness Day.

Saved from a life spent in the cramped confines of  unhygienic cages thanks to the combined efforts of Stilwell, the Cherokee County Animal Shelter and the Cherokee County Marshal’s Office in Georgia, the camera which chronicled the rescue captured the expressions in the dogs’ eyes change from that of helplessness to hope.

“The puppy mill had been operating since the 1980s but fortunately all dogs and puppies were rescued from the horrific facility and were cared for at the Cherokee County Animal Shelter until they were ready for rescue or adoption,” Victoria Stilwell stated. “Many pregnant females gave birth shortly after the bust, raising the final total of rescued dogs even further. The owners of the puppy mill plead guilty to 25 charges of animal cruelty and were sentenced to 25 consecutive years of probation.”

The puppy mill bust took place in 2014, and video’s viewers get the chance to see many of the dogs who lived through hell in seventh heaven a year later as the pooches, their forever pet parents and rescuers gathered together a reunion.

According to The National Puppy Mill Project, there are presently 800,000 adult puppy mill dogs who are continuously forced to produce for the profit of backyard breeders and unreliable pet stores. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that there are 10,000 licensed and unlicensed puppy mills in operation in the U.S., with 2.4 million puppies born under heartbreaking conditions each year. In an effort to change the sad statistic, Puppy Mill Awareness Day (which takes place on September 27th in 2015) was founded by PMAD in 2003.

For more information:

• visit http://nationalpuppymillproject.org or http://awarenessday.org

Photo Credit: Victoria Stilwell