Andrea Rosebrock 
Puppy mills are a true atrocity! Dogs are kept in the most obscene conditions and bred every heat cycle until they can’t be bred anymore, then they are thrown away like garbage. Auctions, like the one mentioned in the story below, indiscriminately sell dogs to the highest bidder. They don’t care where it’s going or what will happen to it. Many of the dogs being auctioned come from puppy mills and most go to puppy mills. They live lives of despair, without hope.
The only thing that will make a difference is to educate people. Most people don’t realize that that cute little dog in a puppy store comes from a puppy mill or those ads you see online are for mass produced dogs bred in the most extreme of conditions. We need to get the word out – Don’t Support Puppy Mills!!
This story has been heating up for a while as Holmes County, Ohio becomes a hotbed of protester activity.
It all started when animal rights activists in Geauga County scared away the Buckeye Dog Auction earlier this month.
Animal rights activists protest Holmes County dog auction – So the controversial event went back to where it began in Holmes County.
On the serene Amish roads of Holmes County, an outburst of anger, greets dog-breeders in horse-drawn buggies. Protesters gathered Saturday, outside what they call a “puppy mill.” More than 300 dogs are caged and up for auction.
Animal rights organizer Kristina Lang says this group is against what she calls “puppy mill operators,” people who load breeding dogs onto trailers and haul them off to be sold at auctions. (From WKYC.com – 4/21/07 – For the full story Click here)
Dog auction draws protest -Dog breeders and protesters are squaring off at the Buckeye Dog Auction near Millersburg in Holmes County this morning.
“We’ve seen dogs with open wounds, injured paws, rotten teeth and diarrhea,” protester Cindy Berman said. “It’s very disturbing.”A deputy sheriff is there, positioned between 100 protesters and 120 or so buyers, who are bidding on about 350 dogs.
The auctioneers had tried to move the business to Geauga County but were rebuffed by officials there who didn’t want the controversy in their backyards.
Protesters say the dogs and puppies sold at the auction are from “puppy mills,” where dogs are born and raised in cages, starved for human affection and ill from cage-sores, over-crowding and a lack of veterinary care. (From Plain Dealer Metro News – 4/21/07 – For the full story Click here)
Amish Accused of Running Dog Mills – This was business as usual yesterday at the Buckeye Dog Auction even as a protest raged out front.
About 50 demonstrators came to spread their message that puppy mills are bad and that dog auctions should be outlawed.
“Got morality? Stop puppy mills,” the signs read.
And from the gravel road in front of the auction house, they shouted at those driving through the gate: “Read your Bible. It calls for tender, loving care of animals.”
Animal-rights activists set their sights months ago on this auction, a day-long event held about six times a year in Holmes County. Opponents say the breeding dogs are kept in awful conditions and that their physical health is even worse. (From The Columbus Dispatch – For the full story Click here)
Dog auction Draws Protest – HOLMES CO. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky over Holmes County farmland Saturday, a serene morning until the protesters arrived, honking the horns.
A large sign declaring “No puppy mills!” poked up through the sunroof of a Lexus.
The protesters opposed the public Brewster Dog Auction held in a private yellow brick building on an Amish farm on Township Route 409. More than 30 had arrived by 9 a.m.. They contend the event is a conduit to puppy mills. The auction featured more than 350 dogs for sale to the highest bidder.
Puppy mills are mass breeding operations that have little regard for the health of the animal and cleanliness of the facility. Some protesters carried signs with photographs depicting horrid conditions inside of some of the unnamed mills where they say dogs are bred multiple times. (From the CantonRep.com – 4/22/07 – For the full story Click here)
Activists Help Raise Cry for Ban on Dog Auctions – One sniff of the cage-filled room at the Buckeye Dog Auction: That’s all it took to awaken the activist within Mary O’Connor-Shaver.
The pungent odor – she likened it to smelling a cesspool – launched the Columbus-area woman’s crusade to ban dog auctions in Ohio. O’Connor-Shaver called the Aug. 26 dog sale in Holmes County “one of the worst experiences I have ever witnessed.”
Since then, she has emerged as one of the many leaders within the state’s loose-knit network of animal advocates. She created a Web page – Banohiodogauctions.com – to organize opposition and educate people about what she saw. (From The Plain Dealer – 4/24/07 – For the full story Click here)
State Rep. Jim Hughes, R-Columbus plans to introduce legislation soon that will set 
minimum standards for care and conditions at kennels. He said the Ohio Department of Agriculture is expected to help inspect and enforce the new regulations.
“If we can improve the kennels and stop the puppy mills, the auctions wouldn’t be as lucrative and there wouldn’t be as much of a market,” Hughes said.
Ohioans, make a difference, support your state representative in this and support the legislation!! The only way to stop them is to hit them where it hurts, their wallets! It all comes down to the almighty dollar, not the animals, not the people, just getting the most money back for putting the least money in.
To find out more about puppy mills, see Stop Puppy Mills. To Find out more about what you can do, see Take Action – Stop Puppy Mills. Do your part! Take action today!
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