CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Two hundred dogs were rescued from an alleged puppy mill in North Carolina. Nearly 60 of them were flown to West Michigan thanks to the Bissell Pet Foundation.
They arrived at Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) ready to find a new home.
Many of these dogs still have signs of abuse.
The ears of one dog had been severed. “It’s horrific and it really makes you cry,” says Cathy Bissell, the founder of the Bissell pet Foundation.
In February the foundation was contacted by the Chatham County sheriff Department in North Carolina to assist with an alleged puppy mill that was breeding schnauzers and mini schnauzers.
“There were a couple of different barns that held these dogs. And, you know, it was sad when you walk in; they cry, you can't believe what you're seeing, you can't believe that someone would do this to an animal,“ says Bissell.
She described the living conditions as deplorable, saying, “There will be, you know, 6,070 dogs in a small barn and they are in small cages and they're stacked on each other. So, their feet had their nails are super long. They've grown around the kennels. Their hair is matted. Their eyes are burned from ammonia. They look terrible.”
The owners were arrested and charged with 190 felonies.
Harbor Humane Society in Ottawa County is one of the eight shelters from across the state getting the dogs for adoption.
Jen Self-Aulger, Harbor Humane Society executive director, said, “It's great to be able to offer them through a shelter setting. ... Sometimes people are looking for smaller dogs, and you typically don't find those at a shelter. Or if you do, they're gone really quick.”
She says they have foster homes lined up, so the dogs get used to being out their kennels.
Bissell says she is just happy that the foundation could rescue these dogs and that they will get to live the life they deserve. “This is it," she says. "They are free finally.”
The dogs should be available for adoption in a few weeks. If you are interested, here is a list of the participating shelters:
- Big Lake Humane Society (Muskegon)
- Detroit Dog Rescue (Detroit)
- Greater Hillsdale Humane Society (Osseo)
- Harbor Humane Society (West Olive)
- Humane Animal Treatment Society (Mt. Pleasant)
- Little Traverse Bay Humane Society (Harbor Springs)
- LuvnPupz
- SPCA of Southwest Michigan (Kalamazoo)
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