I am ashamed to say that when they close a puppy mill business they usually end up here in Wisconsin, for 2 years in a row our governor has veto'd puppy mill legislation.

My oldest Boston was born in such a mill, she was in a cage from birth until we bought her, she didn't even know how to walk on the grass. On the one hand I hated myself for financially assisting such a business, on the other I couldn't just leave her there. She was so sick, GI infections, UTI, and suffers from allergies and a variety of other ailments due to her dame being bred too frequently. She has to visit a vet once a month for allergy shots.

Our youngest Yorkie is healthy, thank god, but we took her when she was only 4 weeks old, her dame was so over bred and started having litters so young, she'd attack the pups. One of her litter mates was killed, and another was mauled so bad that its leg had to be amputated.

I contacted animal control and the humane society on both breeders but with legislation being the way it is, there was really nothing they could do. The Yorkie breeder was given a ticket for animal cruelty, a minor fine, less than $100.

The local news does undercover reports on a regular basis, but since puppy mills are not illegal here it really doesn't matter. I could actually get in more trouble than they do because I have four dogs and I am only permitted three animals over the age of 8 weeks old.