MySetterSam: The Ruff Report: Dogs and Rescue

45 dogs rescued from 'dog factory' need homes

Forty-five dogs have been rescued from a western Kansas breeder whose "dog factory" ran into financial problems because the economic recession had dried up demand for puppies.

The dogs - English Springer Spaniels and English Cockers in "reasonably good condition" - have been turned over to national rescue organizations which hope to prepare them for eventual adoption.

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"This was not the horrible, nasty place like the puppy mills, but it was a dog factory," Mark Samuel, a regional coordinator for English Springer Rescue America told MySetterSam. "Because of the economy, the breeder ran out of revenue. She contacted us. It was the honorable thing to do."

The kennel near Garden City may have been better run than a puppy mill, but many operations like it around the United States create an over-breeding problem that leaves millions of dogs homeless, Samuel said.

These kennels exist because people are willing to buy dogs for them, Samuel explained. These "dog factories" would go out of business if people stopped buying their puppies, he said. "We, as humans, can do better."

Samuel compares the "dog factory" arrangement to a street drug operation, saying those who run these kind of kennels are motivated by profit just like the drug producers. "People willing to buy from them creates a demand, so they breed more dogs," he said.

And many of those dogs, like the ones rescued from western Kansas end up homeless and in shelters, Samuel said. "I think it's important for people to think about adoption from a shelter first before they buy."

Purebred dogs in shelters are just as good the ones being produced by breeders, Samuel said. "These are not dogs with behavior problems. At the end of the day they are very, very adoptable."

The rescued dogs are being given medical care and will go through a rehabilitation process before being put up for adoption, Samuel said. "We put them in foster homes with a minimum of two weeks of evaluation."

The cost of medical care, housing and rehabilitation could cost as much as $40,000, Samuel said. "At this point we have plenty of supplies, but because of the vet costs to get these dogs cared for and boarding fees, we seriously need the donations."

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