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Sorry this page is a bit more serious than my other one's are, but this is an issue that I feel needs alot more attention than it gets.
Here you will be able to find out what states as I come across them are running puppy mills with Irish Wolfhounds in them. Its a very sad thing for any breed, but I am one person and can't take on all of them. So I decided to start with the breed that is so close to my heart.
On this page I will also share with you some of the e-mails I get concerning this issue....both from people who have been taken advantage of by such scum bags, as well as some of the dis-heartening responses I have received from some of the IW Rescue Foundations that claim on their sites to do all they can to stop this from happening. These are the same organizations who claim on their sites that they "rescue" these dogs from such horrible places.
Of course I cannot use names or exactly which organizations they are, but if you would like to know you may contact me by phone and I will discuss it with you.
Recently I discovered a puppy mill that is breeding Irish Wolfhounds....Please do not buy any puppies from Oklahoma without contacting me first so that we can make sure you are not buying a sick or unhealthy pup from this person! A second puppy mill in Oklahoma has been brought to my attention...I have her name as well!
Email: RavensofNarcisse@aol.com
Please take the time to read the e-mail's that I have received! Some of them will break your heart, while others will shock you how absolutely nothing is being done about this problem. Seems to me that some organizations make alot of promises (just to make you feel good), but do not have the capabilities to follow through with what they say they do.
This is one e-mail that I received from an Irish Wolfhound owner who had the misfortune of running across one of these puppy mills unknowingly.
I am writing to you to see if the Oklahoma breeder you are referring to is the breeder I was victimized by 3 years ago. I purchased my 3.5 year old IW, Drake, from a breeder in Woodward, Oklahoma.
At the time I was stupid and uninformed and did not insist on meeting the mother. Every warning sign I now know was present during that visit. The father was a timid and scared IW who we saw but did not interact with because he seemed very unhappy when we approached, cringing and cowering.
We chose the most independent of the puppies shown to us and brought him home at 6 wks. Yes, I now know that was much too early, but the woman told us that the mother had become unstable during the pregnancy and birth of the litter.
I make no excuses, I had done some research but not enough about the breed. Most of my research was about training an IW. None of my research was about breeders and how to choose one, I was not interested in showing and had the idiotic notion that breeding was only important for show dogs.
From day 1, anyone who knew anything about temperament would have recognized Drake as unstable: he would lash out when woken, and, strangely enough, insist on being touched whenever he was resting. He was overly needy and had severe seperation anxiety.
I began training classes with him at 8 wks. He passed puppy classes and then I decided to work with him on my own. Things went seemingly well with the occasional biting episode when he was woken.
At 7 months Drake broke a toe on his left rear leg and the incompetent vet we were taking him to exacerbated the problem, the brace he put on Drake's foot deformed his entire foot and caused ulcers to develop under the cast on Drake's foot. These 2 months were a constant battle with Drake to try and keep the cast on him while he tried desperately to get it off, he became aggressive. He would snap and snarl whenever we tried to get him to leave his cast alone. After it was off and while his ulcers healed, I babied him. I didn't know any better and was drowning in guilt for having chosen the vet who so poorly cared for him and then more guilt for having not let him take the cast off of his foot. By 9mos he was uncontrollable and agressive. I tried more training classes in the hopes of finding a way to correct his behavior. The first trainer we tried was all about control and correction. I found his methods cruel and confrontational, so moved on to another trainer who helped me get Drake to the point that he no longer bit me and on leash his behavior was exemplary. He was, and to this day is, a perfect dog when on leash. Off leash he would listen to me and only me, my husband and son had no control over him so I essentially became a prisoner to Drake.
Today, Drake has bitten me for the third time in a week. I don't know what I am going to do. I now have an IW puppy who is 6 months old. He joined our family at 10 wks and has clearly shown me the difference between what a stable and sound IW should be and what Drake has always been. I have contacted a certified behaviorist who is about an hour from my house, made an appointment to have a full blood workup done on Drake on monday, and placed a call to the trainer from whom we have been taking classes with my puppy.
Anyway, if the breeder you are talking about on your website is in Woodward, Oklahoma it is not only health buyers need to be aware of but also temperamentally unsound IWs.
You may use this email if it would be helpful but please delete Drake's name as I still hope to find some way to keep him in my family.
Thank you and good luck in your efforts to close down puppy mills.
Here are the e-mails I received from the only two people who even bothered to answer my requests. I have changed the names in them to "Jane Doe".
E-mail # 1
Reen'e, That situation is so sad, and unfortunately this is happening quite a bit. I have forwarded your email to our main rescue coordinator, "Jane Doe". I'm not sure what she can do to shut them down, but we can at least get the word our about these breeders.
E-mail # 2
Dear Reen'e,
Thank you for alerting us to this situation. As you note, it is a great
shame when someone breeds simply to make money without attention to the
welfare of the breed in general or even of their own hounds. It is a great
shame when someone undertakes a breeding without understanding the
requirements of the breed or being prepared to provide appropriate care.
Sadly, this is a situation that occurs in our breed as in all.
Speaking for myself I do appreciate the heads-up. Situations like the one
you discovered are the reason why, here in Colorado, we warn folks to use
great caution when purchasing puppies through advertisements in newspapers,
magazines, or the Internet. We regularly place ads with a hotline number
offering information about the breed including its health issues, and
suggestions about how to identify a reputable breeder.
Sadly, it is impossible for a rescue group to do what you are asking in your
email--rescue all the dogs from this operation--without either an agreement
from the problem breeder to surrender dogs (which is exceptionally rare
unless the breeder is facing law enforcement sanction) or action from local
authorities if, and only if, regulations set forth for the proper care of
the animals have been seriously violated. Sometimes, requirements are
relatively minimal, including basic access to food, water, and shelter,
without much definition of what constitutes "access," or "shelter," for
instance. Unfortunately, many situations which we would consider substandard
for our beloved hounds actually are compliant with these requirements,
meaning that there is no recourse at all in terms of getting dogs out.
I see that you have included the rescue contacts for Oklahoma and Texas.
Perhaps they will be familiar with this breeding operation and can chime in
with additional information. If it can be established that the operation is
out of compliance with local regulations, then rescue groups can offer
assistance to authorities in terms of re-homing dogs if they are seized, or
in terms of information about feeding etc., if need be.
Again, speaking for myself, thanks so very much for this information. If we
receive inquiries from prospective buyers, this certainly allows us to state
that we've heard concerns, and recommend that such prospective buyers
exercise caution.
As you can see neither were of too much help! And there are at least a handful of other's that should have been able to help that didn't even respond to my e-mails.
Assemblyman Pedro Nava recently introduced a bill to crack down on puppy mills in California. Called the Responsible Breeder Act of 2009, the new legislation would prevent the inherent cruelty associated with mass breeding of dogs.
Act today to improve the treatment of dogs in California.
Specifically, the bill would limit the number of intact -- not spayed or neutered -- dogs or cats a breeder can maintain to 50 animals, while creating exceptions for shelters, veterinary facilities and the like. The bill is patterned on laws that passed last year in Virginia and Louisiana.
Let's help add California to this list of states that protect dogs in puppy mills and encourage responsible breeding practices. Contact legislators in California and ask them to support AB 241, the Responsible Breeder Act of 2009.
Take action link: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFmgq/zj7r/ANdqb
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