New Member of the Southern Family

This past Saturday, Southern Hubby and I went to our volunteer orientation to start volunteering at our local SPCA. I should have known that I could not have left there without saving a baby. I should have known this. But I thought I would be a bit stronger. After all, I plan on volunteering weekly and I can't leave with a baby every time! But when we went on the tour of the facilities, a nervous white ball of cotton in the far corner caught my eye. As I got closer, through the tears forming in my eyes, I saw a small, weak Maltese with the face of my baby Jackson (Southern Puppy.) I looked closer and he was terrified so much that he was shaking uncontrollably. SH came up behind me and the poor baby turned to face the wall. He was too scared to even look us in the eye. Right then and there, I knew I had to bring him home. It was obvious this baby had never seen love before.

I didn't really pay too much attention to the rest of the tour, as all I could think about was the baby I left behind. As soon as the orientation was over, I made a bee-line straight to him. We asked to be taken to a private room so we could get to know him a bit better. He was still scared and shaking, but after about 15 minutes, he was able to relax in my arms. The SPCA worker confirmed that he was part of the Arkansas puppy mill raid that happened on March 25th. This baby was rescued from horrific conditions. He never knew life outside his crate (which we came to confirm later as we walks very wobbly due to atrophied leg muscles), was abused, matted badly with feces, fleas and ticks, and was only used as a breeding machine to turn out more and more puppies to sell at ridiculously high prices. These babies are living in squalor and the breeders only think about the almighty dollar.

He is still scared of our touch but is warming up to us. You can tell he has had to share and/or fight for his food all his life as it takes him a while to eat. He has to check the area out first many times to make sure no one scary is around. SH tried to feed him in a bowl the first time and he had no idea what to do with it. However, we put some food on the ground, and he knew it was time to eat. Looks like he'd only eaten from the floor. The stairs on our patio are very hard for him to navigate as his legs are skinny and weak and he doesn't know how they work. He would fall off them without our help. He feels safer in the warm crate we gave him and filled with soft blankets and what is becoming his favorite toy- his little moo cow. :) He's starting to warm up to us and sleeps with us (two adults + 2 puppers = one crowded bed!) and doesn't always flinch when we try to pet him.

Here are a couple of articles from the raid. I can't even imagine someone letting helpless babies live in conditions like these. Pray that these greedy heartless people are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Article One

Article Two

Click here for the SPCA's picture of the actual raid. About 140 puppies were given to Texas shelters.

Please pray that this little baby will open up to us and realize that we are only here to love him and not mistreat him like he was used to in his previous life. He's such a sweet little angel and will fit in well once he knows he can trust us.

And to those who may not know this, PLEASE DO NOT BUY DOGS FROM BREEDERS, INTERNET STORES, MALL PET STORES, FLEA MARKETS! You are just making those people who mistreat dogs prosperous and are giving them a reason to keep abusing these poor animals. These are the conditions that cute little baby is coming from. Don't let the breeders fool you. This is how they really live.

If you are considering buying a new baby, here are some tips.

Thanks for listening to me rant. Y'all know how passionate I am about animal rights and it just breaks my heart to see people buying sweet babies from these kind of backyard breeders, and they aren't made aware of what kind of operation their money is going to. You can get a pure bred puppy just as easily in an adoption shelter. Ours is pure bred Maltese. :)

PS- He still needs a name!!! We decided not to keep his previous name, Arkansas #61 (how sad is that?!). Any suggestions are welcome!!!

Happy, healthy, safe and LOVED puppies to all!

xoxo Y