Faces of a Puppy Mill

Polar Bear’s Letter

June 18, 2008

State Attorney’s Office
Attn.: Bernie McCabe
P.O. Box 5028
Clearwater, Florida 33758

Dear Mr. McCabe,

My name is Polar Bear and I am Pomeranian puppy #221 from the Puppy Mill Rescue in Tarpon Springs. I want to tell you my story. I have no idea who my parents are. Breeder dogs just have numbers, never names. I was in a cage with several puppies and a couple of moms. It was very nasty. There was poop all over and it smelled bad too.

When I was rescued, I was taken to the Animal Emergency Hospital and they said I had a grade 5 heart murmur. I didn’t know what that was but it sure sounded scary to me. Then I had to go to a special doctor and have a test done that had a big name. (Echocardiogram)
I wasn’t scared because my nice foster mom, Mrs. Turner, took me and she told me it would be ok and that it doesn’t hurt. The doctors there confirmed that I had a grade 5 heart murmur. I thought, what’s that? Then I listened as he told Mrs. Turner that my heart valves have some thickening and the blood isn’t flowing properly. Now I know why I get tired so easily when I am running around being a puppy! The doctor said my prognosis is guarded and that this was caused by a birth defect. He said I could live a couple of months or a couple of years. That didn’t sound good to me. So now I’m thinking, do my siblings have this same problem?

I heard my foster mom say that in order to sell a puppy, you have to have a health certificate from a doctor. Who would give me one? I’m sick. Now I am scared. What would happen if I got sent back to Mrs. Hughes? Would I be stuck in a tiny cage with other dogs and be forced to breed puppies and pass my defect on to them? Would she sell them without a health certificate? How would a family feel when they found out they paid a lot of money for a puppy that was not healthy?

Mr. McCabe, you have to help us. I don’t want to go back to Mrs. Hughes. It was very scary living in a crowded cage, never getting to go outside, having the other dogs pee and poop all over you and all that barking. No one ever held me and told me how special I was. Little puppies need love. Mrs. Hughes never gave us love. She just wanted us so she could sell us and make a lot of money. Please don’t send us back!

People like Mrs. Hughes should be punished. I watch the Animal Planet channel and I see what happens to people who do bad things to their animals. I hope you will fight for me and all the other pups who were rescued from Mrs. Hughes home. We deserve to be loved not caged and forced to breed.

Respectfully yours,

Polar Bear