NSALA Welcomes 117 Animals from Dog Mills

"So sad, being incarcerated without committing a crime," Joanne Yohannan  lamented, surrounded by recently arrived rescues.

Yohannan, the senior vice president of operations at Port Washington's animal shelter, North Shore Animal League America, wasn't shaking her head at the plight of liberated Homo sapien prisoners. Instead, she was referring to Gus, a speckled dog freed from life in a puppy mill, may have considered her a savior.

"If only they could talk," she sighed, cradling Gus in her arms.

For 18 months, NSALA has worked cooperatively with Colorado-based National Mill Dog Rescue, an organization that maintains relations with puppy mills, the cramped operations where dogs of desirable breeds are expected to produce as many litters as possible. National Mill Dog Rescue acts as a go-between, convincing breeders to let animal shelters, like NSALA, rehabilitate the dogs that can no longer reproduce rather than destroy them.

"Every six months, their job on this planet is to make a litter of puppies," said Theresa Strader, director of National Mill Dog Rescue, describing life in a puppy mill. "No vet care, no socialization, just churn out the puppies."

Since their arrival on Monday night, 117 dogs have been settling into a more comfortable lifestyle at NSALA through a sensitive evaluation process that will make most of the dogs available for adoption by the weekend.

Volunteers and workers have reached into the dogs' roomier cages, lined with slats of cardboard covered by newspaper, to gently pet the canines, or urge them out for cuddling and walks. A particularly vocal dog, tufts of feathery fur jumping with every excited exclamation, already earned the nickname "Bob Barker." His more subdued neighbor, an unnamed Shih Tzu, lay nearly motionless in the arms of Helen Freeman, the assistant director of National Mill Dog Rescue.

"The message is, when you see those adorable, clean little Shih Tzus in the pet shop, very often this is what daddy looks like," said Freeman.

The two-year-old's fur, flea-ridden and left long and matted from a lack of grooming, had rubbed off completely on his right foreleg, revealing a bone-deep sore.

In spite of this undiscovered wound, the Shih Tzu seemed to one of the dogs healthy enough to make the journey from a puppy mill in Iowa or Missouri to Port Washington. The trek to Lewyt's Ark, NSALA's rescue center, which was ­­first used for pets displaced by Hurricane Katrina, began on Saturday night, when a "rescue friend" brought dogs from two different Iowa breeders to Kansas City, Missouri. From there, the National Mill Dog Rescue crew caught a few hours of sleep, and by 6 a.m. Sunday hit the road, meeting four different breeders in parking lots until stopping at a vet's office in Waynesville, Missouri, where a breeder dropped off the last 14 dogs.

The pre-departure veterinary exams exempted several dogs from moving forward; one such dog was kept for surgery for pyometria, a potentially deadly infection of the uterus that can be caused by overbreeding.

A 13-year-old female, white fur short and thin, who almost wasn't permitted to make the trip, trembled in the arms of Strader's daughter, Tasha Meehan.

"This was my little girl," said Meehan, 17."She had to be in my lap during the trip."

Many dogs required grooming prior to the 22-hour drive, and frequent refills of water were a must for preventing dehydration.

Even after seeing first-hand the conditions of the dogs upon arrival, Beth Stern, a NSALA spokeswoman, said, "I look at this as a happy day because these animals are going to find love and a forever home."

Strader added that nine out of 10 of the dogs from this mission will not require extended care past the weekend, so they'll be able to go home with adoptive families.

"Tender love and care makes a difference, especially with puppy mill dogs who never really had that," said Sharon McNulty, one of the dozens of NSALA volunteers making the dogs more comfortable this week.

"One hundred percent of our dogs get adopted," said Freeman, tearing up as she recounted an e-mail she and Strader received Tuesday morning from a woman who had adopted a rescued Pomeranian, updating them with the dog's progress in feeling safe around people.

"It's so cool to find these people, to find a terrified dog that they're excited to help," said Freeman. "It makes me feel good about the human race."