SENECA, Mo. — Missouri is the “puppy mill” capital of America, home to more than 4,000 shoddy and inhumane dog-breeding businesses, by one estimate.
Fly-by-night breeders — licensed and unlicensed — sell pups churned out by dogs that spend their entire lives in cages. The pets are sold through classified ads, in pet stores and over the Internet.
But now the state is trying to shed its reputation, with the chief of the Agriculture Department pledging to do more to crack down on bad breeders. “Let’s lead the nation in putting unlicensed breeders out of business,” Agriculture Director Jon Hagler said.
“It’s embarrassing,” said Julie Leicht, executive director of the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation. “We’re the meth capital. And we’re the leader in puppy mills. Welcome to Missouri.”
The stories are heartbreaking. In February, a raid in Pleasant Hope netted 93 Yorkshire terriers, their hair severely matted and covered in feces. Last September, 171 anemic, flea-infested cocker spaniels, some of them blind, were taken from a breeder. Fifteen days later, 67 emaciated, mangy dogs and puppies were rescued.
“Most people think puppies were born in a box next to a fireplace in somebody’s living room,” Kim Townsend, an activist who monitors the industry. “If they walked into these places, they’d be appalled.”
