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West Virginia Puppy Mill Rescue

(Phoenix – August 25, 2008) -- PetSmart Charities today dispatched its Emergency Relief Waggin’ to Parkersburg, W.Va., to assist with what officials there call the state’s largest-ever animal-rescue operation:  removing approximately 1,000 dachshunds and other purebred dogs from a reported “puppy mill” operation near the community of Parkersburg. The 53-foot PetSmart Charities’ ER Waggin, stocked with 16 tons of emergency animal-care and volunteer supplies, was dispatched at 10 a.m. EST today from the PetSmart® Distribution Center in Hagerstown, Md.  It arrived at the Humane Society of Parkersburg at approximately 5 p.m. EST today.  The load includes 28 pallets of dog food, crates, beds, bowls and other necessary animal-care items, as well as a generator, fans, tents, a battery charger, lights and other supplies to assist the volunteers on site.  “We received the request for assistance from the Humane Society of Parkersburg and the Woods County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday after they executed a search warrant at the Whispering Oaks Kennels.  We immediately began readying one of our ER Waggins’ for deployment to the scene,” said Susana Della Maddalena, Executive Director of PetSmart Charities, which launched its ER Waggin Program in March 2007 to assist the animal victims of natural and man-made disasters. Today’s deployment marks the fourth time in less than a year that a PetSmart Charities’ Emergency Relief Waggin’ has been deployed specifically to a “puppy mill” rescue; since November 2007, PetSmart Charities also has responded to requests for help from rescuers at large-scale dog breeding operations in Virginia, Tennessee and in Arizona, affecting more than 2,300 dogs.  The current Parkersburg situation increases the number of affected dogs to 3,300 in just nine months.

            “We are receiving a growing number of requests for Emergency Relief Waggin’ support of these types of rescues as operators of low quality, large-scale breeding facilities are forced to relinquish dogs due to licensing violations, cruelty charges or their desire to exit the business,” Della Maddalena said.  “Hopefully the publicity generated by these types of events will educate prospective pet parents about the source of many pet shop puppies, and prompt them to make more educated choices, or consider adopting, when choosing to bring a puppy into their home.”