Rescuers save two dozen dogs from puppy mills

A dog rescue group in Peyton is giving puppy mill pooches a second chance at life.

The National Mill Dog Rescue just picked up 25 new dogs from breeders mainly in Missouri and Kansas.

“Rather than destroying the dogs they no longer use or selling them to other breeders, we do have breeders who will release them to us and allow us to find good homes for them,” said Helen Freeman, a director with National Mill Dog Rescue.

Freeman said breeders often won’t give their names or divulge their locations.

“We often have to meet them in parking lots,” said Freeman. “They don’t want us to see their facilities.”

The group is now caring for more than 100 dogs. Some have come in with heartworm and untreated injuries. One of the new dogs had her back paws bitten off, but was still forced to breed.

“We had dogs one time where the woman power washed them,” said Freeman. “That was heartbreaking.”

She said it usually doesn’t taken long to socialize the dogs and find them homes.

“Our volunteers work magic with a lot of the dogs,” said Freeman. “Our dogs can go from very timid to pretty friendly very quickly.”

Volunteers do everything possible to get the dogs out of the cages where they’ve spent their lives, and into the arms of their first family.

If you’re interested in adopting a dog, you can go to National Mill Dog Rescue website to find profiles for the dogs and learn about the adoption process.