Lezlie, Ebony, & Pamela Pepper
These three pretty puppy mill girls, Lezlie, a Long-haired Dachshund, and Pomeranians Ebony and Pamela Pepper, are now going to spend the rest of their lives being babied instead of having babies. All are eight years old and until now, have never lived in a home. They were rescued from a commercial breeding facility by the St. Louis Senior Dog Project (SLSDP). As a background note, the state of Missouri cracked down on several hundred breeders this year (many of them worthy of the derogatory term "puppy mill"). One reason is the opportune passage in 2011 of Prop B, otherwise known as the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Bill. As a result, the Missouri Agriculture Department now has more inspectors and stricter rules for breeders, triggering many breeders to decide to shut down. In some cases, the Ag Department forced shutdowns of substandard facilities. Other breeders chose to go out of business rather than operate as a substandard facility and released their dogs to rescue groups. And that is how this trio of small-breed dogs was saved from a life of desolation.
In need of dental work, blood work, vaccinations, spaying, heartworm testing and microchipping, they were fostered in the same home and the Grey Muzzle Organization helped fund their medical treatments. Lezlie (pictured above), Ebony and Pamela (pictured below) appeared to be reasonably social—a little shy at first—but after some careful TLC and healing, they were ready to become normal pets. Vaccinations were updated and necessary dental work was completed on some pretty nasty teeth. Lezlie lost eight; Ebony lost only a few, while Pamela sadly lost all of her teeth. They were also spayed and microchipped, but the best news was that they were all heartworm negative and free of intestinal parasites or other health concerns. Lezlie has now been adopted! The other two Pom girls are snuggling very happily in their foster home with St. Louis Senior Dog Project. Thanks to SLSDP for taking these old dogs in and providing loving foster homes—we're we're glad Grey Muzzle's medical funding could help. They may have half their lives still ahead of them and we wish for all three the very best!
