Found this article today in the Sun-Times and am absolutely horrified. I know puppy mills are a harsh reality in the breeding world, but I really do believe there needs to be more restrictions on who should be allowed to breed their dogs.

Dozens of Puppies found in squalor in South Side home

Cook County Sheriff’s police, Chicago police and U.S. Department of Agriculture agents raided a South Side home Tuesday morning and found deplorable conditions at what appeared to be a puppy mill.

Officers got to the home on the 6400 block of South Bell Avenue about 11 a.m. and found between 50 and 70 puppies crammed into cages with no food or water, Cook County Sheriff’s office spokesman Steve Patterson said. Most of the dogs were being kept in birdcages, and many were standing in their own feces, he said.

“It appears the owner was also conducting her own veterinary clinic” since syringes were found throughout the house, Patterson said.

Officers on the scene were going through the garbage, because they had been told that when puppies died, the woman merely tossed their bodies into the trash, Patterson said.

At least one person is facing misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, Patterson said.

This article could not come at a more opportune time. Chicago State Rep. John Fritchey proposed legislation recently that will attempt to put an end to animal abuse by way of over-breeding. The bill is being dubbed Chloe’s Bill, named after the only surviving cocker spaniel in a litter that was found in deplorable conditions in a puppy mill about six months ago. The bill is backed by the Humane Society, and would include the Dog Breeder License Act (prevents breeders from having more than 20 dogs that are not fixed), a restriction on convicted animal abusers so they cannot obtain dog breeding licenses, the enforcement of humane animal living conditions (of the many abuses that it protects against, the stacking of cages that ruin puppies’ paws), the basic requirement of pet stores to know where their dogs come from, and the establishment of harsh penalties for those who disobey.

This law is desperately needed, and I hope it will be passed.

-Ileana