200 dogs saved from suspected puppy mill

By Tamara

200 dogs were rescued from a suspected puppy mill in South Carolina
A puppy being rescued from a suspected puppy mill in South Carolina. Photo: Allen E. Sullivan/The HSUS

Two hundred dogs were rescued from a suspected puppy mill in Johnston, South Carolina on Tuesday. The Humane Society of the United States, the Humane Society of Charlotte and the Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office went to the property of Callie Abel and took the dogs to temporary shelters. Abel was arrested on seven charges of ill treatment of animals.

Many of the dogs will need to be treated for eye and skin infections and dental problems. Puppies and their mothers were found in dirty rabbit hutches and larger dogs were either running loose on the property or in pens. Many have had a lack of socialization, according to the HSUS.

dogs at suspected puppy mill
PHoto: Allen E. Sullivan/The HSUS

Deputies say their owner was selling the animals on the internet. Her property had come to the attention of investigators when concerned citizens had called local law enforcement.

Since the animals were seized, they have been evaluated by veterinarians, cleaned and inspected and have been moved to an undisclosed location in Columbia. There is no word yet on when the dogs might be up for adoption.

Visiting the premises, State Senator Jake Knotts from Lexington County released a statement saying, "The laws in South Carolina need to change in order to stop this kind of cruelty. We need to attack this problem by requiring that anyone selling animals be licensed and inspected by the state. If elected officials could witness what I did today, there would be no problem passing a state law addressing this."

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Comments on this Article

With the state taking over licensing being one of the last things we need to do, You know how our public official government mostly fail at monitoring pets and their safety, we need to provide something that will truly work. Private enterprise, with licensed authority to use state power. And hear the states screaming now. Only when they think they will loose power. There are plenty of dogs in shelters for everyone to have a pet, without creating more. Discussion?

There is no need for puppy mills in a nation with millions of dogs in shelters waiting for their forever homes-with millions of dogs being killed when their time is up and no one has come to take them home. We have many crises in the world today, but that can no longer be an excuse for losing our basic humanity and turn our backs on the most vulnerable in our society.

Maybe if they impose the death penalty to these horrible people, then they might think twice about doing as horrible as this.

Why is it so hard to change laws to protect animals and children? It takes horrible circumstances to even bring these things to the attention to those who could do something about it. Let us pray they follow thru. Passing these stories on to other concerned citizens my just prevent more of these attrocities.

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