To the Editor,

On behalf of everyone at Carolina Animal Rescue & Adoption (CARA) and our Caldwell County puppy mill survivors, we would like to thank the Sanford community for the tremendous support for these deserving dogs. We especially would like to thank the vets and staff of Myres Animal Hospital, Carolina Veterinary Hospital, All Animals Veterinary Hospital, and Willow Creek Animal Hospital for donating their time and services towards the extensive care these neglected pups required. A Cuter Pet Boutique donated grooming services and Dossenbach’s Furniture made a financial contribution and is holding a supply drive at their store for CARA. There have been many individuals that either made monetary donations or offered their homes to these dogs. Without the community’s support we could not take in special animals like these that require extra care and resources. For this we are genuinely grateful.

These dogs serve as a reminder that it is imperative to thoroughly research the breeder that you are considering buying from if you have your heart set on a purebred or “designer” breed puppy. Request to see where the puppies and the parents are being housed and how they are being treated. Mason Creek Kennels was selling puppies through the internet and shipping them all over the country. Unsuspecting buyers never knew that while the kennel operator was profiting from the puppies the adult breeding dogs were neglected and gravely suffering.

Everyday across the state of North Carolina 7 out of 10 pets entering public shelters do not leave alive. At any given time approximately 20-25% of shelter animals are purebred pets that have ended up homeless through no fault of their own. We strongly urge anyone looking to acquire a new pet to check their local shelters and rescue organizations.

Petfinder.com is a great resource that allows adopters to search adoptable pets by specific breeds, sizes, ages, and genders. Also, a simple internet search for a breed name and the word “rescue” will connect you with breed rescue groups that specialize in caring for and finding new homes for particular types of dogs.

While CARA and several other rescue groups are working diligently to rehabilitate and find wonderful homes for the 276 dogs from Mason Creek Kennels, there are countless others living in similar puppy mills throughout the state. You can help discontinue these poor breeding practices by contacting your local and state representatives and request that they support legislation to regulate commercial dog breeders that sell to the public. Without regulation, law enforcement has to wait until they can prove animal cruelty while the dogs suffer silently in deplorable conditions.

Abbey Lindauer

We have been completely overwhelmed by both the response of people wanting to take these dogs into their homes and provide them with the love and care that they’ve been denied and also by the fantastic response of our animal loving community who has donated to help us provide the much needed vet care these pups so desperately need. The doctors and staff of Myres Animal Hospital, Carolina Veterinary Hospital, and All Animals Veterinary Hospital have been outstanding and so generous with their time and services. Without them, we could not provide our dogs (and cats) with such excellent vet care. We would like to send out a special thank you to Dossenbach’s Finer Furniture for their generous donation towards the care of our All Stars.

Little Susie was spayed and had her dental procedure done Thursday. She is quite a happy-go-lucky girl despite all that she has been through. Susie gets so excited when anyone pays attention to her that she wags her little tail so hard that she ends up wagging her whole body. While at the vet they found that she LOVES kids. As we start to go through our adoption applications, we will make sure that her new home has kids that will love her as much as she loves them.

Amber was also spayed and had her teeth taken care of yesterday. She’s having a bit of hard time recovering and spent some time in the office this morning which really seemed to help her spirits.  She desperately wants human attention and affection but when someone comes to her she flattens herself on the ground out of fear. Of the 11 dogs we took in, Amber is most likely the one that will have long-term vet needs. In additional to having heartworms, Amber’s nasal passages are collapsed and her soft palate is elongated. In the future once she’s healthier, corrective surgery will improve her quality of life.

Baby Shii Ann has been quite popular. We have a record number of adoption applications just for this one pup. We have no doubt that she will go to a fabulous home and will live a life a luxury. Because of her age we hope to place her into a foster home with another litter of small breed puppies for important socialization skills. Once she is old enough we will be getting her spayed before placing her in a home. We are estimating that she will be ready for adoption around the first week of August.

Boston Rob, Hatch, Colbie, Jerri, Alicia, Lexie, and Rupert are making astonishing progress every day they are with us. The majority of them either hid from us or shook in fear when we approached them. They are all now coming to the front of their kennels wagging their tails in excitement to see us. Their daily improvements validate the work that we do, and make us feel fortunate to be part of their rehabilitation. More of them will be seeing our vets next week, and it looks like some will be ready for their new homes around the week of July 4th. Just in time to celebrate both our nation’s and their own freedom!

For everyone that has applied to adopt one of these dogs, we are slowly evaluating all of the applications. We have multiple applications for each dog, so if you are not one of our All Star adopters, we would strongly urge you to check out Petfinder.com and search you local shelters for a new pet. At any given time approximately 20-25% of the dogs in shelters are pure-bred or small breeds that have found themselves homeless through no fault of their own. Of course there are many mixed breeds of all ages and sizes that are equally as great and just as needy.

We are still in need of donations to help cover the costs associated with caring for these dogs. If you can give anything to help us meet our goal, please visit our website to make a donation. No donation is too small. Every little bit makes a difference.