The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals- or ASPCA - says, they'll be in northern Michigan as long as it takes. The organization will help to place more than 150 dogs rescued from what the ASPCA is calling a Missaukee county puppy mill. The 169 dogs were removed from John's Jack Russell and Shiba Inu Kennel in Lake City.Officials say the animals had no access to clean drinking water or proper shelter.
Kathryn Destreza, the director of Investigations for the ASPCA Field Investigations and Response, says that the dogs were fearful of people and exhibited unsocialized behavior that can be common in puppy mill dogs, "Much of the public don't understand this kind of large scale commercial breeding operation in which the profit is priority and not the well being of the actually animals, and this happens all the time. So you see the animals in the pet store but you don't see where they come from and they often times come from these puppy mill situations".
The dogs are being held at the Roscommon Animal Shelter. The ASPCA is examining the dogs medically and behaviorally to determine their suitability for placement.
