Puppy Mill in Nashville busted for inhumane treatment of Dogs

More than 150 dogs have found refuge in Atlanta from squalid conditions in a Tennessee puppy mill.

The Atlanta Humane Society had a sale this weekend to clear space so it could take in the dogs after one of the biggest puppy mill busts in Tennessee.

president Carl Leveridge said Saturday. "That's why we had this special [sale] . . . to make room."

Inhouse puppies, typically $85 to $100, were being adopted out for $50.

The new canines were among more than 700 animals, mostly dogs, discovered last week at a breeding facility outside Nashville where conditions for the animals were considered inhumane.

"Three-quarters of a mile before you got to the property, you could smell the urine, the feces and the death," said Scotlund Haisley, emergency services director for the U.S. Humane Society.

Video on the national organization's Web site www.hsus.org showed dogs packed as many as 20 each into dog crates, or running loose throughout the building.

"There was a great deal of suffering," Haisley said. "Starvation. Dead animals. Animals that were shot. Bullets in the animals. Animals living in tiny cages on top of their own feces, and burns on their skin from urine and feces."

Puppy mills typically produce puppies at an industrial pace, linking mother and father together to breed in an endless cycle, eschewing humane care for the animals.

Area police were alerted, and they — and Humane Society rescue crews — moved in.

Leveridge's team brought back eight vehicles filled with puppies and a few adult dogs. The convoy included a 40-foot RV called the "Petmobile."

Many of the puppies are small purebreds: Yorkshire, Boston and Manchester terriers, miniature Pinschers, poodles, Chihuahuas, Maltese, Schi tzus, Pomeranians and Shar peis.

They were going to be sold online, to boutique pet stores and to mall stores, Leveridge said. Now, he said, they can be adopted as early as Tuesday or Wednesday. Each will be spayed or neutered, and have a homing chip implanted.

But getting the puppies ready for adoption won't be easy.

"Some of them are sick," Leveridge said.

They must get a veterinarian's health certificate to be moved across state lines, Haisley said. A team of veterinarians were in Tennessee screening the animals and giving preliminary check-ups.

"Some animals may take more time than others to recover," Haisley said. "But these dogs are extremely resilient."

Testing their temperament was another challenge, Leveridge said.

"We will do temperament testing to the best of our ability," he said. "We're not going to bring one that bites."

If those with foul behavior can't be rehabilitated, "In some cases, they'll be euthanized," Leveridge said. "In some cases, they'll go to sanctuaries."