Did Anyone See the Oprah Show?

[Elaine]

Did anyone see the Oprah show last Friday, April 4th? How was it?

[Ann Lanier]

I saw Oprah's show. Despite the doomsday predictions that she would bash or forget hobby breeders, she did not. While she encouraged everyone to get their next dogs from the pound, they also mentioned the AKC breed rescues for any breed anyone could want, and secondly, recommended hobby breeders highly.

The main thrust had Lisa Ling accompanying a nice rescue man who had cultivated relationships with puppy millers so that he would be given their old rejects or sometimes unsold younger males, since they only needed two or three males to fertilize all their bitches. They went to different 'mills' to collect these poor dogs with concealed button cameras for filming.

The places were awful, of course. The rescued dogs had to be carried out because they had never walked on anything but wire in their lives. They were fearful, filthy and matted. Often sick or even crippled. One mill struck me in particular because the dogs stepped out of their boxes into turning 'hamster wheels' made of wire mesh. The wheels were always turning with the dog's weight. The poor dogs were either in their box or in motion. The boxes were stacked considerably above head height. I think the piece accomplished it's purpose of horrifying the audience.

I had also not realized the huge numbers of dogs at these mills. Hundreds of them per farm! They are bred every season of their lives, kept in really terrible conditions and mostly shot when they can't produce puppies anymore. The man on Oprah's show rescues perhaps 30 a week.

After the expose, they did follow some of the worst cases through rehab and rehoming, which was heartening. Oprah came down very hard on pet shops. In the beginning Lisa Ling traced appealing (now bathed and groomed) pet shop puppies' papers to some horrible puppy mills, so people could see where the darling sweet pups came from. Oprah and her guests told people a number of times never to buy puppies from pet shops, because then they are supporting the puppy mills. They also said 95% or more of the puppies sold in pet shops anywhere in the U.S. come from these awful puppy mills, so "Don't Go There!"

I thought the program was well done, focused, and laid the onus right where it belongs: on the puppy mills, and not on hobby breeders. Oprah and guests mentioned breed rescues and hobby breeders as alternatives to the pounds in a positive light.

Ann Lanier

[Arthur]

Wow... sounds like Ms. Ling out a lot of effort in to the show. I wish I’d seen it. Thanks for filling us in on it.