Dear Editor,

I am dumbfounded to find out this awful information on puppy mills in Iowa. In my search for a puppy, I have come across soooo many websites shipping puppies, and selling such a large number of puppies and breeds,

I had to ask the questions…where are they housing and caring for that many puppies? How can one owner take care of so may animals??? After looking a bit more, I came to find out that (and feeling a bit sick) our beloved dog who passed recently and had SOOO many ailments, we purchased from a puppy mill many years ago.

At that time, I was uneducated and unaware. NOW I know what to look for, what to do, and I WILL NOT SUPPORT this type of organization that makes $ off of poor suffering animals.

Come on IOWA, we are now #2 in the ranks for the states with the most puppy mills at over 15,000 adult dogs breeding, and over 200 puppy mills in our state alone! YIKES! we only have 99 counties in the state of Iowa, so that is 2 puppy mills per county.

And did you know that more and more states are signing laws that say they will not do business and purchase dogs from Iowa because of our disgraceful practice? HOW EMBARRASSING! And where do these puppies end up?

With people who are too busy to find a real reputable breeder (bless their hearts) , and then wonder why they are spending thousands of dollars trying to keep their poor puppies healthy! Sad. Please make it known that IOWA is among the nations worst state for treating puppies with no regard for life.

Please help us stop puppy mills in Iowa.

Michelle Thompson

Cedar Falls