Dear editor:
Recently a friend of mine noticed that there was a black lab dog in the yard of his rural home. She wasn’t moving; she was blind. She had obviously been nursing puppies. She may have been a puppy mill “mom” who was too old to be of much value, so she was abandoned. She couldn’t see to find food, water or shelter. She was freezing. I wonder how a human could be so incredibly inhumane!

Please don’t buy an animal from a puppy mill or pet store that acquires their puppies from puppy mills (most of them do). Most puppy mills expose their animals to filthy, overcrowded conditions with no veterinary care. The animals get no love or attention. They are forced to have litter after litter, which weakens their bodies. They love their puppies, but time after time the puppies are torn away from them and sold to anyone who has the money.
As long as there is a market for their babies, dogs will be bred, neglected and killed at puppy mills.

Animal shelters are full of animals that need good homes. If you want a great animal, adopt one of those. Get it spayed or neutered. Keep it in the house to be part of your family. If you don’t want a dog in the house, or if you can’t afford to take good care of it, don’t get a dog!

Patty Clodi
South Bend