How Anyone Could Mistreat And Dump These Poodles Is Beyond Us

MICHIGAN -- Animal welfare authorities are looking to catch someone who has been dumping mistreated poodles at a strip mall pet supply store.

Dirty, matted, covered in feces and in need of veterinary care, more than a dozen dogs have been found and rescued at the Troy, Mich. PetSmart in the last several months -- including six pups found on Monday.

The six animals, with ages ranging between 1 and 4, were likely dumped at two different times Monday, though they were found throughout the day.

They, along with three dogs found in April and May, were rescued and taken to the Animal Welfare Society of Southeastern Michigan, a no-kill 501(c)(3) non-profit.

Shelter staff member Kirk Taylor said these dogs would be adoptable at some point, but likely not for a month or more.

"We're going to seek vet care as soon as possible," Taylor said. "We're going to want to make them feel comfortable before moving them from place to place, because they're really stressed."

"It's going to take a lot of work because they're really scared," Taylor added. "They probably haven't had any human contact. We have no idea about their background, but they're in really bad shape."

He said they removed more than two pounds of mats from one of the dog's fur.

In April, two dogs were taken to AWS, which is based in Madison Heights. In May, Gloria was found while in the process of giving birth. She survived the emergency c-section and gave birth to Scrappy. Both pups have been adopted. This is what happy, healthy dogs should look like:

Taylor said they weren't sure who had been leaving dogs at the PetSmart, but that it was potentially a hoarding or breeding situation, as the puppies seemed to come from the same breeding line.

"They don't care about the condition of the parents," Taylor said about breeders. "The only thing the breeder would care about is the condition of the puppies, because that's where the money comes from."

That's one of the reasons Taylor said those looking to get a pet should come to rescues, rather than breeders.

It's always good to rescue an animal, to give them a second chance," he said. "We're always trying to find placement for animals that are unwanted."

(Huffington Post - Oct 10, 2013)