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Dogs awaiting the
auction block, Horst Stables, Thorp, Wisconsin, in June 2007.
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Dog auctions are
one of the "dirty little secrets" of the puppy mill industry. As with
any other auction, sellers bring "merchandise" they no longer have
any use for, and buyers come looking for bargains. Only, the merchandise is
dogs, and the ending is seldom happy.
For instance --
remember our nemisis, Gerald Schulz (Interview
with a WI "Puppy Farmer")? Mr. Schulz declined to upgrade his
facilities to comply with Act 90/s.173.41 - WI Dog
Program, so was denied a permanent license. Hooray, Gerald Schulz was out
of the commercial dog breeding business (though he did reportedly keep a couple
of dogs to continue selling the 24 pups per year allowed hobby breeders)!
However, Mr. Schulz had the "last laugh" on the rescuers who hoped
that he would "retire" his breeding stock and turn the dogs over to
them. He "liquidated his stock" at an out-of-state auction, probably
to other puppy millers, to squeeze the last bit of profit he could out of the
poor animals.
There is so much
to say on this topic -- descriptions of the auctions themselves, the condition
of the dogs being bought and sold, the festival atmosphere on the auction floor
that does not extend to the misery and fear in the animal holding pens, the
pros and cons of rescues buying dogs at the auctions -- that we aren't even
going to begin to cover it all. In the column at the left, you'll find links to
several good descriptions of dog auctions, including an undercover video
produced by the HSUS, and a search with any internet search will find you loads
more.
What we are going
to concentrate on in this section is, the series of dog auctions at Horst
Stables in Thorp, Wisconsin -- and how these auctions ultimately helped lead to
the ground-breaking dog seller legislation that was passed unanimously by BOTH
houses of the WI State Legislature and signed into law in December 2009.
NOTE: In 2009, the Wisconsin State
Legislature unanimously passed Act 90, a law regulating dog breeders and
sellers in our state. Since Act 90/s.173.41, the WI Dog
Seller Program went into effect in June 2011, MANY breeders and sellers
have been regulated and have either given up the business OR have come into
compliance under ACT 90. If you have personally encountered any problems with
any Wisconsin dog seller, please see our How To
File a Complaint With the WI Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer
Protection page.
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I am sometimes asked, "Why do you spend so
much of your time and money talking about kindness to animals when there is so
much cruelty to men?"
I answer: "I am working at the roots."
— George T. Angell
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P.O. Box 926 * Sheboygan, WI
53082-0926 * info@NoWisconsinPuppyMills.com
Thorp Dog
Auction Photos © Copyright, 2007, Chuck Wegman. Used by permission
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