The latest battleground in the fight against Wisconsin puppy mills was at the Thorp Dog Auction this past weekend. As the auction got underway, animal welfare advocates wearing orange T-shirts staged a rally outside to protest the cruel suffering endured by animals caught in the pet trade.  Later during the auction animal advocates who had managed to enter unbeknownst to auction organizers, jumped up and began chanting, "No more puppy mills!"  Millers and buyers turned on the advocates, pushing, shoving and yelling them.

Dogs, clearly fearful of the entire event, looked on from their wire crates and carriers stacked everywhere. 

The animal welfare advocates were kicked out of the auction.

Curiously, cameras and cell phones were not allowed into the auction, evidence of the secrecy millers and pet brokers seem to prefer. Like owners and operators of any shameful business.  

The auction was held in Clark County, known for having 23 of the 30 USDA licensed commercial dog breeders. The dogs at this auction were no different than those at other auctions.  They were afraid, and many had been trapped for so long in a wire cage, day in and day out, they could not even stand. Click here for more on puppy mill auctions.    Also, visit http://www.columbustopdogs.com/ and  http://www.banohiodogauctions.com/

Eileen Ribbens-Rohde, the executive director of the No Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project, http://www.nowisconsinpuppymills.com/ noted that commercial dog breeding operations are concerned only with profit, not making "great pets" or "improving the breed".  And the dogs suffer as a result.

Ribbens-Rohde has helped spearhead Round Table discussions with legislators throughout Wisconsin in an effort to come up with legislation to regulate, if not eliminate, Wisconsin's puppy mills. Click here for a look at the long effort to pass puppy mill legislation in Wisconsin.   http://www.egressetch.com/WisconsinPFL/  For a schedule and more on the Round Table discussions, visit http://www.nowisconsinpuppymills.com/

Click here for a look at the animal cruelty laws in Wisconsin that apply to mills. http://www.nowisconsinpuppymills.com/wi-humanelaw.html