Hovawart Puppy Mill Breakdown: Change On The Way?

Many of you probably remember when the Danish Hovawart puppy mill was closed down in January last year, and the Hovawarts in the shelter welcomed an unexpected V.I.P. visitor, the Danish Minister of Agriculture & Animal Welfare, Mette Gjerskov.

She paid them a visit to learn more first-hand about the "puppy mill case" and the efforts from the shelter, "Dyrenes Beskyttelse", to re-home the survivors.

Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill Meltdown: Police Is Failing

Kenzo is barking his longs out to get his fourty friends removed from the puppy mill in the town of Haslev, Denmark. And yes, this is a shameless plee if you will not bark with us, by signing this petition:

Danish Police: Shut Down Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill
and Rescue 40 Hovawart Dogs

If you have not read sunday's post, the short version of what happened is that a long-time Hovawart puppy mill in Denmark is melting down due to economic and health issues with the owners. Fourty Hovawart dogs inside the puppy mill are caught in the middle. They live in an abandoned property, severly underweight and are being neglected. Police has given the owners until February 1, to bring things in order. The Danish Animal Welfare organization, "Dyrenes Beskyttelse", fears for the dogs survival and is afraid they won't make it that long.

Today we learned that the health and economic conditions of the owners are very severe. The property - with the dogs still in it - is foreclosed, and the new place the owners moved to, soon has to be abandoned as well. It is very likely the owners will not be able to recover their business.

We also learned the police fails in handling the situation. They revoked the puppy mill's license based on the the Danish Regulation For Commercial Breeding. A good step although long overdue. More important, they neglected to address the state of health of the dogs. The dogs are in such a bad shape, that this is not about a breeding license, this is a downright animal cruelty case, and falls under the Animal Protection Act which obliges the police to either seize or euthanize the animals when the owner apparantly is not able to take care of them (Art. 21 and 22).

The police won't move unless asked questions by politicians. Politicians won't move if we don't tell them loud and clear: There is only one priority at this moment. The dogs must get out of there. Now.

The petition targets the local Chief of Police, the Mayor, local Town Hall members, and the Danish Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare. If you would like to send them your own letter or e-mail, that would even be better. 

We can give you more information from inside the puppy mill soon, as one of their former employees has come forward with her story.

But first we have to get the dogs out. Please sign and share with your friends. I know you will, you love dogs as much as I do when you read this blog. Thank you.

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For the latest and how you can help, visit the page Stop Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill.

How To Rescue a Dog by Play

Just. Click. Play.

You don't have to watch, just press play.

I'll explain after the video.



I know you have seen videos like this before. I know you hate to look at it again. You don't have to watch it. I only need you to press play.

You pressed play! Thank you!

Now I can explain. The video reveals more than 160 puppy mills and puppy trafficker operations in Belgium. One of the smaller countries in Europe about the size of New York. The thing is that Belgium TV networks refused to air this very well-researched documentary. The rescue group behind the video, Animal Trust, decided to go viral.

If they would score a high number of "views", the rescue group can use those numbers to convince the Belgium TV networks to air it. If the quality of the documentary won't help, maybe viewer ratings will. No network refuses good viewer ratings.

That's why you pressing "play" in this case is so important.

People must know. People that don't read blogs like this one. Normal Belgium's that see television and don't know this is going on in their country. They have a right to know. First when they know, change can start. Because they are the next generation of puppy buyers.

You probably also thought that Europe was far ahead in solving the issue with puppy mills and puppy trafficking. Like a lot of Europeans actually also think. The reality is unfortunately the opposite. And it is not only Belgium, it is a lot more expanded than that. If you would like to know more how Europe is really doing, read our guest blog over at Cindy Lu's Muse about puppy mills in Europe: Wake-Up Call For Western Europe.

Today bloggers around the world unite for dog rescue and the rights of dogs. Visit the organizers Blog Catalog, Dog Rescue Success or Be The Change For Animals for more. Keep on reading and sharing!

You are not cheating me right? Please go back and press play. Alright then, I beg you. Officially.

Update July 26:
For bloggers that would like to help getting the word out, I made a small video widget that you can show in your blog's sidebar. An example of it is on the top-right of this blog. The widget contains the video, and a link to this page explaining the background of why it is important. To get it, grab the code below the widget, and copy/paste it as HTML on your blog's sidebar.

Bloggers Join Together To Campaign For Dog Rescue

Viva in the local shelter

It is hard to imagine that Viva once was unwanted and not loved. She was returned to a shelter, not once, but twice in her short life. Now she is living with us, and we find it hard to imagine how life would be without Viva. And how much we would have missed out on, if we hadn't found her.

There are many more dogs like Viva. To help, more then 10,000 bloggers around the world join forces on July 23, to raise awareness for dog rescue and the rights of dogs.

Please join this global event if you have a blog. Or share blogs you read on that day about dog rescue on your Twitter streams, Facebook timelines, etc.

On July 23 this blog will raise the case for dogs in Europe. Many in Europe see the rescue shows on Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel and others and think puppy mills and abuse of dogs is mainly an American problem. But if you look a little harder, you will see the issues in Europe are very much alike. Stay tuned.

For more information about the event and how to join, visit Blog Catalog, Dog Rescue Success or Be The Change For Animals.

The Cat Behind The Dog Blog

This is the picture Kenzo met, when he first came to live with us as a pup. The masters of the house, Pjevs and Jule, were not amused by the sight of this new-comer.

What they lacked in size, they made up for in sheer attitude. Kenzo never knew it, but he lost the battle already before he passed through the door.

The duo dedicated a good deal of their time to give Kenzo some serious training in cat-etiquette. Positively reinforced by the cat-clicker - the possibility of getting your nose scratched - they educated Kenzo with all there is to know, before I could even teach him how to sit.

Before Kenzo - our first dog - we always had cats. Living in apartments in the big city with busy jobs made us reluctant of having a dog. For cats that never was a problem. They could thrive despite our life-style. I can remember every one of them and what made them special. Some passed away too quickly, some were only in foster and passing by. Pjevs - the black-and-white on the left in the picture - lived with us the longest, in the full 16 years of his life.

His mother was a feral cat that lived in the local plant center. The people working there took care of her litter and we took Pjevs home with us. He was then raised by his surrogate mother, Laban, the cat that was already living with us.

Pjevs teaching Kenzo the art of telepathic counter surfing

Pjevs witnessed a lot of changes. He moved with us from Holland to Denmark. He made the switch from appartement living to living in a more rural environment. He welcomed Jule, and later Kenzo. Pjevs literally couldn't hurt a fly. Even in his days living outdoors he never came home with a mouse or a bird. He never went far and we could just call his name and he came running home quickly. More than any other cat we knew, Pjevs always wanted his family close by.

When Pjevs passed away, we were devastated. To our own surprise as well. We loved all our cats equally we thought, but the bond with Pjevs had evolved beyond that. It was the love he gave in return so abundantly, that had given him a special place in our hearts.

I was asked before why I started blogging about dogs, but never did when we had cats. Partly there is a logical explanation to it. To me dogs are complicated, and cats are not. Needing help in how to raise and care for a dog made me reach out through social media. Another reason is, I always regretted never to have expressed how much Pjevs meant to me. And on Pjevs' first anniversary after his passing, I vowed to him I will do better for Kenzo. I started blogging a month later.

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This post is answering to the call of Kristine from Rescued Insanity, Cats are dogs too:

"I am asking for submissions of photographs, stories, videos, drawings, letters, haikus, or whatever other creative mediums you can come up with that showcase the importance and value of the cat. I am hoping to collect as many as possible to share in July’s Blog the Change Event. If I get enough, I’ll share them in multiple posts. I’d love to make the celebration of the cat a regular feature. After all cats have endured, I think they deserve it. Don’t you? If you love cats and have something positive to share, please respond in the comments to Cats are dogs too or email contact@rescuedinsanity.com. Let’s show the world how worthy these beautiful animals are!"

A Dog and a Rescue

The story of Shiloh is about the spirit of a dog and the love of a rescue.

Whoever it was that named her Shiloh - the place where Mozes took the Ark - couldn't have picked a better name. Already diagnosed with hip dysplasia at the young age of 1½ year, her chances for a fulfilling life seemed non-existing. Not for Shiloh. She defied all odds and made an unbelievable come-back. Fighting her way through the surgeries and rehabilitation programs without loosing her spirit and sweet character. Her special affectionate personality left intact. Today Shiloh is fully recovered from her ordeal and waiting for adoption.

The rescue that took her in, project HALO, fought the battle together with Shiloh. Understaffed and under-financed, they did everything in their power to help Shiloh. It took them more than a year. They cared for her in foster, spreading the word and organizing fund raisers for the necessary surgeries and treatment. When the funds finally came available they helped her through two FHO surgeries, one for each hip, and the following long rehabilitation back to a life with proper use of both legs.

Lets write a happy end to this story together. Spread the word. Retweet, like, and share Shiloh's story. And she will find a home.

Update January 2012: Shiloh adopted after 2 years

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If you are interested in adopting Shiloh please visit http://www.projecthalo.net/ to fill out an application or contact Rhonda at projhalo@bellsouth.net for more information

Blog the Change for Shiloh the Hovawart

Today it is Blog the Change day. A wonderful initiative by Be the Change for Animals. So far I have been reading a lot of great and inspiring blogs. In particular the blog by @boulderdog Healing the Planet One Animal at a Time.

Looking in my heart I know what really would be the change for me. It is also healing the planet one animal at a time. And that one animal for me at this moment is Shiloh the Hovawart. For her to get healthy and live without pain. For Shiloh to find her forever home.

Shiloh has been in my sights now for more then half a year. She is only 2 years old. And all that time she has been cared for by the rescue project HALO (Helping Animals Live On). Me and my twitter pals have been tweeting almost daily for her and were able to raise enough donations for her to get a necessary 2nd hip operation.

But Shiloh is still in need of a family. It is now already more then half a year. If we could be the change for Shiloh, wouldn't that be a great change?

Update January 2012: Shiloh adopted after 2 years