Dogs rescued from puppy mill have homes

By Kris Leonhardt

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – The 76 dogs seized from two Wood County locations in September have found homes.

South Wood County Humane Society Executive Director Brett Thompson said the dogs, which were the product of a puppy mill and living in distressing conditions, were divided among assisting shelters to help provide the animals with the space and care they needed.

“We took 42 from one location and the rest from another location – it was 76 dogs total – in a two day span,” Thompson said. “We had all 76 dogs here, which was really chaotic, so we ended up transferring 30 of them to other shelters in the area that were willing to help out. We basically adopted out all of the rest.”

Thompson said the dogs were Miniature Pinschers (Min-Pins), which are small dogs and easy to adopt out.

“They are all under 12 pounds; kind of similar to a Chihuahua,” Thompson explained.

The shelter has one remaining dog from the rescue – a new mother needing eight weeks to wean her pups.

“We have one available, but it won’t be available yet because it is a nursing mom, and those puppies will be available in a few weeks,” Thompson said.

Two shelters came forward to take in the dogs, while others provided supplies for assistance. Thompson said that the dogs that were transferred found homes as well.

“The buzz with the news and everything, it really helped out a lot, and people just flocked to all of those shelters. People love small dogs any way and these dogs were really nice dogs,” he said.

Thompson stated that at intake there were 100 dogs in the facility. He said that assistance from the community helped accommodate the large influx.

“As soon as the community found out about it, they were literally lining up at the door to donate food to us before we even posted anything,” Thompson said, “and then as soon as we did post our needs, please were checking Facebook daily. (The lobby) was filled with donations. It was amazing.

The shelter currently has 20 other dogs up for adoption. For more information on the shelter, find the South Wood County Humane Society on Facebook.