Hundreds of starving dogs were found crammed in a South Georgia puppy mill the first week in March. That state’s Department of Agriculture raised concerns about the mill to local police who partnered with animal welfare organizations to rescue the dogs. 76 of these dogs are now in Leon County foster homes.
“Georgia Puppies” owner, Reason Craig Gray planned to sell over 600 Poodles, Shih Tzu and other small dogs from his business. He is now behind bars with charges stacking up against him. His dogs were found matted and infected with parasites after apparently being neglected since birth. The Leon County Humane Society volunteered to take in 76 of these dogs, and executive director, Lisa Glunt, it’s the largest rescue mission the chapter has done.
“Thursday evening our dog program coordinator just got a call and it was kind of a S.O.S. we need help. At that point it looked more to be like a hoarding case. So, she went out with one of our volunteers that night and the rest of our staff basically went to our office to just set up for what was an unknown amount of that dogs coming in at that time,” says Glunt.
Glunt says when the dogs came in, they were in terrible condition.
“T"There was one dog last night that really caught me off guard and he is a Boston Terrier. I mean he was a skeleton. He was a skeleton when he came in. He’s an older dog,” says Glunt.
Glunt says most of the dogs they took in are adults, citing one example.
“He wouldn’t eat his food. So I took him out of the kennel and literally just held him like a baby and just kind of bounced him, burped him, bounced him, just trying to soothe him and Boston Terriers are usually very energetic dogs and this little guy was just taking it in and he was the first of many that really got to me,” says Glunt.
Glunt has no sympathy for the puppy mill owner.
“We saw many media reports initially with people, even rescuers, excusing the actions of this individual in saying that you know, he was just overwhelmed, and he reached out for help and you know, none of this is true, this guy was just trying to cover his tail,” says Glunt.
The puppies will receive veterinary and other care over the next two weeks. On March 16th, the Leon County Humane Society will host Proctor Paws Fur a Cause, an event where community members can adopt one of the dogs rescued. It’s being held at Proctor Subaru on Capital Circle.
