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Jim Miller is taking care of Cherie at his home in St. Lazare after she was rescued from a puppy mill. (GRAHAM HUGHES)

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• Beaconsfield

Pet adoption clinic only viable solution to stopping puppy mills

Consumers must stop buying animals in stores: advocates

MAX HARROLD
The Gazette
Thursday, October 2, 2008

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Jim Miller is taking care of Cherie at his home in St. Lazare after she was rescued from a puppy mill. (GRAHAM HUGHES)

A pet adoption fair in Beaconsfield on Saturday might seem like a cute event, and it should be fun for the whole family, but its organizer says it also provides one of the few viable solutions to a cruel and persistent problem in Quebec: puppy mills.
The adoption of animals at pet fairs also helps to ease pet overpopulation in shelters and lessens the burden for animal rescue groups, said Johanne Tassé, president of the Companion Animal Adoption Centres of Quebec, an alliance of animal rescue groups.
The seizure of 118 animals, including 110 dogs, on Sept. 26 in Rawdon by the Montreal-based Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is fresh evidence of the demand for puppy mill dogs, Tassé said.
Male and female dogs were found together in feces-padded wood stalls in a makeshift metal barn. Others were in chicken-wire cages stacked in the home’s basement.
“When will Quebecers make the connection?” Tassé wondered. “Puppy mill dogs end up in pet stores. If you buy your dog in a pet store, you’re contributing to the problem. Adopting a dog is a way to be part of the solution.”
The mascot of this Saturday’s adoption fair is a perfect example of an animal that has survived, but barely, from a puppy mill, Tassé said. Cherie, a 3-year-old bichon Maltais, was brought to a CAACQ member in mid-August from a puppy mill in the Lanaudière.
“She’s missing an eye, some teeth and her uterus was a mess,” Tassé said, adding that the veterinarian who performed a hysterectomy on the dog said she must have had litter after litter.
Anyone who wants to adopt Cherie will have to be prepared for ongoing healing since she is psychologically scarred, Tassé said.
Jim Miller, a CAACQ member who has been fostering Cherie for three weeks at his home in St. Lazare, said he still has to catch her to feed her in a cage.
“She’s starting to wag her tail now, so it’s getting better.”
The Pawfect Match Animal Adoption and Pet Fair takes place Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Centennial Hall, 288 Beaconsfield Blvd., Beaconsfield. There will be a blessing of the pets (at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.), an adoptees’ parade, a dog bite prevention seminar and obedience demonstrations. For more information, visit www.caacq.ca
Also on Saturday, St. Francis of Assisi Day, named after the patron saint of animals, a pet blessing will be held between 9 a.m. and noon at Dorval Strathmore United Church, at the corner of Carson and Brookhaven Aves. in Dorval. For information call 514-631-6171.