TATE COUNTY, Miss. — Forty-two dogs once living in brutal conditions are getting a second chance.
Those dogs were a portion of 170 dogs found at a puppy mill at a home in north Mississippi earlier this month.
WREG was there as the Tunica Humane Society, Sunny Meadows Safe Haven for Pets and Tate County deputies rescued the animals.
They are now on the mend, but it’s going to be a long process as many battle health issues.
“A lot of the dogs that were unlucky enough to have long hair like this one were super matted, and that came with a lot of skin irritation and like rashes and burns and all kinds of stuff,” sid Colby Stephens, kennel manager of Sunny Meadows Safe Haven for Pets. “A lot of them had really bad teeth problems. We’ve had some that have had eye problems.”
Stephens is thankful to donors, vet clinics and various rescue groups helping out.
He said the animals are starting to come out of their shells.
“We can tell a lot of them have not have a lot of socialization with people at all,” he said. “No one is adoptable yet, unfortunately. I know a lot of people, that’s how they want to help is to give these babies a home and give them the time and patience and all that stuff.”
He had a message for anyone thinking about getting a dog.
“Consider adopting instead of spending quite a bit of money on a dog where you don’t know where it’s coming from,” Stephens said. “You might be funding an operation like these guys came from, and it just continues a vicious cycle.”
Though the dogs are not available for adoption yet, you can still help out. The rescues are in need of monetary donations to help with vet bills. Contact Sunny Meadows or the Tunica Humane Society for more information.
As for those who accused of running that puppy mill, the sheriff said detectives are still putting their case together to present to the district attorney to see if charges will be filed.