After 66 dogs were seized from a Langley puppy mill this week, local animal advocate Jane Young was inspired to reach out to The Citizen to help spread the word about a national anti-puppy-mill letter writing campaign taking place right now.
Puppy mills are legal in Canada, which has lead to abusive practices escalating to animal cruelty like what happened to the 32 adult dogs and 34 puppies seized from the Langley kennel where the animals had many health issues due to neglect like broken bones, missing ears, eye infections and severe matting.
The campaign is called Ruby's Love Letter Legacy, named for a dog rescued from a puppy mill after six years of confinement and neglect. Puppy mills are run by commercial breeders where the operation is profit oriented without great care or consideration for the welfare of the dogs that are being bred to produce as many litters of puppies as possible.
Young is asking people to click on the video to explain the importance of the letter-writing campaign at youtu.be/P9viw8YJtSI, then visit Rubys Love Letter Legacy Facebook page to download letters by clicking on the Files tab of the Facebook page. It's also got links and addresses to politicians to make it easier for people.
"And send those letters off," said Young.
"That is the best way to help right now with this campaign."
The campaign organizers are asking people to put their letters in red envelopes to make a statement and to get attention but Young said if there's no way to get red envelopes it's OK.
"Just send the letters," said Young, who has been an animal advocate for as long as she can remember. "This campaign is a dream come true."
Because this is a federal law that needs to be changed, Young encourages everyone to send their letters to Ottawa. Letters to the Prime Minister and to MPs sent to the Ottawa address are free, so no postage is required. If you want to send the letter to local MLA offices, that will require a stamp, Young added.
"We need to get the provincial people thinking about this too, so they can support any legislation that should happen to support closing down these puppy mills," said Young. "We want people to join the Facebook page and support the campaign."
Throughout her life as an animal advocate, Young has seen too much.
"I have never seen such horrific cruelty as I have seen when I have seen pictures and talked to people about what puppy mill dogs go through," said Young. "This is why I've put most of my effort of advocacy into shutting down puppy mills. There's just no excuse for the relentless pain and suffering puppy mill dogs endure. The awareness this campaign will bring to the issue is priceless. Education is key. People need to know what goes on in the puppy mills."
Young said that before making a purchase of a puppy consider where it is coming from. Ask questions about its origins. Do the research to ensure purchasing that puppy is not supporting a puppy mill.
"If you don't do your homework you could be supporting this cruelty," said Young.
"When we stop buying puppies from mills then there's not going to be any demand and we can shut them down."
