Here's a report by Julie, who provided the photographs on previous pages, of her visit to "LBOH" on October, 01, 1999. The pictures do not do the actual conditions justice as Julie saw them that day. 

" Hi Jude - [Jude Fine of Senior Dog Rescue]

"Here are the photos of the dog they told me was Poogie. Jude, I'm positive it wasn't the same dog. The one I saw in person had the squished-in face and prominent eyes of a Peke or similar breed, and smooth silky hair. His legs were stocky, with common dwarf characteristics. Despite the different hair cuts, the physical features of these two dogs (muzzle length, ear position, etc) are far too different. I really don't think Bev and Marci were confused about which dog they were showing me. Before my visit, Bev wrote that Poogie had been left to them in a will, along with his son. We talked again about this during my visit, while the dog was sitting right in front of me.

"I'll send more photos as soon as they're ready.

"Btw, people are already writing to ask if I've seen dogs they sent there. Someone has asked about Pugs, Chinese Cresteds, a blind black Pekingese and an Italian Greyhound. There were two Cresteds there, one named Freya and another called Fancy. I didn't see any of the other dogs, but I know there were dogs there that I didn't meet or see. 

"A few other things concerned me about their place as well: I saw several dozen dogs in two large communal pens outside the house. The pens were made of a combination of wire grid and chain link about four feet high, with a strand of electrified wire running along the top of the fence. One pen had no shelter other the shade from the house. The second pen had a tarp draped over the remains of a chicken coop. There was quite a bit of paper trash on the ground in that pen that looked like it had been there through at least one rainstorm. Water seemed to be provided by large plastic wading pools, though we didn't go into the pens and I couldn't see what was in the pools. Some of the dogs had sores or wounds, including one who I was told was still healing from surgery to remove an eye. He seemed nervous about being around so many other dogs, and would snap and growl at the dogs who crowded his blind side. In her email prior to my visit, Bev really pushed me to take this dog (writing: "..it does not bother him at all...") Cats and a young pig freely roamed outside the pens, causing agitation in the pack of dogs inside the pens. While I was there, a tiny black Terrier mix from the first pen found a way through the fence between the two pens into the pen of larger dogs. This concerned Bev, who said she was worried that one of the big dogs would harm the puppy, that she (the big dog) had lashed out with little warning before, and she didn't like small dogs. The hole was eventually blocked with some wood that had been sitting nearby. 

"There were more dogs in the house, over a dozen that I saw and I was told there were dogs in other rooms that I did not enter. Some dogs were very old or had serious health problems. Two - a Doberman and a Greyhound - were very, very skinny, with ribs and spine clearly visible (especially the Greyhound, I could see every bump on her spine.) There were also young puppies, including one very active eight week old dog and another five week old puppy that had come from a local shelter that day or the day before. I was surprised that a new young puppy would be allowed in the same room with the older, sick dogs so soon after arrival. 

"About the little dog I adopted -- despite being a Terrier, she is extremely docile. She moved very slowly, She never made a sound and rarely raised her head enough to make eye contact, even when I sat on the floor with her. Bev told me that she'd been adopted once before, but the people returned her because they thought she was depressed. They told me she had spent many years as a breeding dog at a Missouri puppy mill, and that she had come to them straight from the mill (through a third party.) I asked about her vaccinations, and was told they were due in January. She wasn't wearing a collar or tags, so I asked about a rabies tag, and Bev told me "we don't do that, it's too expensive" Perhaps she only meant that they don't 'do' collars, but she didn't offer me a tag either. 

"They said they recognized my vet's name, and had taken dogs to her, which I found surprising. (She's a homeopathic vet who doesn't vaccinate. If they knew this, they sure weren't bothered by it and didn't ask any follow up questions.) Neither of them read my application with much interest. No attempt was made to call the vet before I left, and the application did not ask for any other references. 

"More on her vet visit: HW negative, but she had whipworms. Some gum decay, including one bad spot over her left rear molar that extends a quarter to a half inch into the gum line. She flinched consistently when the vet palpated her bladder area, and the vet reported that she was holding her stomach tightly, so urine had to be drawn. She had normal concentration, some protein, and a p.H of 8.0. There were some red blood cells and amorphous crystals in her urine. The blood tests showed low albumen, borderline cholesterol and low hemotocrit (28.9%) and low hemoglobin (10.1 g/dl), indicating anemia. Eosinophil count was high. The vet checked for a spay scar and could find none. Since she came from a puppymill a year ago (per Bev) there should be a scar. In my last email to LBOH, I asked to confirm when she had been spayed. They wrote back: "as to Aggie being spayed... that is a question I asked when she came here... but could not get a correct answer.. but she has been with us for many many months and has never come into heat. So we assumed she was spayed... " 

"This is a different story than what I was told when I adopted her. I was given a one page contract signed by Marci. This contract has a line that reads: "I understand that I have until _______ to have this dog altered ( spayed or neutered)" Marci wrote "N/A" in the blank. This reinforces what I was told - that Aggie was spayed. I can't believe that they thought the people who took her from the mill had her spayed. Even I know how unusual that would be. 

"I know there are differing opinions on the level of care and involvement that "rescuers" are obligated to provide to the dogs they take in. This little dog got next to nothing - no spay, no shots, she had parasites and fleas. She's not housetrained and had no idea what a leash was. She was filthy. She's a dear little dog, and I don't for a moment regret the expense. It was what she needed. The check I *really* disliked writing was LBOH's adoption fee. I do wonder what that went towards...

Julie"