Brielle Meyer

“These mothers and fathers lived in horrific conditions along with many of their babies,” said Cathy Bissell, founder of the Bissell Pet Foundation.

_{Photo credit: Erik Howard/WZZM 13}

Note: This is a story I wrote for WZZM 13 in May of 2024. The original can be found here.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Dozens of puppies are safe and going to homes in Michigan tonight thanks to the Bissell Pet Foundation.

Nearly 60 schnauzers and mini schnauzers were rescued from a suspected puppy mill in North Carolina.

“These mothers and fathers lived in horrific conditions along with many of their babies,” said Cathy Bissell, founder of the Bissell Pet Foundation.

A plane full of those babies arrived by plane Thursday morning in Grand Rapids.

The dogs arriving in Grand Rapids were among 200 living in deplorable conditions, sometimes with seven dogs to a small cage. The dogs had with ammonia burns and had been living in their own filth. A lot of them were just babies.

The dogs will be transported to 8 different care facilities around Michigan and then hopefully adopted out to loving homes.

Bissell said dog buyers must do their due diligence or they could be getting their new fur baby from a horrible operation like this one.

“What they do is they just keep breeding them and breeding them,” said Bissel. “And they make a lot of money. And that’s what sustains them. So when a few die, it doesn’t matter, because they have backup. And that’s what people need to understand.”

Bissell said the safest place to get a pet from is the shelter.

“There are so many terrific animals in the shelter system today, and why people wouldn’t choose a shelter first, I don’t know,” Bissell said.

The owners of the North Carolina facility are now facing over 115 counts of animal cruelty.

You can get updates and a chance to adopt these and many other dogs by going to the Bissell Pet Foundation website.