Annette's brood of Rescue's.

Jan 22 2005
Neglected dogs find a new friend

Annette Stollman cuddles with her toothless Yorkie, Sirius Black.
By RHONDA PARKS MANVILLE Staff Writer
Island farmer Annette Stollman takes up the cause of 'puppy mills.'
Annette Stollman has adopted some of the sorriest little dogs you've ever seen.
There's the Sirius Black, a shivering little Yorkie who has no teeth
to hold his tongue in his mouth, so it hangs out like a noodle. He's
got inflammatory bowel disease and is afraid of noise, but he loves to
be held.
There's the maltese named Hope, a limping fluff ball who takes
glucosamine for arthritis and is so fearful of people, she can't be
picked up.
There's Cricket, the miniature pincer with the shakes, who hides under
tables and has had so many babies that her uterus and bladder came
loose from her belly and had to be surgically reattached.
And there's Gracie the Pomeranian, a crouching, nervous little critter
with big eyes who can't be petted or touched and doesn't know how to
play.
"When I got her," Stollman said, "she peed and defecated and bit me.
She still won't let me get near."
After years of neglect and perhaps worse, these four are living their
final years on Stollman's north-end farm, where they are lavished in
love and attention, to the extent that they will accept it.
All were rescued from puppy mills, places where dogs typically live in
cages, are bred repeatedly and suffer from neglect.
"Those cute little puppies at the pet store are offspring of dogs like
Hope and Gracie," said Stollman, who has added the rescued animals to
her menagerie of four other dogs and sheep on six acres near Bloedel
Reserve.
Most people wouldn't dream of bringing home such mangy, poorly
socialized, ill-behaved dogs.
But after reading one day about "puppy mills" - commercial breeders
decried by animal welfare agencies for their often poor treatment of
dogs - Stollman, a former Bainbridge city councilwoman, couldn't sit
still. She felt called to adopt the rescued pets, and to educate others
about the plight they faced in their former life.
She found her rescue dogs on the nonprofit website
www.puppymillrescue.org.
"I was so appalled that I adopted Sirius first," she said, noting that
she had four other dogs at the time. "They had their pictures and their
stories, and I am such a softie. I wanted to take the dogs that were
the neediest."
Unlike reputable breeders who strive to further a particular breed,
puppy mills breed dogs repeatedly in poor conditions, without regard
for the animals' health and welfare.
Puppy-mill dogs often spend their lives in cages, are not
house-trained, and frequently suffer from poor health near the end of
the their lives, animal welfare advocates say. The puppies that result
from the mills are sometimes used to stock pet stores.
"It's an industry, which is guilty of churning out babies," Stollman
said. "Some dogs never see the light of day. The cages are often
stacked on top of one another. They get poor food, and no dental or
health care. When (the owner) is done with them, they shoot them or
send them to auction," which is how the dogs Stollman adopted were
obtained by Puppy Mill Rescue.
Local animal control officials agree that puppy mills are a terrible
scourge, more typical in the Southeast, but some people who breed dogs
in Kitsap County can be just as bad, they say.
"We have more of a 'backyard' puppy mill problem here," said Rance
McEntyre, supervisor for Kitsap County Animal Control. "Typically it's
an uneducated and irresponsible pet owner. We don't see a lot of dogs
kept in pens and bred repeatedly, but we do get poor things that come
in to us all worn out and skinny.
"Typically, we don't catch people like that, because they just end up
dumping the female when they are done with her."
There's also the problem of unwanted puppies that come to animal
control because the owners thought it would be "cute" for their female
to be pregnant and have babies so the children can see how it's done.
People who want to adopt a pet should do so through reputable breeders,
who typically interview potential owners and require references.
Or people can contact the local humane society or a rescue
organization, such as petfinder.org and Bainbridge Island PAWS, to
obtain help locating a suitable pet.
"No one who cares about their puppies would sell them to a pet store,"
Stollman said, as she cradled Cricket. "Here I am on fenced acreage. As
you can see, these dogs have a good life."

* * * * *

Cricket loves to snuggle.

CRICKET, my Mini Pin came to me last Sept. (2001). She was a very dainty
little lady and had been left with a vet after her THIRD uterine prolapse
caused her to lose her puppies. She wasn't worth anything to the Puppy
Miller if she couldn't be bred! She bonded to me right away but is afraid of
everyone else. She barks in fear at all visitors even those who are here for
an extended visit. She has gone from a svelte 7 lbs. to over 10 lbs. Having
never been allowed to fill her stomach before, she now eats everything in
sight. Because of her uterine problems, she developed a herniated bladder
last winter and had to have emergency surgery by a specialist to put the
bladder back in place and repair the muscle damage. She sleeps with me at
night snuggles as close as she can get. She is a real sweetie and much
loved.

SIRI, my Yorkie, came to live with me two years ago. No one was quite
certain of his age but guessed around 6-8 years old. He wanted lots of
attention but cowered and shook when he was picked up or petted as if he
were expecting a blow. During the first month he had numerous medical
problems and was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). He is on a
special prescription food. This summer (2002) he had a very severe attack of
Pancreatitis and may have it chronically now. He is a loving little guy and
loves to snuggle in my arms and lick my nose. He has learned that other
people are kind and enjoys the attention of others.

GRACIE, my beautiful Pomeranian, joined the family in January 2002. She hid
in a corner and peed and pooped if touched the first few days. She also
tried to run away and had to be chased and caught to be brought back inside.
Finding a small black dog in the rain and dark on 8 acres of pasture is no
small task!! Little by little she is learning to trust although I still
cannot get very close to her or touch her. She has bitten me several times,
out of sheer terror, when I had to pick her up to get groomed.

She likes her daily treat but I have to throw it close to her while she sits
outside in the grass; then she takes it and runs away. She follows behind me
when I am outside and likes to be somewhere near me most of the time. As I
write this she is lying under my desk. She has a favorite red doggie bed and
now sleeps in the living room with the other dogs. Gracie is more like some
wild creature than a dog but I know she is attached to me. If she never does
more than like to be close that is enough for me.

HOPE, the Maltese, was my second PMR dog. She was 10 y.o. when I got her a
year and a half ago. She had had litter after litter and her little stomach
was wide with bearing so many puppies. She had only two teeth left on her
bottom jaw and none on the upper. For the first three months she cowered in
her igloo type bed and came out only at night. She shook with fear when
touched and I left her to adjust at her own pace. She ran from me and was
afraid to go outside. She fell in love with Dakota, my big Mastiff, and
slept near him. And then one day last August (2001) she followed him outside
into the garden. A few days later she followed him out of the garden into
the pasture. She slowly let me approach her in her bed and pet her without
trembling. Then after a few months she let me pet her outside of the bed.
Now she runs up to me and begs to be petted. Just recently I have learned
that Hope has very dim vision and hears very little. She is a very happy dog
now and runs around with great excitement at meal time. She is also a
major barker and likes to let everyone know this is her home. Needless to
say, she has a very special place in my heart.

1/25/04 Update.
Hi Jean,
Just wanted you to know that my four PMR pups are doing well. Siri,
desite his IBD and chronic Pancreatitis is happy, demanding and loves
to eat. He wants to be held all the time and barks at me if I ignore
him. He is a cutie pie.

Hope is my little love. She seems very content, and although she
doesn't like to be held, she will come up to me to be petted over and
over again. She pushes her head against my hand and I just melt.

Gracie continues to be much the same. I cannot touch her and she barks
nonstop for a long time if anything in her environment bothers her. On
the other hand, she is really dear to me, and the fact that she follows
me around and will finally let me walk past her without her running
ahead of me in a panic is a read accomplishment for her. Gracie's
papers say she is about 7 but my vet thinks she may be ten or more. She
has gone very gray (matches me!!) and being older may account for why
she hasn't adapted to freedom anymore than she has.

Cricket is a sweetie, sleeps with me in bed and is Sasha's best friend.
She is still afraid of anyone else no matter how often she has seen
them. She has been on a diet since June since she went from a solid 7
pounds to an obese 12 pounds. I think she is about 9 pounds now. She is
like a vulture and hovers over everyone else's bowl, hoping that I will
look away and she can steal some kibble. Her herniated bladder
operation seems to have worked mostly although her bladder does slip
back and forth. I adore her as I do all my dogs.

I lost my miniature Schnauzer, Kira, to cancer early in the month. This
was a recurrence from the cancer ten months previous and had
metastisized in several places and it was clear that putting her
through surgery again and radiation would have been too hard on her so
we put her on morphine. When I saw that life was no longer fun, I took
her to the vet and she went to sleep in my arms being loved and petted.
It was hard to lose her. She was ten years old and I had her since she
was 8 weeks.

I just bought two of your beds. My dogs love them.
I hope all is well with you.

Hugs,

Annette &
Dakota, 8 the Mastiff, Rosie, 12, the Bichon, Sasha 1 and Chloe 5 the
Cotons, Siri 9 the PMR Yorkie, Hope the PMR Maltese 12, Cricket the PMR
Mini Pin 7, Gracie the PMR Pom 8-10.

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