My sweet mini schnauzer, Hope, was in an Amish puppy mill in Ohio for five years. She had so many litters she had been used up. To save her from being shot in the head and thrown in a ditch, a wonderful woman I never will know saved her and took her to Schnauzer Rescue Cincinnati.

Puppy mills are big business for what farmers see as a cash crop. In Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin the Amish and Mennonites warehouse dogs in wire cages stacked on top of each other. The lucky ones get health care and exercise. These men see this as acceptable because their religion gives them “dominion” over animals.

In turn, pet stores buy these abused puppies. When the mill dogs are used up, they are disposed of. The cycle perpetuates. State governments make efforts to stop the practice, but the lobbyists, and people sympathetic to the Amish and Mennonites, manage to block or dilute the legislation.

My girl has been learning how to be a beloved pet. I don’t think she ever will be a snuggle bunny, but she need not fear anyone making her a victim of torture and neglect.