When rescuers from the Humane Society of the United States raided a puppy mill in Charlotte, N.C., a purebred miniature poodle they found there was in such bad shape, they couldn’t even tell her age.
The poor creature weighed just 3 ½ pounds and had only three teeth — the rest were so rotten that they had to be pulled.
An anonymous tip prompted last fall’s raid on the property, where deputies discovered 104 other dogs, as well as 20 cats and three goats living in unsafe and completely unsanitary conditions. The poodle, B.B., was living in a tiny, excrement-filled cage in a basement that lacked anything as basic as ventilation.
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“She was very tiny, and she looked like this helpless creature,”said Jessica Lauginiger, an animal crimes manager with HSUS. “I put my hand up to the cage, and she’d come up and sniff a little bit. She was very hesitant for human attention, but she wanted it.â€
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Based on her swollen mammary glands, rescuers surmised B.B. had existed solely for breeding purposes and spent her entire life confined to that cage. When she was finally taken out of the basement, she squinted repeatedly in the sunlight – she’d never seen it before – and she was heartbreakingly unfamiliar with grass.
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B.B. and all the other animals at the puppy mill were rescued, and the majority received care at Cabarrus Animal Hospital, about 35 minutes north of the place that had been their lifelong prison.
Their plight was recently revealed to the public, when B.B. was chosen to star in the HSUS’s annual Day of Giving campaign, raising money that will be used to help animals like those found at the puppy mill that day and hopefully one day bring an end to puppy mills.
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And as for B.B., whose age is estimated at between seven and 10 years, she’ll live out the rest of her life in absolute bliss compared with her earlier years.
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She was adopted by Brenda Tortoreo, who previously worked at the animal hospital where she received care.
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BB is now well-accustomed to running around in the grass, as well as taking in all the new sights, sounds and smells of her new world.
Watch the video below about B.B.’s rescue, and share her amazing story today!
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