Puppy mill - approx 30 dogs seized
Toronto, ON (CA)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Jun 4, 2008

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: man

Toronto Humane Society officials say they have seized about 30 dogs, most of which are less than two weeks old, from an alleged puppy mill in Toronto's west end.

The shitzu-pug mixes were found in a home on Golden Avenue, in the Roncesvalles Avenue and Dundas Street area, on Wednesday.

THS investigator Tre Smith told CTV Toronto the animals were locked away in the basement in deplorable living conditions.

"Even from the upstairs, I could immediately smell feces and urine," Smith said, adding the home's windows were closed and there was barely any light coming in.

Smith said the puppies would fetch anywhere from $500 to $1,000 when they were expected to be sold in about six weeks.

He said the pups' mothers would have likely been kept behind to breed again.

"Judging by her age and how much she's sagging here underneath, I say she's had anywhere from 10 to 15 litters," Smith said while holding one mother.

"She's pretty much spent her whole adult life giving birth to puppies."

He said the 84-year-old man accused of running the alleged mill faces a maximum of six months in jail and a $2,000 fine if convicted.

Smith says for puppy mill owners, that's just the cost of doing business.

"That's one puppy, two puppies tops, and (they're) back in business," he said.

"(They) pack up and move out, go elsewhere and make tens of thousands of dollars."

Smith says residents who are thinking of buying a puppy from a breeder should remember the "Four Sees:"

* See the parents
* See the facilities
* See their littermates
* See the paperwork

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