"Under Fire" by Marshall Smith
The two-hour drive to a deplorable puppy mill in Missouri gave me time to reflect on the plight of the poor dogs there, who I had already seen once before in their unbelievable conditions. Two months earlier I had visited this puppy mill with a news crew from the investigative television show, Extra. We were appalled at the neglect, abuse and filth; what appeared to be a junkyard was actually a commercial kennel. During that initial visit, we were unprepared for the horror. Even as I opened the car door, an overwhelming stench of urine, feces and disease assaulted us. Filth lay everywhere. While we spoke to the "kennel" owner, two hidden cameras filmed his persistent intent to sell us a puppy. The Extra reporter cultivated such a good rapport with the owner that we were invited back the next morning, when the puppies were scheduled for transport to a broker. The reporter hoped to document this transaction on film.

The next day, the reporter and I returned and confronted the kennel owner on camera. When he realized what we were doing, he ordered us to leave his property, which we did, but no before one puppy had been rescued from the squalor. The little guy, whom we had named Lucky, received veterinary care shortly thereafter.

Now, two months later, I was returning to this horrible puppy mill with yet another reporter who wanted to see the place for himself. I still could not explain why the USDA or the Missouri Department of Agriculture had not closed down this miserable place. The first reporter had left his business card, so it was no secret that Extra had witnessed the conditions at this deplorable puppy mill. Surely, I thought, closing this kennel would prove a good public relations move on the part of the USDA. How na•ve of me for thinking that they cared for the welfare of those poor dogs.

Finally, we reached the cutoff, where I parked and waited for the reporter and cameraman. I had instructed them to drive past the kennel and turn around so we would be headed out, just in case we needed a hasty retreat. To avoid recognition, the reporter interviewed me on public property, then began filming the kennel and dog pens from the road as the dogs barked. Eventually, the dogs quieted down without anyone investigating. Unusual, I thought, for such an isolated location. Then we saw the owner milling about in the kennel yard, seemingly oblivious to our presence. He momentarily disappeared. In an instant he rushed out his front door, armed with a shotgun. He was quick and deliberate, and before I knew it he had aimed the gun directly at us and fired a shot into the hood of the news vehicle, just missing us. We drove full speed to safety, where we called the authorities. But the kennel owner was never cuffed during his arrest. Moreover, he was charged with illegal use of a firearm instead of attempted murder. Not surprisingly, the sheriff himself had previously operated a puppy mill and didnÕt think there was anything wrong with the dogs, which were so blatantly suffering. In a direct about-face, the sheriff then read me my rights and advised me that the kennel owner had alleged we were trespassing earlier in the year when I first visited his kennel.

Even after two different news teams and I had witnessed this cruel kennel, it is to this day still in operation. The kennel owner is scheduled for trial this December, and, of course, I have been subpoenaed to testify. Lucky, the little puppy rescued from my first visit, has found welcome refuge in my home. Though he had developed a severe case of mange and went through a rough month of treatment, he is now thriving happily as the newest member of my mixed human and canine family. As he continues to develop, safe, healthy and far from his abject beginnings, so will I continue my fight to see the day when all puppies are safe, healthy and far from any puppy mill, anywhere.

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