Heartrending images of dirty, shivering, frightened dogs in rusty outdoor cages are in constant rotation on TV, helping just the top welfare organizations alone to generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year in donations. Celebrities like actress Edie Falco back the “puppy mill” bans in the media, declaring it “an exciting time that we can actually be close to putting an end to this cruelty.” On May 1, federal lawmakers introduced the bipartisan Puppy Protection Act, targeting conditions in commercial breeding kennels. Strader has been publicly lauded by everyone from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), which gave her an award named for its esteemed founder, to People magazine, which designated her “ a hero among us.” Her nonprofit has spawned multiple copycat organizations, some run by former National Mill volunteers, spreading Strader’s version of the “puppy mill rescue” cause all across the United States.ĭuring the past decade, the success of “puppy mill rescue” nonprofits like National Mill has dovetailed with a burgeoning nationwide campaign against “puppy mills.” Some 300 jurisdictions, including California and Maryland, have enacted pet store laws aimed at driving bad breeders out of the retail game, with versions now being debated in New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. National Mill’s website says it has “rescued and placed” more than 14,000 dogs as pets in homes, and it has become a regular supplier of dogs and puppies to at least a dozen other nonprofits and shelters from New York to California. The nonprofit has nearly 670,000 followers on Facebook, with another 56,000 on Instagram and 25,000 on Twitter. The organization she founded, National Mill Dog Rescue, now brings in nearly $3 million a year, according to its most recent available tax return. In the 12 years since she attended the Missouri auction, Strader has built a nonprofit empire.
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