"I was "Tag #19", also known as "Mariah Hope." I was one of thousands of former puppy mill breeders and I, along with many others, have a story to tell. The life of a puppy mill dog is not a glamorous one, by any means. Why are there such places? It’s all about the good old American dollar and keeping pet stores supplied with those expensive, cute, sad little puppies." There are puppy and kitten mills, all with the same conditions. They are all over the country, some disguised as other businesses.

She spent years as a puppy mill breeding mommy in Eastern Oklahoma. Her owners had permanently marked her head with a hot branding iron, inserted metal cow tags in her ears, and forced her to wear her rusty metal chain with her breeding number as a collar. In her later years, she was crippled from living on the wire bottom cages until rescue. Mariah never knew a human’s touch other than to be thrown in another cage to breed. This girl was bred so many times that only SHE knews the number of puppies she produced. Because her last litter was born blind, she became worthless to the breeders.  She was lucky enough to be rescued from her horror. Sometimes these animals end up at auctions only to be sent to another miller or to be bought by experimental labs or dog fighters to be used as bait.

Imagine spending your entire life in a 5’ X 5’ cage made entirely of wire, with 5-7 other people every day. If you are too tall, or too overweight, nobody cares. If you can't move because it's so crowded, nobody cares. During every heat cycle, you are forced to breed. You have limited food, if any at all. There is no heat nor air, When you are sick you never see a doctor and you suffer. You live in your own waste, drink filthy water, if any. You have never been loved or comforted.

That was Mariah Hope's life when she was "Tag 19" before rescue.

Mariah, along with 45 other dachshunds were pulled from a puppy mill near Tulsa, Oklahoma back in the 90's. Her story has been made into a book which is available from our sponsor, www.JBsLegacy.com on the Anti puppy mill page along with her t-shirt, stickers, buttons, and other items. The sales of these items helps us print more brochures and books to educate the general unknowing public about puppy mills. Without your help, the cycle and the horror will continue.

We know we can't stop this "puppy mill business" from going on. There are thousands of mills all over the country that treat these dogs as livestock or worse. But, we can educate, speak, and share information to adults and children. The mills need to stop and the animals need to be free. Free to be pets as they were born to be, not a business.

Please don't support pet stores that sell dogs from puppy mills. You are not saving the little fur ball you see in the window as the store will call their mill and replace it the next day IF the mother isn't too old or too sick to breed again. There's always a shelter dog or a rescued mill baby that wants a home so desperately.

Feel free to search the web for puppy mills. Mariah has a video on www.youtube.com along with many others. Learn and spread the word about this disgusting business and the ones that suffer so badly to keep it going.

Contact us at LittleTag19@aol.com for more information or to help us get the word out.

Sadly, Mariah Hope joined her brothers and sisters who had also been rescued from puppy mills at
the Rainbow Bridge in May 2007 at the young age of 21.
Rest in Peace my little angel. Your legacy lives on through me.