Puppies Rescued: 'Designer Dogs' Bred for Sale on Internet

More than 30 "designer" puppies -- made famous by Paris Hilton -- have been rescued from a west-end Toronto puppy mill that animal cruelty investigators say sold hundreds of dogs on the Internet.

A couple in their 80s face charges after officials said they found the tiny pets in a Golden Ave. home, in the Roncesvalles and Dundas St. W. area.

"We believe a lot of the pups were moved before we got there," said Tre Smith, of the Toronto Humane Society. "The animals were being bred for sale."

The mill had been in operation for about four years and had sold hundreds of dogs for $400 to $700 each, Smith said. Similar pups cost much more at legitimate breeders.

"None of the animals were on death's door," Smith said. "But they weren't doing the greatest, either."

Among the dog breeds seized were shih tzus and pugs.

Smith said dogs turned out by the puppy mill were listed with their photographs on a number of websites, and many parents bought them for their children -- only to later give them up for adoption after realizing how much time it takes to care for a puppy.

"People are taking advantage of designer dogs," THS spokesman Lee Oliver said. "We have had so many of them brought to us once people realize the work involved."

Oliver said officers are witnessing a new trend in which animals are being bought and sold on the web.

"This is completely new," he said. "In the next five years there will be an explosion of puppies being sold on the Internet."

He said the seized pups will be medically assessed and treated before being placed for adoption.

The elderly couple face charges under Toronto bylaws of having too many animals in a home and keeping animals in an unsafe environment.

Meanwhile, 26 dogs and 16 birds were removed from three properties all owned by a Lambton County man. Tuesday's seizure was the second time in two months that Sarnia and District SPCA officers have taken animals from the man as part of an ongoing investigation into a suspected puppy mill.

"They were filthy conditions," said shelter manager Tami Holmes, who was on site for the seizure along with SPCA officers from the Huronia and Grey-Bruce branches, three OPP officers and two veterinarians. "Anytime you get a lot of dogs living in these conditions, you suspect it's a puppy mill."

Holmes said yesterday the dogs were kept in deplorable conditions, amidst feces, urine, tiny crates and inadequate housing. The birds -- 15 button quail and one parakeet -- were also living in filth.

Many of the animals were suffering various medical conditions, including skin, parasite, ear and eye infections, Holmes said.

The investigation, which began last April following an anonymous tip, is still under way and criminal charges could be laid, she said.

Last month, the SPCA removed 13 dogs from one of the three properties after they were found to be in "immediate distress," she said.

*From the Toronto Sun - June 5, 2008