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Puppy Mill Awareness Day (PMAD) 2009
Puppy Mill
Awareness Day (PMAD) 2009
by Chris DeRose
President and Founder of LCA
Thought I would share some of my experiences from LCA's 6th
Annual
Puppy Mill Awareness Day (PMAD) 2009, held in Lancaster, PA
last weekend, September 18-19.
I arrived at PMAD 2009 on Friday evening, just in time for the
dog auction. Owners of puppy mill survivor dogs had their dogs
do "paw paintings." From what I understand, the dogs were
totally free to "free form" their art. The paintings were then
sent to a PMAD volunteer in North Carolina, who had them framed.
The dogs' picture and story were posted next to the painting.
The dogs also made an appearance at PMAD, with their painting
being held up for everyone to see, and to bid on. Each painting
was different, and they were all bid on. Some went for as much
as $500, due to the impressive auctioneering skills of the
Rescue Ink
guys. Now that is what I call a thinking-outside-the-box
fundraiser! Of course, all the money raised will enable us to
continue our work: to make the public aware of the horrors that
are puppy mills, and to end them, once and for all!
  
On Saturday, I was pleased to see that attendance had almost
doubled from last year--there were approximately 1600 people at
PMAD 2009! Another good thing I noticed was there were very few
hecklers during our march; instead, people driving by were
honking their horns in support of PMAD. A major
difference from when LCA launched PMAD in 2004.
I was happy to see Bill Smith of
Main
Line Animal Rescue (MLAR) get PMAD's "Hero of the Year
Award. Because of the anti-puppy mill billboard MLAR sponsored
in Chicago, Oprah took notice, and her show condemning puppy
mills was watched by millions of people. Good job, Bill! Bill
congratulated me on LCA's "ban
puppy mills" billboard (which was visible to anyone driving
into Lancaster), as well as the tremendous success of PMAD.
Here I am with Bill Smith (and his much
deserved award!) and Carol Araneo-Mayer, my dear friend who was
very instrumental in starting PMAD with LCA, over 5 years ago.
It was great to hang out with
Victoria Stilwell; she is so committed to the fight against
puppy mills. She spoke eloquently about how important it is to
bring awareness to the public, and to never give up the fight.
 
I was thinking about skipping the annual "March Against the
Mills," as I had a terrible cold, and was feeling pretty lousy,
but the guys from Rescue Ink urged me to help get the crowd
energized for the march, so I jumped on the back of a pick-up
truck, and did my thing. The positive energy I felt from the
PMAD supporters was overwhelming, and I totally forgot about
being sick, and lead the march through the town. Amazing what a
little adrenalin, and a crowd of activists can do!
Rescue Ink; tough guys with a soft heart!
I did have a chance to speak with an Amish man who,
surprisingly, attended PMAD with his kids. He wanted to explain
to me that not all Amish run puppy mills, and that he does not
believe in locking an animal up in a cage. He wanted me to know
that his family own only one dog, and that their dog runs free
on their one acre property. I brought him and his kids some
vegan chocolate pudding.
Click here to read article on PMAD 2009
As I was traveling back to Los Angeles, I was thinking about the
success of LCA's 6th annual PMAD in Lancaster, PA...and thought
to myself: "We need to bring PMAD to Los Angeles in 2010!" After
taking
Cesar Millan into World Kennel, a good size puppy mill
operation located in Little Rock, CA, LCA realized since there
are many puppy mills all over the state of California, and we
need to bring awareness to the west coast next year!
LCA OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES PMAD
COMING TO THE WEST COAST IN 2010!
For more information on puppy mills, please visit:
www.BanPuppyMills.com
Interested in volunteering with LCA? Write to us at:
Info@LCAnimal.org
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