BARK UNTIL HEARD by Becky Monroe

I have always been an animal lover. There has always been a rescue cat and/or dog living in my home – and generally more than one at a time! I have always looked to rescues and shelters when wanting to adopt because I know there are so many animals out there looking for homes. Two years ago I found a sweet dog looking for a home and the foster who had her told me she had been a breeder dog in a puppy mill for over 8 years. That was my first experience learning that puppy mills DO exist. I was naïve enough to believe that puppy mills didn’t exist anymore. That there were laws in place today that stopped such things from happening. But, after adopting my little Shih Tzu, who had breed countless puppies in a cage for over 8 years, I started educating myself. What I learned was very sad and quite infuriating. It was a real wakeup call for me.

This book, BARK UNTIL HEARD by Becky Monroe, is her ‘‘wake-up’‘ call in to the world of puppy mills. She went to cover a news story about some protestors at a puppy mill auction in Wisconsin and that is when her life changed. The book details Becky’s experience in the auction barn that day, witnessing the horrendous condition of the hundreds of dogs for sale there, and how one dog (that she would name Thorp) stole her heart. Becky bought Thorp from the auction for $60. Her book tells the story of his rescue and the events that followed.

This is a book everybody should read – animal lover or not. It is a wakeup call that puppy mills DO indeed exist and that, if we all work together, we can end them for good!

This book is close to my heart because the puppy mill auction that Becky attended is only about a 2 hours’ drive from my home. After rescuing my first mill dog 2 years ago, I have since adopted another who also spent 8 years as a breeder dog in a cage. And, about 2 months ago, I took in a foster dog that had her last litter of puppies in December of 2014. She is 11 years old. So, her sad life has consisted of living in a wired cage for the past 11 years breeding dogs. When she came to my house, she was scared of everyone and everything. She had never touched grass before, never slept in a warm bed, never been touched gently by human hands. After 2 months, she has come a long way. But, it is sad to think that the majority of her life has been wasted in a puppy mill.

I hope that everyone takes the time to read this book. They will not be sorry they did. It will change your life and (hopefully!) the lives of many puppy mill dogs.