Puppy Mill Free Colorado

02/12/2025

Bailing Out Benji is the only organization doing this kind of research on puppy mill violations. Please read the 4th quarter 2024 report and donate to help us continue to do this vital research.

In 2024 the violations that were most frequently documented during USDA inspections were pertaining to veterinary care and housing. From grooming issues and open wounds, to jagged points protruding out and cages that are too small- it is clear that there are too many animals suffering inside of licensed facilities.

You can read our Quarter 4 violation report here:
https://bailingoutbenji.com/2024-usda-q4/

And catch up on the previous violation reports here:
https://bailingoutbenji.com/usda-violations/

Stay tuned! Because in a few weeks we will publish our 2024 audit of USDA inspections at dog and cat facilities across the country with a full breakdown of what is going on.

01/12/2025

Today was cold and windy, but both Pamela Jane Dickerson and I think that if the dogs in Midwest puppy mills can endure lack of adequate heat and cooling we can be out at Perfect Pets!

Wins today included 205 honks and three ladies interested in helping us to stop pet stores from selling puppies. We do this through education and passing humane pet laws. We have 20 cities in Colorado with ordinances! Commerce City was the most recent, and passed theirs in December.

Another lady was just walking by on her way to coffee. It turns out she had just been in the store and was appalled by the number of dogs in there. She said she wanted to help us.
With shelters and rescues overcrowded and overwhelmed, mass breeding needs to stop!

No dog should be euthanized for lack of space. The public is keeping puppy mills in business through their purchases in pet stores and online. Please join us!

01/05/2025

From all of us at Bailing Out Benji we wanted to say thank you for helping us make 2024 a more aware and humane place for animals and the people who love them.

2024 was a year of learning and growth for our organization. Not only was our academic research used across the country to help pass numerous ordinances and bills, but our field research team has been able to go inside of USDA facilities to see what regulations are and are not working. We've been able to get a much deeper understanding of the very world we've been working to change and for that we are eternally grateful.

We are also thankful for each and every one of you who has taken the time to have important conversations with people in your own circle about puppy mills and how to avoid them. Whether you are one of our amazing volunteers who is out there each weekend sparking conversations in their communities, or you help those in your life make humane choices when obtaining a new pet, you are changing the world for so many. We hope you know the impact that you are having 💙

Thank you for being with us on this path and we can't wait to continue our important work in 2025 and beyond!

Pictured left to right: Alexis, Clarisse, Jalaine, Mindi and our new Financial and Operations Director, Kristen! Missing from our photo: Rosie

12/28/2024

This is worth the read. Pet store owners will say that there is more oversight of pet stores than any breeder, shelter, or rescue, but that is simply not true. Customers who don't look more closely at the breeder or broker might believe them. The vast majority of the dogs are coming from Midwest puppy mills and are shipped into Colorado via large-scale commercial brokers. Go to Bailing Out Benji for more information. Please donate when you can to help them continue to do the research necessary to expose puppy mills.

Business is booming for North Carolina’s pet shops.

12/17/2024

City council leaders in the Colorado town voted 7-2 on the second reading to approve an ordinance that would prevent people or retail stores in the city from selling cats or dogs unless a lawfully operated commercial kennel, hobby breeder, animal care facility, animal rescue organization, or animal....

12/17/2024

Commerce City passed their ordinance to ban the retail sale of puppies in pet stores by a vote of 7-2! Colorado now has 20 cities with these ordinances.

12/16/2024

Dick and Jane are buying puppies for Christmas.
Jane has researched her puppy’s breed thoroughly, knows the care requirements, found an ethical breeder through the national breed club, made sure the parents were fully health tested, and got on a waiting list for her puppy.
Dick walked into a pet store and bought a cute puppy on a whim. He did not do any research, took out a loan for his puppy purchase and inadvertently supported a puppy mill.
This Christmas, don’t be a Dick.

12/15/2024

As of today, puppy stores in New York State are no longer allowed to sell puppies, kittens, or rabbits from breeders, instead they can only source from rescues and shelters.

This legislation passed in December 2022 and gave the pet stores a two year grace period to figure out how to comply with the proposed new business model. It is our understanding that most of the stores have closed their doors in anticipation of today.

As you all know, we track animal sales across the country and are able to see most, if not all, of the breeders that pet stores source from. Even as recently as 2024, we have an example of four NY stores purchasing puppies from the same breeder who had a USDA warning and a direct violation for a non-responsive puppy during the 1-2 years prior. They still chose to purchase from him after the warning and violation. Stories like this are what make it hard for the consumer to ever know what kind of place their puppy was really born in and they serve as a strong reason why people warn against buying a puppy in a store or online.

Two things can be true at the same time though.

We can be happy that cruel breeders will now have fewer physical outlets in which to sell their puppies and we can be empathetic for those who have lost their jobs a week before Christmas. Real people are affected by policy, no matter the topic at hand.

You can be happy that these stores will no longer be importing 10,000 puppies each year, and because of that, commercial breeding facilities might downsize and ultimately close. But we ask that you also refrain from making cruel comments about the employees who have lost their jobs and careers. We can be empathetic for the people who have had their worlds turned upside down because of legal cruelties that are allowed to exist by our own government. Two things can be true at the same time.

Be kind to people, be ruthless to systems.

💙

It is our understanding that 6 stores have joined together to sue the state of New York in order to challenge the law. Their request for temporary injunction was denied on Friday and we are unsure on the status of that going forward. We will share more on this lawsuit in the coming days!

12/15/2024

We were joined by Danny Devito, Carol Donahue's rescue chihuahua, for our peaceful protest at Perfect Pets in Centennial. This store has horrible ratings on Yahoo Reviews (2 out of five stars) and Chamber of Commerce reviews ( 3.6 out of 5 stars). They source primarily from Nebraskaland Pets, a large-scale commercial broker, that ships 6-7 week old puppies into Colorado from puppy mills in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. In 2023, they imported 1158 puppies.

Thank you Rebekah, Justin Aragon, Joshua J. Caraballo, Carol Donahue, and Pamela Jane Dickerson, for being the voice for the voiceless. No puppies walked out the door and we got 188 honks! Opt to adopt! Save a life!

12/07/2024

Thank you Justin, Pam, Sally, and Mike for coming out today. We had 201 honks, no puppies walked out the door, and Sally and Mike joined us for the first time.

Unfortunately, this is puppy buying season and shelters are still full. We need to encourage everyone not to buy dogs when so many are euthanized every day in the United States.

Get involved, help pass legislation in your community, and help stop puppy mills. Don't buy online! If you would like to get started let me know. We used to have 14 pet stores in Colorado. Now there are 9. We have 19 ordinances in cities in the state preventing the retail sale of puppies in pet stores. We prevented a franchise of the Puppy Palace from opening in Littleton. We are making a difference!

10/29/2024

We had lots of wins on Saturday at our Perfect Pets protest.
*CBS New Channel 4 did a report.
*A Mom came up with her daughter to talk to us about puppy mills. It was a great teachable moment!
*A lady said she would like to help us pass humane legislation to stop the sale of puppy mill puppies in the store.
*Another young lady came out of Orange Theory to voice her support.
*A man stopped who said he had seen us many times and wasn't in a hurry so he stopped. He said he tells everyone not to shop for puppies.
*We had 190 honks!

Somebody yelled that we should volunteer at a rescue, but we are one step ahead of them. Both Carol and I do!

We really were fortunate for all of the positive support. Thank you Carol Donahue, Pamela Jane Dickerson, and Rebekah for your dedication to being the voice for the voiceless.

Our next protest will be Saturday, Nov. 9, from 11am-1pm at Perfect Pets. Please join us!