That fluffy ball of fur you see above is Niblet. All 4lbs of him. I adopted him last week. The little guy was used as a breeding dog at a puppy mill in Iowa. He probably spent the first 4 years of his life in a tiny cage, in terrible conditions, with very little human contact. In turn, he’s very shy and gets startled very easily. It’s heartwarming, but sad watching him explore everything around him with such curiosity. He probably didn’t see much more than the inside of his crate during his 4 years at the puppy mill.

I found Niblet on Petfinder and rescued him through a group called Fluffybutts Rescue Resort. Fluffybutts is a great rescue. They were really thorough, organized and helpful.

Niblet, like most dogs in puppy mills, was neglected and probably mistreated. Some of his fur was so matted that it had to be shaved off when he was rescued back in July. When I brought him home last week, I brushed the rest of his matted undercoat out. When I was done the pile of fur was about half the size of Niblet. He’s also missing his front teeth on both the top and bottom (tooth decay is common in puppy mill rescues), and both his back legs have Grade 3 patellar luxation (requires surgery to correct). If you haven’t seen what puppy mills are really like, I urge you to watch a video or two…

Puppy mills need to be STOPPED.