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CAPS Investigator’s Journal: Appearance on Unmuzzled Podcast

01/24/2025

Recently, I had the honor of being interviewed by Sarah Lauch on her show, Unmuzzled. The episode can be streamed as a podcast or a video. Sarah runs the Live Like Roo Foundation, which offers grants, care packages, and emotional support for pets with cancer. Sarah has never been afraid to delve into the world of puppy mills, so on the podcast we discussed my work for CAPS, my investigations of Amish mills, the lies that pet shops tell customers, and how dog rescue unites people from the political right and left.

Sarah and I talked about many of the ways that pet shops lie to prospective customers, including how stores often show misleading videos of dogs and puppies running in grassy fields.

Amish breeder in a Petland video

Pet shops like to claim that videos like those represent the living conditions at their breeders’ facilities. But I explained the reality of how dogs at puppy mills live in filthy, crowded runs and pace endlessly in wire cages. I talked about how I go undercover to refute pet shops’ claims. We also discussed how puppy mills place the burden of caring for spent breeding dogs on rescues.

Raised cages at Aaron Bontrager’s puppy mill in Millersburg, Indiana

Then we debunked the myth that “puppy black markets” take over after the retail sale of puppies is banned at pet shops. While it’s true that unscrupulous puppy sales from unlicensed and online sellers did briefly increase in California after the pet shop ban there, those numbers coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown caused puppy sales to increase everywhere, not just in markets where retail ban legislation had passed.

Sarah and I also spoke about the deceitful sales tactics used by pet shops, which allow them to sell so many puppies to unsuspecting customers.

You can see a few highlights from our conversation here:

On a hopeful note, we ended by discussing how dog rescue is a rare issue that unites people from the right and left, even in our current polarized times. Sarah and I have both seen how our liberal and conservative friends come together to save dogs in need. At the same time, I cautioned that the political divide in America has sometimes put me in increased danger when I’m out in the field.

We covered a lot of ground and got into lots of details! You’re sure to enjoy the episode.

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