Just days ago, these young dogs were still in the clutches of one of America’s worst dog breeders, crammed inside tiny cages without enough to eat or drink.
Now, they can look forward to a second chance at life after a daring rescue on January 9 by one of this country’s top animal welfare groups, the Humane Society.
Pip, a yellow Labrador, was one of the nearly 100 canines saved from Missouri puppy farm owner Sandra Kozlowski after a judge ruled she had broken the Show Me state’s anti-cruelty laws.
Puppy mills are farms where dogs are forced to breed in inhumane conditions until they are no longer physically capable of doing so, churning out puppies for profit.
Now safely out of harm’s way, the docile four-month-old pup yawns and then dozes off in the arms of Ella Frank, the charity’s anti-cruelty director who led the raid on the property.
Pip, a yellow Labrador, was one of the nearly 100 canines saved from evil Missouri puppy farm owner Sandra Kozlowski after a judge said she had broken the Show Me state’s anti-cruelty laws
Plum, was crammed into ‘wire-style crates’ and weren’t provided proper food, water, or sufficient exercise
Pepe was one of the 97 dogs that were rescued. Rescuers described the stench of ‘urine and ammonia’ that left their ‘ eyes watering as they seized the dogs from their abusive breeder
Volunteers at the Humane Society are pictured with the dogs, some of whom are still being nursed back to health and others that are up are adoption
Adorable Black Labrador puppy named Pickle is pictured playing outside. Most of the dogs, ranging from a few months to two years old, are still getting used to life on a leash
‘Knowing that they lived their lives locked in cages, it is just heart-breaking,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘And knowing that they will be getting a second chance to be a family pet is why we do what do.’
Frank described the stench of ‘urine and ammonia’ that left her fellow rescuers’ eyes watering as they seized the dogs from their abusive breeder.
Pip, along with five other hounds that DailyMail.com met in the Cave State city of St Louis, will now wait patiently to be adopted by their next loving owners.
Their rescue came after Sandra Kozlowski was found guilty on January 4 of contempt of court after she ignored a 2019 legal diktat to improve conditions at her now notorious puppy ‘factory’
Three dogs of the group of 97 English Labradors were already been snapped up on the morning that DailyMail.com came to meet the new arrivals.
The others must first be nursed back to health by staff at the non-profit’s main refuge, entirely financed by donations, after surviving Kozlowski’s ‘house of horrors’, and then neutered or spayed.
Laura Keller, the director of communications for the Humane Society of Missouri, said many of the dogs are being treated for yeast infections inside their ears, while some are being checked for any signs of tumors.
‘A lot of the puppies were so embedded in their own feces and their urine that they had sores on their paws that required immediate medical attention to clear up any infections they had,’ she told DailyMail.com.
Pip, Pam, Pepe, Pickle, Plum, and Paul – names given to them by the group – were never given the chance to exercise by their wicked former owner.
And most of them, ranging from a few months to two years old, are still getting used to life on a leash.
Still untrained, they tug uncontrollably at their handlers’ leashes in excitement at being allowed out for an early morning walk as Pepe clutches his favorite squeaky toy, a rubber frog, in his mouth.
Their rescue came after Kozlowski was found guilty on January 4 of contempt of court after she ignored a 2019 legal diktat to improve conditions at her now notorious puppy ‘factory’.
And her former customers told DailyMail.com that the 66-year-old divorcee was charging an eye-watering $5,000 for each Labrador that she sold from her squalid, money-spinning puppy mill.
It means the sick Cruella De Vil type businesswoman, who pumped out pups for profit with a flagrant disregard for their welfare, has taken a near $500,000 hit to the pocket.
Kozlowski, 66, was charging an eye-watering $5,000 for each Labrador that she sold from her squalid, money-spinning puppy mill
It means the sick Cruella De Vil-type businesswoman, who pumped out pups for profit with a flagrant disregard for their welfare, has taken a near $500,000 hit to the pocket
A total of 97 dogs were saved this week by the Human Society of Missouri from an unlicensed breeder, Sho-Me Labradors, in Phelps County
Kozlowski has also been cited frequently for refusing inspections of her breeding site (pictured) and during an inspection in August, approximately 20 violations were found
Kelly, who declines to give her full name, said that she bought her dog, who passed away before Christmas, from Kozlowski’s Sho-Me Labrador farm.
‘We couldn’t see the conditions because whenever you visited you were always kept outside her house, which is a little bit suspicious in itself,’ she said. ‘My husband has already said that we won’t be giving her another dime.’
Missouri officials had asked judges to take the animals away from evil Kozlowski over her repeated violations of the Animal Care Facilities Act.
Court documents show she illegally turned away state inspectors who tried to check on her dogs.
Missouri’s Department of Agriculture, the body that regulates dog breeding in the Cave State, finally got access to her unlicensed puppy farm last August.
They said Kozlowski had been operating her shady business for the past two years without the proper permit.
Inspectors ‘found approximately 20 violations (of local animal anti-cruelty laws), including large dogs kept in small, cramped wire crates without consistent access to water.’
Court documents seen by DailyMail.com show that she was hit with a suspended $5,000 fine in 2019.
It was that judgment that eventually led to more than 80 dogs removed from her care that year and the year after.
Yet the January 4 filing ordered Kozlowski to cough up the money immediately for failing to comply with that judgment from five years ago.
Judge William E. Hickle, appointed under Barack Obama, also banned her from owning more than 10 dogs at time.
She will also be prevented from holding a Missouri state commercial breeding license for the next ten years, preventing her from raking in the proceeds of her filthy trade.
He described how Kozlowski had crammed the animals into ‘wire-style crates’ and failed to provide them with proper food, water, or sufficient exercise.
She will now be forced, by court order, to allow three unannounced inspections of her kennels each year.
The docile four-month-old pup named Pip yawns and then dozes off in the arms of Ella Frank, the charity’s anti-cruelty director who led the raid on the property
Pip, along with five other hounds that DailyMail.com met in the Cave State city of St Louis, will now wait patiently to be adopted by their next loving new owners
Chocolate Lab Plum is pictured. State law says that all breeders must offer their dogs ‘adequate’ food, housing, and water, as well as obtain a license and agree to regular inspections
‘Too many helpless animals in Missouri continue to suffer at the hands of repeat offenders like Sandra Kozlowski,’ HSMO president Kathy Warnick told DailyMail.com
Laura Keller (right), the director of communications for the Humane Society of Missouri, said many of the dogs are being treated for yeast infections inside their ears, while some are being checked for any signs of tumors
Volunteer Brandy Vincent is pictured with pup Prissy, who is one of 97 Labradors rescued from Sho-Me Labradors
Missouri, also known as the Show-Me State, has topped the animal welfare group’s ‘Horrible Hundred’ ranking of puppy mills for the past 11 years, with the 66-year-old appearing on that blacklist for the past five.
There are as many as an additional 30 breeders, aside from Kozlowski, who featured in their 2023 report.
A 2011 state anti-canine cruelty law tightened the rules on how many dogs an individual breeder can keep at one time and laid out minimum requirements for housing them.
‘Too many helpless animals in Missouri continue to suffer at the hands of repeat offenders like Sandra Kozlowski,’ HSMO president Kathy Warnick told DailyMail.com.
‘These bad breeds who trap helpless animals in a cycle of abuse and neglect need to be shut down permanently,’ she added.
State law says that all breeders must offer their dogs ‘adequate’ food, housing, and water, as well as obtain a license and agree to regular inspections.
The conditions at Kozlowski’s puppy farm have also sparked anger amongst members of the public across Missouri.
Sho-Me Labrador’s Google page carries a series of damning reviews, including several that were posted months after news of the horrifying raid on the property.
One female visitor, identifying herself only as Sophia V, called the puppy mill ‘one of the worst, most inhumane places I have ever witnessed.
‘How can you live with yourself knowing you willingly abuse innocent animals for money and greed?’ she wrote in September. ‘There’s a special place in hell for people like you.’