REMARKABLE
WOMAN
Cari
Meyers, Puppy Mill Project founder
Her Puppy Mill Project aims
to protect animals and consumers
March
05, 2014|By William Hageman, Tribune Newspapers
Cari Meyers holds her dog, Millie. Meyers' Puppy Mill Project
scored a victory with the Chicago City Council's passage of a bill to ban
commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune)
She ran
her own special events company for 20 years, sold vintage jewelry, studied
theater in college. But, Cari Meyers says, "This part of my life is far more
exciting."
Meyers is
the president of The Puppy Mill Project, a nonprofit she founded in 2009 to get
the word out about, and eliminate, what critics call puppy mills — large
commercial dog-breeding operations that are often accused of putting profits ahead
of the animals' health or welfare.
Meyers
and her group are basking in their greatest success yet. On Wednesday, the
Chicago City Council voted 49-1 to require city pet stores that sell dogs, cats
and rabbits to get them from government pounds, humane societies or animal
rescue groups rather than "puppy mills." The measure was spearheaded
by City Clerk Susana Mendoza and inspired by The Puppy Mill Project.
"As
a lifelong Chicagoan, I'm so proud of my city," she said after the vote.
"It did the right thing. ... I just feel like one little organization, one
grass roots, tiny organization with no funding from anybody, with very little
acknowledgment in terms of who we are, got it done, just because we were so
passionate and determined.
"I
don't want to say it was David versus Goliath. But ... it was good versus evil.
And I think the good guys won."
The
passing of the ordinance is just the latest feather in Meyers' cap.
The Puppy Mill Project previously convinced three pet stores, in
Naperville, Evanston and Chicago, to stop selling "puppy-mill"
animals and move to an adoption model; PMP has gone after stores that sold sick
puppies; she helped get the Pet Store Disclosure Act passed in Illinois in
2010, requiring pet stores, shelters and rescues to post breeder information
near an animal's cage; she helped get a pet lemon law passed in Illinois last
year, entitling pet owners to a full refund if the animal dies within three
weeks of purchase. The group's website (thepuppymillproject.org)
lists where all Illinois pet stores purchase their animals.
But
Meyers, 68, says there is much more to be done. She wants people to listen.
"It's
about animal cruelty. It really is," she says. "When did we become a
country that turns its back on cruelty?"
Meyers
recently discussed her mission. Here is an edited transcript of the
conversation.
Q: The Chicago legislation passed 49-1. To get 49 politicians to
agree on anything is amazing. What happened?
A: It was
a win-win for everybody. Win for the city, win for consumers, win for their
constituents, win for the taxpayers who pay every time a dog is euthanized. ...
I don't think the aldermen comprehend how big this victory was for Chicago. The
whole country was watching. This was the big prize. We're the Midwest. This is
where the majority of dogs are coming from.
Q: Is there enough momentum to try for statewide legislation?
A: I'd
like to see it go statewide. .... I don't understand why legislators would vote
against this. Just from the information we have on what goes into these stores,
how can you refuse the truth?
Q: What other initiatives are on your to-do list?
A:
Honestly, my feeling is that the Department of Agriculture needs to do away
with puppy mills. But the Department of Agriculture should not be overseeing
companion animals. They don't have the manpower, they can't do the job. I think
there should be a separate companion animal protection agency, someone to go
into these mills and tell them, stop. I think one thing we'll be doing is
tracking the mills in the state. We're going to concentrate on Illinois right
now. We have a lot to do to get the mills under control.
Q: What prompted you to start The Puppy Mill Project?
A: I was
on the board of a large no-kill shelter in Chicago. It was before a meeting.
... I had been reading about puppy mills, and I couldn't believe it. I'd jumped
on a website and I was reading all this information, and it was bothering me.
(At the meeting) we talked about it and I realized no one was going to touch
this. Something just propelled me. I've always been for the underdog. This was
so big, so monolithic. I contacted other people and that is how we started.
Q: How much of this is educating people?
A:
Seventy percent of the population doesn't know what a puppy mill is. So we are
basically an educational organization. But there is still peaceful protesting,
putting up billboards.
Q: Do you see a difference in people's attitudes?
A: The
winds of change are blowing. So far, 44 municipalities in the U.S. (including
Chicago) have banned the sale of puppy mill animals. So it's coming. But there
are an estimated 10,000 puppy mills.
Q: Animals from "puppy mills" have a reputation for
having issues.
A: People
see nice cute animals in the pet shop, but they didn't see them last Tuesday
when they were shipped in, shivering, their hair matted. If they survive, OK;
if not, they're written off as a business loss. ... A puppy mill is a hell.
They are taken away (from their mothers) too young, they're not socialized, the
dogs are inbred. It's indiscriminate breeding, not breeding dogs of any
quality. They have physical problems, mental problems.
Q: And the buyers end up victims.
A: We
have a stack of (letters from) people who have bought at pet stores; they
reached out to us. One guy bought a bulldog for $3,000. Then he spent $4,500 on
vet bills. Two weeks later the dog died. He put everything on credit. He's
still paying for that dog.
Q: Where are the retailers on this?
A: The
Puppy Mill Project sent out close to 200 letters the past two years to every
store in the state that sold dogs. We said, let us help you be humane, we'll
work with you and hook you up with a shelter in your area. We're not going to
close your business, we're just going to change your business. Know how many
responses we got? Zero.
Q: What about the pet stores that did change their approach?
A: Dog
Patch Pet & Feed in Naperville (is) hooked up with a shelter in Tennessee.
He stopped selling puppy mill dogs, and now he hopes to adopt out 500 shelter
dogs this year. He sleeps at night. And his business is rocking.
Q: This is a consumer issue too.
A: Yes.
When you buy a grapefruit you know where it came from. But in pet stores,
they're scripted to tell you, "It's not from a puppy mill," "We
have visited the breeder," "It has a USDA license." So all these
kids selling dogs in pet stores, they have this script they follow. Meanwhile,
in the back, the puppies have nebulizers (an electrical device that turns
liquid medication into a mist that can be inhaled) and they're on all kinds of
medication.
Q: If you end these breeding operations, what do these people do?
It's their livelihood.
A:
There's not a lot of money in puppy mills for these small breeders. A broker
comes to them, filling orders for pet stores, and say they get $100 from a
broker. He sells it to a pet store for $250. Then the pet store sells the puppy
for $800 or more. If they have a fancy breed they'll charge more, like $3,000
for a bulldog.
Q: You've always been an animal lover, so you might have had an
easier time finding a cause to support. But how do people know where to focus
their time?
A: I
can't speak for anybody else. But I listen to my gut. That's your soul. ...
Just take one thing and be true to yourself.
Q: What's the best way for organizations to get their message to
people?
A: Social
media, social media, social media. I can't stress how important that is. Our future
is there. Also, I annoy everybody. I engage people, talk to people. We have
coffees in homes and we invite people in. Hopefully, people donate. They help.
You get out there. You leaflet. It has worked for us.
Q: Raising funds for a group can be a challenge. Are there
innovative ways to do that?
A: We're
in the process of putting a coffee-table book together. ... We're photographing
celebrities with whatever pet they have. There's one page with the photo, then
a second page where we ask them to write a letter to the pet, what the pet
means to them. It should be out in May. The funds raised will go to Millie's
Mission (a Puppy Mill Project initiative), which pays for medical costs for
rescued puppy mill dogs.
Q: You earlier mentioned protesting. Have those caused you
problems?
A: I've
been spit at, yes. We were marching in front of a pet store, and a father got
all upset. "That's the worst thing I've ever seen! Put that sign down!
Look what you're doing to my son!" And one of us said, "We're
educating him." I think it's "Teach your children well." We have
people who say, "I'm just going into the pet store to see the dogs."
We tell them, "There are a lot of shelters where you can go and play with
their dogs. Instead, play with them for an hour."
Q: As a pet lover, you must have had a favorite dog in your life.
A:
Freddi. They told me she was a poodle and Maltese. She was a puppy mill dog,
though I didn't know about puppy mills then. When I saw her she was stuck in
the back of a cage, on sale. I looked at this dog and my mom says, "That
is the ugliest dog I have ever seen." So I bought her. She was with me 12,
13 years. She is the driving force. I see her face, and I think of what she
must have gone through.
Q: What do you do for relaxation?
A: I
spend time with my (four) grandchildren, as much as I can. And I do a lot of
walking.
Q: Any hobbies?
A: I'm a
big film fan. And I must admit I'm a hockey addict.
The Puppy
Mill Project will hold its annual fundraiser, Mothers in the Mills, May 10 at
John Barleycorn, 149 W. Kinzie St. Ticket information is available at
thepuppymillproject.org.
Drawing
inspiration
What
inspires Cari Meyers? "The beach," she says. "That's where I get
it all back. The sea gives me the peace I want."