Page 2 of Bark Or Bite

It was an hour of making statements, watching as animal control took the diseased puppies away, and descriptions of the men given to them.

“This isn’t the first call we’ve gotten about this,” said the officer. “Someone bought a puppy and tried to return it, but they were gone. I guess they set up shop in the parking lot of a fast-food place, then made their way over here. It’s a damn shame.”

“Where are they getting all these puppies?” asked the woman.

“Puppy mills,” said the young man. “Sorry, we weren’t officially introduced. I’m Bear and that’s Barney. Cousins.” He gave a small smile to the woman, tipping his cap.

“Thank you both for helping. The men were trying to grab me when you walked up.”

“Do they have your personal information?” asked the officer.

“No. No, I don’t see how they could. I paid in cash and never gave my name.”

“That should have been your first clue,” said Bear. “Official, reputable dealers will want to know where you live, if you have a yard big enough for the dog, other dogs in the house, kids, all of that stuff. They like to make sure the animal is in the right place. As I was saying, they’re running a puppy mill of some sort. Taking pups that were discarded or abandoned. They may have even stolen them.”

“But those puppies were damaged. They already had problems with their legs or feet. Who does that to an animal?” she frowned.

“Too many people to count,” said the officer. “I wish I could tell you this was isolated, but these men aren’t interested in finding good homes for the animals. They’re only interested in making money. One sure sign is the cage.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“If you look at the cage,” said Barney, “the mesh is too far apart for a puppy. He might have damaged his leg or foot by getting it twisted in the wire. There’s nothing to prevent his little paw from going through the wire. It doesn’t matter to them. They just don’t care.”

“God, I think I’m going to be sick,” she said, holding her stomach. “I just wanted to buy a dog for protection. Their sign said that the dogs were German Shepherds.”

“I can promise you they were not German Shepherds,” said the animal control officer. “I think they’re just mixed. You just picked one that looked like a shepherd. Where is your dog?”

“My vet is trying to save him,” she sniffed. “He’s so far gone, she’s not sure she can do it. How does this happen so quickly. He’s just a pup.”

“Ignorance. Not caring. Just plain meanness,” said Bear.

“You guys seem to know a lot about this,” she said, staring at them.

“Not a lot,” said Barney. “We both have hunting dogs, like a lot of men around here. We take care of our dogs, love ‘em like they’re family. That’s strange to a lot of folks, but I’ve had a lot of girlfriends leave me. My dog never has.” He smirked at the pretty woman, and she finally smiled, nodding at him.

“Thank you again for your help,” she said, shaking their hands. “Is there anyone that could look further into this for me?”

“We’ll do what we can, Miss,” said the officer, “but there’s a lot of this happening and not a lot of dedicated officers. If you’re really intent on stopping it, I’d say find a private investigation firm that’s willing to do it.”

“I might do that. Thank you.”

“You know, I had an old classmate whose family started a private investigation company. Let me make a call,” said Bear.

The woman and Barney chatted, hoping that Bear would have a name for her when he returned.

“We didn’t get your name,” said Barney.

“I’m so sorry! How rude of me. I was so distracted by all of this I wasn’t thinking. My name is Katherine.”

“You said you were buying the dog for protection. Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said, waving him off. “I’m just getting older and live by myself. I divorced about eight years ago, but my ex comes around every now and then and makes some noise.”

“You should report that to the police,” frowned Barney.

“I have, but I may need to again, but I was hoping that having a dog would deter some of that.” Bear came back, a smile on his face.

“My friend is nicer today than he was in school,” he grinned. “The name of the company is Gray Wolf Security. They do a bit of everything, but he said if you’d like to go to this address, someone can speak with you about your issue.”

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