05/07/2026
Warning: severe matting case. These are 2 aussies from the puppy mill hoarding case that we shared about yesterday. Please watch at your own discretion.
Disclaimer: This is also a long post and if you donāt want to hear about Judy or Snickers stories or donāt have the time, please at least read the end and get letters sent out to the DeKalb County Prosecuting Attorney by May 15th!
Meet Judy and Snickers, two of the 43 dogs who were confiscated from a puppy mill due to severe neglect. When we got the message from the DeKalb Humane Society we already knew we needed to do whatever we could do to help them out. Because they werenāt fully vaccinated at the time, we decided to actually go out to the shelter ourselves to get these precious pups cleaned up as soon as we could. It wasnāt the easiest, or the prettiest, but we thankfully got all of the matting off of them and they both experience what was probably their first ever bath. The f***s, urine and dirt that ran off of both of them was utterly horrifying and they both feared the water, probably never knowing what ābeing cleanā even meant. Our goal wasnāt for stellar grooming, our goal was to give them comfort, dignity and a fresh start.
Judy is the first pup shown in the video and had far less matting on her compared to little Snickers. She was terrified, unsure and extremely cautious but she never went to bite at us. In fact, there was a moment I accidentally placed my hand in her mouth and I just knew I made a severe mistake and was going to get bit just because she was already biting and chewing the lead that was in my hand. I already learned from past mistakes to not tug my hand away as it would cause more issues so I just waited for the pain but it never came. The second her teeth hit my skin rather than the material of the lead, she spit everything out and quickly turned to make sure that I was ok. That she didnāt hurt me and so she could reassure me that she wasnāt a bad dog. Both of these dogs were like that. Even in the midst of their fears and anxiety they just wanted to make sure that we were ok even though we were the ones doing everything new and scary to them.
Judy is definitely more shy between the two of them but we believe her motto in life is: When in Doubt, Hug it Out!
She could get through any scary task as long as someone held on to her with love, compassion and understanding. She is force to be reckon with when she loves too, because even at her small size she will lean on you with the force of 100 elephants. She means business with her cuddles and youāre not getting her to budge until sheās done! She opened up so much to us and by the end of her session, she was so exhausted from all the new and the stress but she realized we werenāt going to hurt her. And the second she realized she was safe, she started falling over onto us, desperate for love and a nap. We know for certain that give this girl a moment, love her unconditionally, and maybe throw in a treat and a nap and this girl will be someoneās perfect companion.
Snickers was a lot more matted and unfortunately needed. A whole redo for grooming. He was so matted that our short blades couldnāt even get under the matting to get it removed on the first pass over. He honestly has fewer spots on him that werenāt matted than the plating of f***s and urine that covered his entire coat. But this little guy didnāt really seem to care, he was just happy to be here.
He reminded us of a newborn baby giraffe whose legs were longer than they knew what to do with. Unfortunately the more we got to know him the more we fear he may have a lot of underlying medical issues that have yet to be fully uncovered. He wobbles a lot, always looking like heās nodding along to what youāre saying and he was also already neutered when he was rescued. It made us wonder if he wasnāt a product of accidental inbreeding that they didnāt want to continue breeding into future litters. But this is just a working theory amongst ourselves and shouldnāt be taken as fact by any means. Heās a little guy but has a lot of excess skin, like he was meant to be a full sized Aussie but is rather a mini. I believe Teresa said he was only 26 pounds. And we hope his lack of control in his legs isnāt medical and rather from lack of use due to being in a cage for so long. Itās really common for us to see puppy mill dogs not know what to do with their legs because they never had to use them before.
Snickerās grooming session was super intense and scary due to the amount of matting he had on him so we werenāt able to even attempt to blend anything on him like we tried with Rudy. And despite the anxiety we could see on his face, he remained a super sweet and positive guy. When he lost control of those long legs, which unfortunately happened a lot, he would look at us after and give us lots of love and attention like we were the ones in need of comfort rather than himself. He loves to share kisses. All over, without warning and he doesnāt care if itās straight in your mouth on the first date. Heās a love at first sight kinda guy and I donāt think heāll really know a stranger, especially if they get down on his level. And where he may fail to be loyal with his love, we know heād be loyal to any person who gave him attention and compassion. For a pup who didnāt have a good start to life, possibly never saw the outside of a kennel and has no idea what anything other than pain, f***s and urine felt like under all of that matting until we removed it, he sure does love all the love and heās just ready to find a couch to curl up on and a yard to learn how his legs truly function.
We know several people were looking to foster and possibly adopt these guys while we were getting them cleaned up so make sure to contact the shelter to see if theyāve been adopted or fostered out yet. They deserve the warmth of a home that truly loves and cherishes them.
Also make sure you get your letters sent to DeKalb County Prosecuting Attorney by May 15th. For more details on how you can make sure the people who had these sweet pups are faced with true justice, see our post we shared yesterday from Humane Fort Wayne or check out their page for the information as well. Theyāre already out on a $500 bail and this is our chance as a community to step up and protect all these dogs. To protect Judy and Snickers and dogs like them from ever having to question what being clean means, from not knowing what it feels like to be pet or even the breeze on their back, from having to find comfort in laying in their own f***s as a bed and from having to not know any type of companionship other than their fellow pack and litter mates in cages across from them.
