Published: November 15, 2008 10:28 pm      

New dog law: Rescued pup returns favor to its owner

When 17 dogs and puppies were rescued last year from a puppy mill in Meyersdale, Karen Malnar and her daughter, Suzette Shroyer, adopted two of the pups.

Eighteen months later, Malnar credits the dog she adopted with providing invaluable companionship during a time of crisis.

“I got Breeannee three weeks before my husband (Lou) died,” said Malnar, 70. “She’s become extra special since he passed away.

“We do everything together,” she added about Breeannee, a pug-beagle mix commonly known as a puggle. “She’s my life-line.”

The dog was part of the group of beagles, Jack Russell terriers, pugs and puggles seized in May 2007 from an Amish farm by a Somerset Humane Society officer and a state dog law warden.

With a passion for saving animals, the Hollsopple mother and daughter took in two pups that might otherwise have been euthanized.

Shroyer’s tidy home on Penn Avenue is far from the nightmarish conditions where the pups once lived.

“I didn’t realize how bad the puppy mill was,” said Shroyer, 43, who adopted a puggle pup she named Scuttle.

“There were no windows in the building,” she said. “The mothers had malnutrition. Most of the dogs never touched grass because they were in cages.”

The operator, Bennie Hostetler, 41, of Salisbury, told authorities he would sell the puppies for $150 each to a man who would take them to a pet store in eastern Pennsylvania. There, they would be sold for $500 or more.

Hostetler was fined and agreed never to breed dogs again.

That is little comfort to Shroyer, who said many animals from other unethical breeders are sick or ill-tempered.

Six years ago, she and Malnar adopted two Pomeranians believed to have come from a puppy mill. The dogs later developed health problems.

Both dogs suffered from cancer and one had a stoke, Shroyer said.

“They were female dogs that were overbred,” she said. “I understand people need to make a buck, but not at the expense of animals.”

Shroyer and Malnar consider themselves fortunate the latest pups they adopted have no health troubles. The animals are well fed and visit the vet regularly.

Shroyer’s home includes her 15-year old daughter, Kelcey, a sophomore at Conemaugh Township High School, and Scuttle.

She also has a Yorkie named Prissee and a Chihuahua named Tink.

Malnar’s eyes swell as she talks about Breeannee.

“We laugh together, we cry together,” Malnar said. “We go for car rides together. She’s my bestist friend.”

Shroyer sees Breeannee as the therapeutic aid who came to her mother’s rescue at just the right time.

“She’s been great therapy,” she said.

The love that mother and daughter show for animals is without bounds.

Both agree if other dogs need a home, they would consider adding to their families.

“I’m satisfied with the one I have,” Malnar said. “But if the need would be there and there is another puppy that needs to be rescued, I would consider another puppy mill dog.”