Advocates warn potential pet owners of Quebec puppy mills

Winnie, a 10-year-old poodle, is in foster care after being rescued from a Quebec puppy mill in Montreal over the weekend.

Animal rights activists say residents looking to buy a puppy for Christmas should beware there's a good possibility the newest member of the family was bred in a Quebec puppy mill.

"This dog would have spent 10 years in a cage -- literally, in a room or barn, cages piled on top of cages. They don't ever take them out of the cages. They sleep in their own urine and feces; they don't walk them; they're all very thin; they don't take care of them," said Sharon McKeil, president of B.A.R.K. Dog Rescue, an organization that's rescued more than 150 dogs from puppy mills this year.

"The laws in Quebec just aren't strong enough to discourage people. They don't have the manpower to keep watching these people to make sure they're not actually doing it again, so it just perpetuates itself over and over again," McKeil told CTV Ottawa.

Montreal puppy mill raided

Animal advocates say puppy mills are becoming more and more popular in Quebec. This past weekend, 93 dogs were rescued from a puppy mill in Montreal; the third raid of its kind in the past two months.

"They had to shave her. They had to go right down to skin in a lot of places, absolutely take everything off," said Carol Thompson, who is a foster parent for Hope and Winnie -- two of the dogs rescued in the raid.

Pet owners need to educate themselves

Advocates say potential pet owners need to educate themselves about dog breeders before they bring a new pup into their home.

"If you want to have a pure-bred dog, you have to do your research: talk to a number of different breeders; go to their facilities; never ever buy from someone who won't let you into their facilities, won't let you see all of their dogs; and you need to make a judgment on the people, the level of caring," said Shelagh MacDonald, of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies.

Dogs up for adoption

Now, Winnie and Hope are looking for a loving family to help them recover from a lifetime of abuse and neglect.

"We have enough to take care of them, but we don't have any extra and we want these dogs to have their first Christmas to understand life's going to be better now, this is how it should be," said McKeil.

The adoption for the two dogs is scheduled to take place in January. Anyone who wants to help can visit www.bark-ottawa.com for more information.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Vanessa Lee