The following account was shared with Stop Online Puppy Mills by a buyer who purchased a puppy listed on GreenfieldPuppies.com and is presented in her own words.
The Puppy Listing Did Not Show What Was Behind It
To whom it may concern:
I recently purchased a puppy from an Amish man named Paul Miller in Lancaster County, PA. We found her on the puppy broker website called Greenfieldpuppies.com. I purchased the puppy for my friend as an emotional support therapy animal. Her dad just recently lost his 3 year fight to cancer. She was his full time caretaker, very mucha daddy’s girl. She was and is beyond devastated loosing him less than one year ago. They were very very close. My friend is also in her 40’s single and cannot have children! Case and point she needed something of her very own to love and love her back.
This situation arose from her texting me a picture of this adorable puppy with a question saying “should I”??? I am an avid animal lover so there was a big shout out “YES” from me! I said let’s take the drive tomorrow! Turns out she couldn’t go and wouldn’t have all of the money. She also had a job interview that afternoon!! So I offered to front the money and take the drive!
The location is roughly 2 and a half hours each way … whatever didn’t matter to me!! I just wanted to give my friend the gift of unconditional love!
It was a cold rainy day, December 14 th, 2019. When we arrived we, pulled up into the driveway. Not so much a farm . Smallish property. The house was to the right , there was an open barn directly in front of us, and to the left was another building.
My husband and I knocked on the door and the wife answered , she went to go get her husband and he came outside to greet us. He directed us to wait inside the open barn. There were horses in there, a dog (who seemed pretty happy and looked healthy, although I didn’t see any water or food out there for her). He instructed us to wait in the barn.
When he came back it seemed like he brought the puppy from the back of the building to the left of the barn. The pup he brought didn’t look like the same one that was in the picture that I called about. Her name was sparkles. Anyhow, I wasn’t sure if this was her or not. This puppy was soaking wet. I said to him “Do these puppies live outside” and he replied “No but they have the choice to come in and out as they please”. I didn’t say anything further about that BUT it wasn’t pouring it was lightly raining, indicating to me the poor thing had been out there awhile and it was only weeks old! But that wasn’t the worst part!
The worst part was the horrendous odor coming off of the pup!!! When Paul Miller brought the dog out he handed her to me to hold. Which i graciously welcomed opened armed, but I was like no way take her back!! There was no way I could halt or hide my reaction.
This little pup smelled sooooooo bad! I was gagging and almost vomited. I said, “why in the world does she smell so bad??? AND what is that smell???” It wasn’t like anything I have ever come in contact with in my life, EVER that I could associate it with, and i’m quite a descriptive person!!! I was beyond myself.
So the wife was speaking in a language between the two of them. Here it was the wrong puppy. I said before you bring me the right one you are going to have to bath her because I couldn’t stomach the smell! I mean it was so incredibly bad. We got back in the truck and waited. In the meantime I couldn’t stand the way I now smelled because of that poor pup!! My husband keeps his truck immaculate and I said to him do you have windex in here and he said for what, I said I want to spray myself down with it!! Lol truth!! He didn’t he only had a first aid kit with those ¼ inch alcohol pads so I used those and shoved one up my nose practically so I didn’t have to smell this smell!!!
At this point while waiting for my friend’s puppy I felt so conflicted. I really wanted to storm back and assess the situation and see for my very eyes the conditions these animals were living in! Unfortunately, at the same time I didn’t want them to kick us off the property and disappoint my friend with possibly not getting the puppy. I thought at least I’m getting one out off here for now.
He brought sparkles out and she was wet too. Who knows if it was from a bath (didn’t smell like he bathed her) or they are legit living outside! I can’t imagine a pup would choose to lie or play outside in the cold winter rain! Pups love to be warm and cozy! Whatever I was done there and just wanted to get out of there! So we paid, got her records, I wrapped the pup in a big fleece blanket I had brought from home. We left. I was happy but disgusted. The puppy looked healthy and if she wasn’t I would be back there in a flash no doubt!
So on January the 8th my friend took her to the vet because she had been scooting around like she was backed up. They expressed her glands and when they tested her feces she had tested positive for HIGH levels of parasites!
I said that’s it I’m reporting him and having an investigation done. So here we are! I contacted Stop Online Puppy Mills who reported Mr. Paul Miller to the Dog Warden and Attorney General.
I don’t feel good about not checking and seeing the mother and where and how she was living in that smelly barn. I feel that place was a puppy mill that is why I contacted Stop Online Puppy Mills. I feel in my heart these poor creatures could die from the way they smelled!! Heartbreaking!
I urge anyone reading this to make sure you meet the mother dog and see where she and the puppies live. My friends dog was pretty sick and she endured lots of vet expenses on top of buying the pup off of the GreenfieldPuppies.com website.
Learn more about online puppy-selling websites, how online puppy brokers work, and why meeting the mother dog before buying a puppy matters. Read more stories from online puppy buyers