Rescued puppies travel from the Mojave Desert to the Montecito Pet Shop

November 4, 8:18 AMSanta Barbara Pet ExaminerKaren Lee Stevens

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Santa Barbara Pet Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

"Sunshine," one of six rescued puppies currently available at Montecito Pet Shop.
Photo by Bonnie Baker

Although Cynthia Bemis, a convicted animal abuser, went to jail earlier this year, her property in the Mojave Desert remained a dumping ground for unwanted animals. “People would drive up and throw their animals over the fence and leave them to fend for themselves,” says one witness. Perhaps they thought Bemis’s so-called rescue group was still in operation, even though there were signs on the property clearly stating: “This is NOT a no-kill shelter. No dumping animals.”

Kim Sill, leader of the Ban Puppy Mill campaign for Last Chance for Animals (LCA), a Los Angeles based animal rights organization, became involved with the hoarding situation in December after she was tipped off by one of LCA’s donors. “The animals clearly needed food and medical attention,” remembers Sill, who found approximately 280 animals living in squalor on the property. “The first day we were there, we took the sickest, the oldest and the most vulnerable. We left with 65 dogs and 3 cats.”

Over the next four months, volunteers regularly stopped by to take care of the remaining animals until they could find enough rescue groups willing to take them in. Finally, with just 37 dogs remaining on the property, actress Katherine Heigl and her mother, Nancy donated $200 per dog to help defray the cost of food and medical care. “That did the trick,” says Sill. “All 37 dogs were quickly placed with rescue groups.”

But the nightmare wasn’t over yet.

Vince Rhodes, a 54-year-old mentally challenged man, still lived on the property that he once shared with Bemis and a roommate, Cynthia Trapani, who is on probation and not allowed to return to the home. Alone and unable to care for himself, let alone dozens of animals, Rhodes clearly needed help too. Sill began delivering food and other supplies to Rhodes every few days until she eventually found other living accommodations for him nearby.

For Sill, there was one more hurdle to overcome. On the day she helped Rhodes move, she discovered a mama Shepherd mix hiding in a box on the deserted property and shortly thereafter, found her litter of puppies in an underground cave. Volunteers plucked the wiggly pups from their den and transported them to a foster home, where they were lovingly cared for them until they were old enough to be placed for adoption.

But where to take the puppies now? The Montecito Pet Shop in Santa Barbara seemed like an ideal spot. Since founding “The Pet Shop Project” last December to encourage pet shops to sell rescued puppies, rather than puppies from backyard breeders or puppy mills, Sill had been talking with pet store owners like Elyse Kuhn about changing their animal sales policies. The owner of Montecito Pet Shop for the past 22 years, Kuhn never sold puppies from puppy mills—only private breeders. Nevertheless, she often faced criticism from animal advocates, who felt that pet stores were contributing to the tragic pet overpopulation problem. Kuhn decided it was time to make a change so, after signing a one-year contract with LCA, she was ready to welcome the Bemis puppies into her store.

On Friday, October 23, six puppies, as well as a 7-year-old Miniature pincher/Chihuahua mix, arrived at the store and were greeted with smiles, hugs and treats (watch the touching video below). Today, the 12-week-old Shepherd mix pups are healthy, happy (and, of course, spayed or neutered) and awaiting loving homes at the store, which is located at 2020 Cliff Drive, in the Albertson’s Shopping Center on the Mesa. Kuhn couldn’t be happier with her decision, saying: “We’ve sold rescued pets in the past, but now it’s official, adding: “Come see our babies.”

Sill is also thrilled with the outcome. “I’m very excited about Montecito Pet Shop as they have all the elements to succeed and become a model for the rest of the nation’s pet stores. We have had much success with our program in Los Angeles and plan on giving our template to any shop across the nation that wants to help save animals from all kinds of neglect and abuse situations,” says Sill, who is also working with animal shelters to help pet shops streamline the process of getting shelter dogs out of their cages and into warm beds in pet shops.

And what about the mama Shepherd, who was named Lady after her rescue? “Understandably, she remains a bit fearful of people,” says Sill. “We are working to socialize her and hopefully, in a few weeks, she too will be ready for a new home in Santa Barbara.”