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Here's one more reason why I heart Oprah.

Yesterday, during her fall fashion style makeover show, a stylist mentioned that a furry vest worn in one woman's "after" look was faux. Oprah replied, "I was a PETA Woman of the Year so I hope that's faux!"

From celebrating vegan cuisine with Chef Tal Ronnen to airing an in-depth investigation of the cruelty of puppy mills, Oprah never hesitates to remind millions of television viewers to consider animals in their everyday lives.

Posted by Karin Bennett

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From Washington state comes another story from the "why you should always adopt, never buy" files.

Today, Benton County law enforcement officials seized more than 400 dogs from a puppy mill owned by 66-year-old Ella Stewart in what they are calling "one of the worst cases" of animal abuse the state has ever seen.

All the dogs reportedly require medical treatment for a variety of ailments, including malnutrition, overgrown nails (which can cause painful foot injuries), and urine burns.

Urine burns! That's because all these pups were found living in makeshift crates (including shopping carts) that were caked with feces and soaked with urine.

You can bet that this isn't an isolated incident. Puppy mills, from which almost all pet stores buy their dogs, are breeding grounds (no pun intended) for disease and neglect. The animals who are unfortunate enough to be housed in these hell holes are viewed as commodities, not as living beings who require exercise, love, and care. They are crammed together into cages that they can barely turn around in, they are fed barely enough to survive, and when they suffer from injuries, their wounds go untreated.

So, the next time you're in the mood to bring a cute, dreamy-eyed pup home, don't support the Ella Stewarts of the world. Stop by your local animal shelter instead.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

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Day-um. Humane societies are getting serious this week. First, the Atlantic City ASPCA busted a Wal-Mart for cruelty to birds; now, the Lake Tahoe Humane Society & SPCA has taken a bite out of puppy mill crime. At the urging of the humane society and other animal advocates, the South Lake Tahoe City Council voted this week to ban the retail sale of dogs and cats. Two non-opposable thumbs up to you, South Lake Tahoe!

The law bans pet shops from selling animals; instead—fabulous, fabulous—they can display animals who are up for adoption from local animal shelters and rescue groups. Animal defenders pushed for the ban because they know that, despite pet shop owners' protests that they "only buy puppies from 'brokers'" and "licensed facilities," this is just code for "we've never actually laid eyes on the kennels we get our dogs from so they could be seeping cesspools of toxic sludge, for all we know."

Next time you're passing by a pet shop, play this fun game: Pick out a puppy at random and ask for the address of the kennel where he or she came from. I guarantee that you'll get some run-around about brokers and dealers and AKC papers. Keep pushing—you want an address, and you want to know if anybody in the store has ever personally visited the kennel. What do you want to bet that, if you ever do get a straight answer, the kennel is hundreds of miles away in some puppy-mill–enabling state like Missouri or Pennsylvania? Go ahead—give it a try, and let us know what you turn up. Thanks!

Posted by Alisa Mulins

Right about now, we bet Vice President-elect Joe Biden is kicking himself for his decision to buy a purebred dog from a breeder, rather than adopt from a shelter.

The Philadelphia Department of Agriculture has handed Wolf Den kennel—the Chester County kennel where Biden purchased his puppy—citations for various violations. The violations included failure to produce complete rabies vaccinations records, which are required for dogs who are more than 3 months old.

Authorities also detected a strong ammonia smell in the building where the dogs are housed and found structural dangers such as broken wires and piping, which could potentially start a fire or fatally injure the animals.

Geesh, not to state the obvious but, well, we did tell him so in this letter, which PETA President Ingrid Newkirk sent to Vice President-elect Biden and his wife urging them to save a life and adopt a dog from an animal shelter.

As disheartening as it was to see one of this country's future leaders give into the lies of profiteering puppy breeders, we do still have high hopes that President-elect Obama will adopt a homeless mutt from an animal shelter for his girls. Just like he said back in November, "[a] lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me."

Unfortunately, it's pretty safe to assume that the breeder who sold the Bidens their dog conveniently forgot to mention that conditions for dogs in puppy mills stink. Puppies are housed in tiny, filthy cages and forced to stand in their own waste, which might be cleaned out if the dogs are lucky.

Check out the horrid conditions at puppy mills for yourself in a video narrated by Charlize Theron:

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Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

After Oprah aired a hard-hitting exposé of puppy mills last week, the folks at the American Kennel Club had the audacity to publicly praise the show, while they were presumably maneuvering frantically behind the scenes to make sure that the breeders they’ve been vigorously defending for decades don’t take a hit as a result. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk wrote to Oprah yesterday to thank her for doing the show and to point out that the AKC is no friend of dogs and never has been. You can read her letter here.

Oprah Winfrey is going to be tackling puppy mills on her show today, so be sure to check it out (or Tivo it) if you get a chance. Puppy mills, which keep large quantities of purebred dogs in overcrowded, often shockingly inhumane conditions, are a well-kept secret of the pet-trade industry, and the animal protection community is extremely grateful to Oprah for exposing this major cause of pet overpopulation to a wide audience.

It’s standard practice for puppy mills—which supply animals to pet stores and purebred enthusiasts, without any concern for the millions who will die in shelters as a result—to keep animals in constant confinement, without proper veterinary care or socialization. It’s common to hear stories of puppy mills that are shut down on cruelty to animals charges (I posted about one a couple of weeks ago), but it’s nowhere near common enough—and these sordid operations will continue to thrive for as long as people support them by purchasing animals from pet stores or seeking out purebred animals from breeders.

You can find out what time the show will be airing where you live on Oprah’s site, and there’s more information about puppy mills, and you can learn more about PETA’s campaign to help companion animals here.

Charlize Theron on Puppy Mills for PETA

A couple in Tucson was caught by Arizona authorities this week with close to 800 dogs (mostly Chihuahuas) and 80 parrots in filthy conditions inside their trailer. CBS News quoted workers on the case as suggesting that the owners were “breeders with good intentions,” which is rather like calling someone a well-meaning child abuser. According to the news reports, more than a dozen dogs were found stuffed inside a single crate in some cases. Some dogs had reportedly been found missing paws from fighting with cage mates.

The story has received national media attention (including an interview with PETA VP Lisa Lange on Nancy Grace last night), and we’re hoping that, as horrible as it is, it helps to dispel myths about breeders being people who care about animals. It seems pretty clear that these folks were running a puppy mill for profit, and PETA is calling on authorities to take this case extremely seriously, including vigorously prosecuting the couple and, should they be convicted, pursuing a provision in their sentencing to ensure that they never be allowed to have even one animal again.