Allie Darrow hugs Nola while Saylor, left, and Scout wait patiently for their turn.
Allie Darrow, a 28-year-old newlywed from Deptford, seems to have a special gift for communicating with dogs. Darrow holds a doctorate in Behavioral Health Management and works as a compliance administrator at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Allie speaks about dogs with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning. She and husband, Austin Darrow, have five dogs, two that they are fostering and three of their own. She is delighted and intrigued by their dogs, who every day remind her that the world is full of surprises.
Austin Darrow gets a hug from Nola, a Bernese mountain dog, that is a medical foster.
Photos courtesy of Allie Darrow
At first glance Allie seems like the prototype of the successful young professional. But look deeper and ask about her hobbies. After some hesitation, she says, “Aside from my dogs, I don’t really have any hobbies.” She pauses, as if searching for a thought, then says, “I like to cook.”
She grew up in Ocean City, where in high school she volunteered to work at an animal shelter. It was there that Allie met her first love, a yellow Labrador whom she adopted and named Remy. While volunteering at the shelter, she discovered that she had a talent for nurturing sick and traumatized dogs. She seemed to experience a profound communion with the dogs.
After completing college, she began to volunteer with an organization that rescued dogs from puppy mills. From that point on, Darrow’s life has literally gone to the dogs. But there is nothing pejorative about this description. Allie and Austin love their five dogs. One of the dogs is Sunny, who was a breeder dog rescued from a mill.
Mirabelle, a 5-year-old Bernese mountain dog, died despite medical treatment for an enlarged uterus caused from over-breeding.
Puppy mills is the term that Allie and other rescuers use to describe the farms that breed hundreds of puppies. These farmers prefer to be called commercial breeders. They sell their puppies like any other product. “If they don’t sell the puppies within 90 days, they may drown, hang or shoot them,” Allie says in a voice that will not quite remain steady. “Conditions vary from farm to farm. Some are not so bad. But I have seen atrocities inflicted on these dogs. It’s a memory that I just can’t unsee.”
The commercial breeders do everything possible to minimize costs. The conditions in which some dogs are kept are considered inhumane. The breeders believe this criticism is unfair. And that the dogs are no more deserving of humane treatment than pigs, chicken or goats. Breeding centers may house from 50 to more than 1,000 dogs. The dogs usually live in cages stacked on top of each other. Urine and feces fall from the top cages to the cages below. Only two or three people may care for as many as 500 dogs. Inbreeding is common and leads to congenital and hereditary problems. Dogs are given minimal food and water and rarely receive veterinary care.
Commercial breeders consider dogs to be livestock, a position supported by the United States Department of Agriculture. The breeder dogs are kept in small cages that are 6 inches larger than the dog. They are bred, litter after litter, without medical care or human contact. There are state inspections, but supervision is lax.
Some dogs have never been outside of a cage, have never been held or experienced a gentle touch, and have never felt grass under their paws. All they have known are the cramped cages that comprise their existence. Commercial breeders operate throughout the United States. The dogs Allie rescues come from farms located in Lancaster County, Pa.
The mass breeding of dogs began as a means for cash-strapped American farmers to raise and sell puppies during the Great Depression. Raising puppies was less labor-intensive and more profitable. They converted chicken coops and rabbit hutches to contain the dogs. Once the commercial breeding farms were established, puppy brokers and pet stores followed.
Allie is associated with Zoe’s House, a non-profit center that promotes fostering and adopting the dogs their volunteers rescue. Zoe’s House provides access to free veterinary care for those who foster rescues. All dogs are carefully checked before they are put up for fostering and adoption. The fostering arrangement typically lasts from two weeks to a few months. Allie not only rescues dogs but also serves as a fostering coordinator.
On weekends you are likely to find Allie driving to Lancaster County to pick up dogs. She has contact with some farmers, who will call her prior to getting rid of the puppies and arrange a pickup. Evenings are likely to find her posting pictures of rescued dogs on social media in hope of finding someone to foster or adopt them.
If you talk with her long enough, she will break your heart with stories about dogs that have been abused. An invisible shudder seems to pass through her as she tells about a favorite rescue, a loveable 5-year-old Bernese mountain dog named Mirabelle. The dog’s uterus was so enlarged from over-breeding that it filled most of her body cavity. Despite medical treatment Mirabelle died.
For a young woman, Allie Darrow has seen too many dogs suffer. You hope that Allie and others like her can continue to rescue these dogs. But you also wonder how long New Jersey’s dog whisperer can keep whispering new life into her dogs.
You don’t have to love dogs to hope that she can keep going forever. You just have to be human.
This article originally appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of Jersey’s Best. Subscribe here for in-depth access to everything that makes the Garden State great.
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