At 22 years old, Josiah Hesse was a drop-out artist looking for work in Iowa. He was familiar with the ins and outs of odd jobs and part time labor, so when offered a position delivering puppies to pet stores across the eastern half of the United States, it was hard to resist. Not only would he be able to spend time with adorable puppies, but he’d be granted the opportunity to explore the major eastern cities he had dreamed about in his adolescence. It sounded too good to be true. When accepting the position, he had no idea he would be committing a crime.

Immediately when arriving on the job to pick up the first round of puppies, Josiah was confronted with the cold and cruel reality of dog breeding and puppy mills. His story is filled with social, political, and personal crossroads, blending Josiah’s developing awareness of the mistreatment of animals in commercial breeding facilities, with his own coming of age.

Josiah now writes for Vice Magazine, the Canabist and Splitsider. This story is based off an article he wrote for Vice which you can read here: http://www.vice.com/read/i-worked-for-a-puppy-mill-915 I highly recommend reading this article. It goes far more in depth about the political atmosphere that enables this sort of animal abuse to exist. It’s a very complex and impressive piece of writing which inspired this episode.

The pictures of puppy mills were contributed by the Iowa Friends of Companion Animals, an organization working to raise awareness about commercial dog breeding in Iowa and advance the humane and responsible treatement of pets. You can learn more about Iowa Friends of Companion Animals here: www.wp.iafriends.org

Music on this episode by: Johnny_Ripper, Felipe Sonzana, duncan avoid, Jaan Patterson, Jed Hershon, Bleak House, deef and C.Scott.