Dear John,

Golder Retriever #142 didn’t have a warm bed. She didn’t have anyone who loved her. She didn’t have veterinary care when she was not well. She didn’t even have a name … we gave her one when we learned about her and the heartbreaking way she died. We named her Goldie.

About a month ago, the ASPCA helped rescue hundreds of dogs from a failed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-licensed puppy mill in Iowa. That nightmarish place is where Goldie spent her life. Even though inspectors had witnessed Goldie’s condition get worse and worse over this past year—and they could have helped—USDA policies failed her and the many other dogs who died in that puppy mill.

It’s too late to save Goldie, but we can prevent other dogs from meeting her fate by passing Goldie’s Act.

Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives just a few days ago, Goldie’s Act would meaningfully upgrade the federal Animal Welfare Act to require better protection for dogs in puppy mills—a responsibility the USDA has ignored for far too long.