In her arms Saturday at Intercourse Community Park, humane police Officer Danielle Ball cradled Tiny, a small white dog whose hind feet had been gnawed off.

The injury was inflicted by the pup's own over-stressed breeding stock mother. It was a graphic example of the evils of puppy mills.

But such abuses, once largely ignored, are now provoking big-time outcries.

Saturday was national Puppy Mill Awareness Day and what was reportedly  the day's largest rally nationally was held at the park.

Organizer Carol Araneo-Mayer estimated that 800 or more people — and their dogs — attended the fifth annual event, easily twice last year's turnout.

Forty-six groups that rescue just about every variety of dog under the sun attended the event, more than three times the scope of the 2007 roster.

What happened?

Exposure, for one thing.

A springtime Oprah (Winfrey) episode that blasted puppy mills catapulted the issue to the national stage, Araneo-Mayer said.

An appearance on that show by Bill Smith of Main Line Animal Rescue, Chester Springs, helped drive local interest.

The recent shooting and killing of 80 dogs deemed worthless by a Berks County breeder further stirred public sentiment, Araneo-Mayer added.

Then there's the proposal adopted by the state House that would require large commercial breeders to clean kennels daily and provide veterinary checks and temperature controls, among other measures to make dogs more comfortable.

The result?

Animal welfare supporters at the park were feeling empowered.

They will not take it any more, said a principal of the New York state-based Rescue Ink who goes by the name Mike Tattoo.

Tattoo sported dark glasses, lavish body art and sharp words for puppy mill owners.

"Dogs are not livestock," declared the New York state-based Tattoo. "Abusers are losers."

Despite the music and the helium balloons this weekend, dog lovers know they have not yet won.

Lancaster County is still ground zero for puppy mills that sell large numbers of dogs via some pet stores and over the Internet.

According to Kerry Flanagan, vice president of operations at the Lancaster County Humane League, between 200 and 300 licensed breeders operate here, and there are many more illicit businesses.

The state Senate must adopt House Bill 2525 before the measure becomes law.

Passage before the session ends in November is not certain. Nor was it known Saturday when the senators will take up the matter.

Rally speakers urged audience members to get on the phone to Harrisburg first thing Monday.

"Please contact your representatives and make Pennsylvania a humane state," said Annmarie Lucas, a special humane investigator who appears on the Animal Planet show "Animal Precinct."

Lucas was part of a dog world celebrity lineup that also included Stephanie Shain of the Humane Society of the United States Puppy Mill Task Force and Jana Kohl, an author/activist from the West Coast.

Kohl, who has been busing across the country as part of her "Baby's Rare Breed of Love Road Trip," held her three-legged puppy-mill survivor, Baby, while she spoke.

Hollywood actor and Last Chance For Animals founder Chris DeRose, who recently underwent knee surgery, limped more than a mile around town during the March Against the Mills.

Meanwhile, hundreds of ordinary folk networked while their pets went nose-to-nose.

Opinions on the progress of the puppy mill struggle varied.

Denver resident Donna Dinger came to the rally with her husband, Earl, and two greyhounds rescued from racetracks in Florida. She said she thinks that the county is "not a heck of a lot closer" to closing down puppy mills.

"I think the problem stems from overbreeding," she said. "There are too many dogs and too many kennels."

Jon Bannon, who with partner Lori Stick runs an Adamstown animal grooming service, The Total Dog and a Little Cat, agreed.

This country puts down 60,000 dogs every day, Bannon said, while breeders in the state make $4 million a year peddling dogs as a cash crop.

Under current law, he added, breeders are allowed to "debark" their animals by thrusting razor-tipped rods down their throats and cutting their vocal chords.

The fight against such cruelties is far from over, acknowledged Helen Ebersole, president of United Against Puppy Mills, which is based in Lancaster. But there's good news too.

The kennel inspection rate is "up in double digits from last year," she said.

Feedback from the public Saturday was overwhelmingly positive, added Ebersole, who is trying to collect 15,000 online signatures by the end of the day today.

The petition at www.savingpuppies.com will be sent to state senators and will urge them to pass House Bill 2525, Ebersole said.

"Our county is the worst so that is where the focus is."

Jon Rutter is a staff writer for the Sunday News. His e-mail address is jrutter@lnpnews.com.