About
Protect Our Pets Illinois supports stronger animal welfare standards and takes action to help eliminate puppy mills.
As animal welfare advocates, we push for common-sense legislation at multiple levels of government to implement breeder and animal welfare standards, protect consumer choice, enact uniform reporting and transparency measures, and shut down dangerous puppy mills.
Protect Our Pets Illinois aims to foster the continued development of responsible, committed breeders who love animals and provide educational resources to families so they can find their next family member.
From Our Founder
My passion for animals started very early on in my life. As a little girl I would bring home all of the stray dogs and cats in my grandmother’s village to their yard and feed them the “expensive” bologna meat as she would say! I was born and grew up in former Yugoslavia and at that time we didn’t have an animal control system.
When my grandmother realized there was no changing my mind in feeding the animals all of the lunch meat she bought for the week, the “expensive stuff”, she started buying dog and cat food and helped me feed them. Many of those strays became a part of our family over the years.
That’s where it all started for me, but where it has taken me, I could have never imagined. My name is Ana Soskic and I am the founder of Protect Our Pets Illinois. I have worked with dogs for over 14 years and along my journey I have had the pleasure of working with breeders, veterinarians, industry professionals and animals that needed a home to call their own. All of those experiences lead me to wanting to make a lasting impact and ensure that all animals no matter where they come from are not only humanely treated but protected by the laws we have in place.
I have 3 pets myself. I have a cat I purchased from a breeder, I have a dog from a pet store and I have a horse that I rescued off the racetrack. I don’t believe in choosing sides, but I do believe that every family should have a choice on what kind of animal they want, where they want to get it from and be able to have a reputable business available to them in Illinois to obtain that pet.
It is important that we understand there are no sides in animal welfare and that if the common goal is to ensure that all animals are ethically and humanely treated then we must work together in order to protect our pets.
All of the information you will find on this page has been obtained through public records requests from the Illinois Department of Agriculture and all additional information will have a source to reference.
There is so much work to be done and I hope you join me on this journey! Subscribe to our email newsletter to stay informed!
Tail Wags,
Ana Soskic
Founder