puppymillwatch.com

Members Lounge :: Re: Add a Puppy Mill Watch banner to your personal website!!

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:02:49 -0700

Eeeeek actually THIS is the link you should use.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d47/sockmonkey70/resize.png

Members Lounge :: Re: Add a Puppy Mill Watch banner to your personal website!!

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:59:43 -0700

For some reason the board won't allow html codes, so here is the link to the image address.

http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d47/sockmonkey70/?action=view&current=resize.png

And you can code the image to link to the site :)

Report Puppy Mills :: Irene A. Meuser -Puppy Mill (Nov 2006) Convicted

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:55:56 -0800

By: doxiemommy3

Investigators found nearly 400 dogs and other animals in bad shape Friday, at what they are called a puppy mill.

"I can't imagine what kind of hell these animals have gone through, because of this woman. I don't understand," neighbor Peggy Olea said.

Olea went onto the property with a hidden camera and presented the evidence to investigators.

The Sumner County Sheriff Department and the US Humane Society removed the dogs and cats Friday, and are checking them out for disease.

The dogs are all small breeds owned by 69-year-old Irene Muser at 880 Mt. Vernon Road.

Muser was cited for six violations of animal cruelty.

Health officials are concerned about the health of the animals since some dogs died of parvo, a disease that affects dogs.

"We're working very hard on pulling those animals out, getting them checked by veterinarians. We have volunteer veterinarians on site," Laura Bevin with the US Humane Association said.

Health officials said the animals are not up for adoption at this point, because it's still being investigated and needs to be cleared up in court first.

You can put your name on a waiting list to adopt the animals at the Hendersonville Humane Society. Call 822-0061 for more information.

The Humane Society is asking for donations to care for the dogs until they are available for adoption.

To donate, contact:
Operation Animal Hope
P.O. Box 962
Hendersonville, TN 37077-0962

Case Updates
The animals rescued from a puppy mill in Sumner County began their new lease on life Friday. They began going home with their new families.

More than 200 people have filed an application and have been entered in the lottery. Those that don't get drawn have been entered into an overflow list.

Two weeks ago, 370 dogs and cats were rescued from a puppy mill in Bethpage. They were found in filthy conditions.

Even though all of the dogs have been treated, fed, spayed and neutered, many are not out of the clear. They are considered special needs dogs. Many have ear mites, skin conditions, and some have lost their teeth due to malnutrition.

Since these animals came in, hundreds of volunteers have come in to help these dogs get back on their feet.

"When we started two weeks ago you couldn't hardly touch them. They had never been touched and handled. They were scared to death, and over the last 14 days...they've started showing a lot of personality," volunteer Laura Brackbill said.

Report Puppy Mills :: Helen Geary, Tennyson Indiana, - Dogs Siezed

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:41:30 -0800

By: happypuppy

You can track this case at:

Pet-Abuse.org

Puppy mill - approximately 30 dogs seized
Tennyson, IN (US)

Date: Jan 17, 2007
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Helen A. Geary

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

According to officials, Helen Geary, who has operated her own dog and cat kennel for nearly 30 years, had several of her dogs signed over to the Warrick County Animal Control and the Warrick Pet Adoption Center in mid-January, following a complaint from a concerned citizen that the animals may be neglected.

Bobby Avery-Seagrave, daughter of Geary and resident of Indianapolis, said all of the dogs and cats had proper shelters and were not abused.

She said the accusations of the dogs being filthy, as presented in the picture that appeared in the Boonville Standard and the Newburgh-Chandler Register, and which was also submitted by local officials, puts the situation in a false light because it had been raining that day and the days prior, thus making the ground muddy.

"What isn't shown is the portion of the pen where there is a shelter for the dog and a portion of the pen where it�s not muddy,� said Avery-Seagrave. �The dog, obviously excited by somebody approaching the pen, walked into the mud.�

The Pet Adoption Center recorded that none of the dogs or cats were starved nor malnourished, which Avery-Seagrave concurred with.

�All the animals were loved and all the animals were well-fed,� she said.

Avery-Seagrave explained that the animals� annual vaccinations were filled this past October or November.

�They were all seen by the vet,� she said.

Avery-Seagrave admitted to her mother using electrical wiring on some of the pens to keep the animals in, but said the wiring was the same that is used to keep rabbits in their pens.

�It was completely and perfectly safe for use for dogs,� she said. �If it is not safe, then it is a misrepresentation of the manufacturer.�

But perhaps the biggest issue is the fact that it has been alleged that Geary doesn�t have a proper kennel license to operate her business.

Avery-Seagrave explained how state regulations regarding kennel licenses were changed last June, meaning Geary is going through the process of obtaining a new license.

Geary is currently on the agenda for the Wednesday, Jan. 24 meeting of the Warrick County Area Plan Commission.

She is requesting a special usage of her land to allow a dog kennel not to exceed 30 dogs in an agriculture zoning district.

The meeting is at 6 p.m. at the Warrick County Courthouse.

Avery-Seagrave said her mother also doesn�t have 30 to 40 cats in her kennel.

�There are feral cats out there,� she said. �My mother has requested that animal control catch them because my mother is elderly and she can�t catch them. People know that my mother raises dogs and cats and they drop animals off at her doorstep all the time.�
Case Updates
A Tennyson, Indiana woman accused of running a puppy mill is hoping to get special permission Wednesday night to continue operating.

This comes after about 30 dogs were rescued from the home by Warrick Pet Adoption Center after a potential buyer called in complaints.

If you would like to donate money to help the cause at the Warrick County Pet Adoption Center, you can call them at (812) 858-1132

Report Puppy Mills :: Re: Keystone Kennels USA, Miniature Dachshunds of Georgia, Canton, GA

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:30:57 -0800

By: happypuppy

For an extensive discussion of this breeder, at times with the breeder herself, see:

The Hotdog Blog!

For detailed additional information, see:

Itty Bitty Dachshunds

Report Puppy Mills :: Re: Donna Pegg's Chatanooga, Georgia Puppy Mill

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:23:16 -0800

By: happypuppy

You can track her case at:

Pet-Abuse.org

Here's the info there:

Animal control officers in Northwest Georgia raided a suspected puppy mill on Jan 26 morning � rescuing dozens of dogs from what they describe as "deplorable" conditions.

The raid happened in Chattooga County. The owner of the property says she�ll fight to get back some of those dogs.

The nearly four dozen additions to the Chattooga County Animal Shelter strained the small facility. Animal control officers say they had no choice but to raid the small, rural home � home to too many dogs in a small place.

�The dogs were standing in water and feces, the shelters were deplorable against the wind and rain,� explained Joe Johnson with animal control.

The dogs ranged from small Chihuahuas to medium-sized Boxers and a lot of Dachshunds including two mothers with two big sets of puppies.

Animal control officers said it looked like a classic puppy mill.

�I was also called by a lady in Chattanooga that purchased a puppy from her that died and she�s the one that alerted me to the puppy mill over there,� said Johnson.

�And they said they got a complaint about me selling a Dachshund and I have not sold a Dachshund. I�m licensed through the Department of Agriculture,� said Donna Pegg.

Pegg came looking to see when she could get her dogs back � telling Channel 2 she was not running a puppy mill and claiming she had a license to keep her dogs on the property. Animal control says the license was for only 10 dogs, not the more than fifty they found.

�I got the 13 puppies in there with their momma�s, they were in her house, her house was despicable with feces all in it, a stench through it,� said Johnson.

�Deplorable conditions is where there is poop in every pen, I�ve got pine bark nuggets in the bottom of my kennels, I�ve got cedar shavings in every dog house. They�ve got food and water and I don�t know what�s going on,� said Pegg.

A judge will decide what will happen to the dogs and if Pegg should face any charges.

The Chattooga Animal Shelter is a small shelter and with the added dogs, they say animals they already had will have to be adopted this weekend or they may have to be euthanized next week.

Report Puppy Mills :: Re: Danya Dufour, Kingston New Hampshire and Methuen, Massachusetts Puppy Miller

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:20:08 -0800

By: happypuppy

he court-appointed attorney for a Groveland woman accused of animal cruelty said it isn't cruelty at all and that the 29 dogs she was raising are in "perfect health."

"A bunch of dogs running around a house that's messy does not meet the criteria for animal cruelty," Michael Baldassarre said during the arraignment of Danya Dufour, 33, yesterday in Haverhill District Court.

Dufour and Jackson Rivera Cruz, 29, were arrested Sept 15 by Groveland police after authorities found 29 dogs covered in excrement and urine in their 103 Main St. home.

Judge Stephen Abany released Dufour on personal recognizance and ordered her not to have any pets in her care until the case against her is resolved.

Dufour was charged with cruelty to 29 dogs, two cats, one ferret and one iguana. She also was charged with possession of class D and E substances, possession of hypodermic syringes and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Cruz faces the same animal cruelty and drug charges, as well as possession of a dangerous weapon (a double-edged knife), giving a false name and false address to police, and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

According to officials with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Dufour and Cruz were raising and selling dachshunds from the Main Street residence.

According to a police report, when officers entered Dufour's house to investigate they were "immediately taken back by the extremely strong odor that was inside of this house, as well as the amount of animals that were running all over the inside of this house."

The report goes on to say police observed what appeared to be animal feces all over the floors and furniture, trash and food covering the floors and furniture, various insects everywhere, and several dogs locked in small cages with feces covering their cages.

Baldassarre, the defense attorney, questioned the legitimacy of the search by police saying it was conducted without a warrant.

"I don't think it's a proper search that meets the elements of the statute," Baldassarre said.

Abany told Baldassarre that if the animals lived in conditions that amounted to torment, that he thought it might meet the criteria for cruelty to animals, adding, "It's possible the search could be justified."

In an effort to prove that the dogs were in good health, Baldassarre asked the judge for money to pay for an independent examination of the dogs by a veterinarian today "without hindrance from the MSPCA."

Abany also suggested photographs be taken of the dogs as a visual record of their physical condition.

Employees at the MSPCA were still examining the dogs at shelters throughout the region yesterday.

The dogs did not all go to the same shelter because "there's such a large number," MSPCA spokesman Brian Adams said. "To put them all at one adoption center would be a real drain."

It will be up to the court to decide if and when the MSPCA can put the dogs up for adoption, Adams said.

Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Faitella told the judge that Cruz initially told police his name was Jesus Ortiz. She said he has a lengthy court record that includes charges of assault and battery, resisting arrest and violating a restraining order.

Faitella said both Cruz and Dufour had claimed the drugs found by police were owned by the other person and that after police arrested them Cruz said he lived at the Groveland house.

Cruz's court-appointed attorney, Edward English, told the judge that his client claims he lives in Lawrence with his mother and that he was only visiting Dufour's house in Groveland.

"He denies living there or possessing anything that is there," English said.

Abany ordered Cruz held on $2,500 cash bail and ordered him and Dufour to appear in Haverhill District Court Oct. 16 for a pretrial hearing. Abany also ordered Cruz not to have any pets in his care until the case against him is resolved.
Case Updates
A house that has been empty since September, when its former occupants were accused of running a puppy mill and charged with animal cruelty, was destroyed in a fire yesterday.

Groveland fire Chief John Clement said it was premature to talk about possible causes of the fire. He said that as far as he knew the house was abandoned. Firefighters searched the house once the blaze was brought under control and found no signs of anyone living there.

The former occupants, Danya Dufour, 33, and Jackson Rivera Cruz, 29, were each charged on Sept. 15 with cruelty to 29 dogs, two cats, one ferret and one iguana that they kept at the house at 103 Main St. The animals were taken away.

The couple were also charged with possession of class D and E substances, possession of hypodermic syringes and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Neighbor Scott Stearns said he was saying goodbye to his aunt at about 3:30 p.m. when he noticed the fire in the house next door.

Stearns, 39, said he and another man kicked down two doors to make sure no one was in the vacant house.

The owner of the home, Anthony Lanzillo, had been seen by neighbors from time to time cleaning the house. A "for rent" sign was placed in front of the home last week, Stearns said.

"I knew no one was living in there," said Stearns, but he and an unidentified passing motorist wanted to be sure someone wasn't inside cleaning the home, so they kicked in two doors to the home and called out.

Main Street traffic was shut down in both directions while fire officials worked to put out the blaze.

"There was still electrical power to the building, so there's always the possibility of an appliance causing the fire," Clement said. "Right now it looks as though the building will have to be taken down."

As many as 50 onlookers watched the fire with concern. Sal Moretti, a neighbor from nearby Savory Lane, calmed his children as they watched from a safe distance. He and three of his daughters, Coral, Emerald and Brook, watched from their car as "flames were coming out of the windows and roof."

"We always investigate, and we'll try to determine the starting location of the fire," Clement said.

Groveland fire was assisted by West Newbury and Georgetown.

Police have said they believe the former occupants, Dufour and Cruz, were breeding the dogs to sell.

The police report from the cruelty incident said police observed what appeared to be animal feces all over the floors and furniture, trash and food covering the floors and furniture, various insects everywhere, and several dogs locked in small cages with feces covering their cages.
Source: Eagle Tribune - Dec 19, 2006
Update posted on Dec 20, 2006 - 10:01PM

Report Puppy Mills :: Re: Danya Dufour, Kingston New Hampshire and Methuen, Massachusetts Puppy Miller

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:18:14 -0800

By: happypuppy

You can track progress on shutting down Danya Dufour for good at:

Pet-Abuse.org

Report Puppy Mills :: Re: Danya Dufour, Kingston New Hampshire and Methuen, Massachusetts Puppy Miller

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:06:34 -0800

By: happypuppy

Prior to her arrest in Massachusetts for puppy milling, Danya Dufour was arrested in Kingston, New Hampshire for an eerily similar situation. This original arrest prompted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to issue a press release calling for a lifetime ban on ownership:

For Immediate Release:
May 6, 2005

Contact:
Daniel Paden 757-622-7382

Kingston, N.H. --- This morning, PETA sent an urgent plea to Assistant Rockingham County Attorney Jill Cook, urging her to vigorously prosecute Danya Dufour of Kingston. Dufour faces 13 charges stemming from authorities� reported March 9 discovery of 30 dachshunds languishing inside her basement, allegedly used in conjunction with her puppy mill business. News sources indicate that the animals were crammed together into small pens and forced to lie in their own feces. The animals were reportedly provided little water, and one was described as being covered in bite marks. Dufour is scheduled to face these charges in court this Monday, May 9, at 8 a.m.

�People who demonstrate such blatant disregard for life and desensitization to suffering can pose a serious risk to the people and animals with whom they come into contact,� says PETA Cruelty Caseworker Daniel Paden. �Mental-health professionals and top law-enforcement officials consider cruelty to animals to be a red flag.�

PETA is asking that�if convicted and in addition to a period of incarceration�Dufour be banned for life from contact with animals, as is allowed by New Hampshire law. PETA is also asking that Dufour be required to undergo a thorough psychological evaluation followed by mandatory counseling.

For more information, please visit HelpingAnimals.com.

PETA�s letter to Assistant County Attorney Jill Cook follows.

May 6, 2005

Jill Cook, Assistant County Attorney
Office of the Rockingham County Attorney
P.O. Box 1209
Kingston, NH 03848

Dear Ms. Cook:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the world�s largest animal rights organization, with more than 800,000 members and supporters dedicated to animal protection. This letter concerns a recent case of cruelty to animals that your office is handling, involving Danya Dufour, 32, of Kingston. Dufour faces 13 cruelty charges stemming from authorities� reported March 9 discovery of more than 30 dachshunds languishing amid their own waste in the basement of her rented 4 Granite Rd. home. According to news sources, the dogs were deprived of adequate water and crammed together in small cages in the cellar, which allegedly housed her "puppy mill." One dog rescued from the scene�from which four cats, an iguana, and a parrot were also removed�was said to have been covered in bite marks.

We understand that Dufour�whose dogs were apparently the subject of Massachusetts humane officials� concerns while they were in that state�is scheduled to answer to these charges in Plaistow District Court on Monday, May 9, at 8 a.m.

Mental-health professionals and top law-enforcement officials consider the blatant disregard for life and desensitization to suffering evidenced by all forms of cruelty to be a red flag. In fact, the American Psychiatric Association identifies cruelty to animals as one of the diagnostic criteria for conduct disorders, and the FBI uses reports of these crimes in analyzing the threat potential of suspected and known criminals. Experts agree that it is the severity of the behavior, not the species of the victim, that matters.

On behalf of our thousands of members and supporters in New Hampshire, we respectfully ask that, upon conviction and in addition to a period of incarceration, Danya Dufour be required to undergo a thorough psychological evaluation followed by mandatory counseling at personal expense. Because repeat crimes are the rule rather than the exception among animal abusers and given the accused�s apparent prolonged and utter disregard for the lives and suffering of animals in her custody, we implore your office to take every measure necessary to ensure that she is barred for life from contact with animals per Chapter 644.8.IV(a) of New Hampshire Code and to immediately find and seize any animals who remain in her charge.

Thank you for your diligence in this matter and for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Daniel Paden, Cruelty Caseworker
Domestic Animal and Wildlife Rescue & Information Department

Report Puppy Mills :: Danya Dufour, Kingston New Hampshire and Methuen, Massachusetts Puppy Miller

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 19:58:32 -0800

By: happypuppy

Danya Dufour operates a puppy mill and internet website at Dufours Dachshunds.

Dachshunds taken from home filled with 'urine and feces,' police say

By Zach Church
Eagle-Tribune

GROVELAND - Two people were arrested yesterday for keeping 28 dogs
covered in excrement and urine in their Main Street home, police said.
Animal cruelty investigators spent the afternoon working inside 103
Main St., a three-story house just outside the center of town.

Workers tied plastic bags to their feet to walk in the house, which
animal cruelty officer Martha Parkhurst described as "totally saturated
with urine and feces."

"The basement is just horrendous," said cruelty investigator Arthur
Laurie, noting that's where many of the 27 dachshunds retrieved from the
house were being kept. A Chihuahua also was taken from the house, along
with several other animals.

Danya Dufour, 33, and Jackson Cruz, 29, were selling the dachshunds
from the house, said Parkhurst, who works for the Massachusetts Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They will both face 29 counts
of animal cruelty and a variety of other charges.

Dufour has been arrested before for animal cruelty. In April 2005,
Kingston, N.H., police said she was selling dachshunds over the Internet
from her home there. In Kingston, police said Dufour had not given the
dogs enough water and had let their pens fill with urine.

Police also recovered a ferret, an iguana and cats from the Groveland
house.

The dogs, however, were fairly healthy.

"They're in pretty good condition," investigator Laurie said. Some of
the dogs had "irritants and minor abrasions," he said.

Still, officers took all the dogs from the house, carrying them in
crates to waiting vans. Parkhurst would not say where the dogs were being
taken.

"The plan is not to return them," she said.

Neighbors, many of them dog owners, watched as officers carried the
dogs from the house.

"It's heartbreaking. It's unacceptable no matter how you look at it,"
said Danelle Gatcombe, who lives on Dwinnels Street.

Gatcombe, who owns and shows German shorthaired pointers, said she was
surprised to learn of the conditions inside 103 Main St.

"We didn't even know there were dogs in there," she said. "The house
looks better now than it has since I've known it."

Groveland Health Officer Edward Gallagher said the house will be
condemned tomorrow as "unfit for human habitation," specifically because of
the amount of feces and urine inside.

"It's almost unbreathable in there," Gallagher said.

Police were first alerted to the problems at about 10:30 a.m. by an
anonymous caller saying dogs were being mistreated there. Groveland Animal
Control Officer Kim York went to investigate and confronted Dufour.

The MSPCA was called in soon after. Dufour at first refused to turn
over any dogs, police Sgt. Jeffrey Gillen said. She eventually gave in and
voluntarily gave up some.

"She was worried about a couple dogs that wouldn't eat or drink if she
wasn't there," Gillen said.

Police secured warrants to take possession of the remaining dogs.

Neal Hamilton, vice president of the Dachshund Association of America,
said it is not uncommon to see people trying to turn a quick profit on
the dog.

"They're very well known and unfortunately, because of their
popularity, unscrupulous people will get involved to make money," Hamilton said.

"Most of these puppy mill situations are in the Midwest," Hamilton
said. "There are certainly some here on the East Coast as well." A
well-bred dachshund can be worth as much as $1,000, but in a situation like the
one in Groveland the dogs are not "quality," he said.

During the investigation, police also found marijuana and prescription
drugs in the house, as well as hypodermic needles, Gillen said. Both
were charged with possession of marijuana, possession of a class E drug
and possession of drug paraphernalia. Dufour also faces a charge of
possession of hypodermic needles.

Police additionally charged Cruz, who gave an address of 250 Salem St.,
Lawrence, with possession of a dangerous weapon, providing a false name
and address to police and driving with a suspended license. Cruz had a
double-edged knife, which is illegal in Massachusetts, Gillen said. He
also was pulled over in Groveland in August, but said he forgot his
license and gave police a fake name, Gillen said.

Cruz was held without bail on a warrant. Dufour was released without
bail and picked up by a relative. Both are due Monday in Haverhill
District Court.

Taken from 103 Main St. yesterday

* 27 dachshunds

* 1 Chihuahua

* 1 iguana

* 1 ferret

* 2 cats

http://www.eagletribune.com/siteSearch/apstorysection/local_story_259140333[url]