Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Missouri Puppy Mills: Sick Puppies - Dogs and Commercial Breeders

Background:
Late last year, researchers at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) spent weeks poring over state and federal inspection reports, investigators’ photographs, and enforcement records to compile a list of some of the worst puppy mills in Missouri, known as “Missouri’s Dirty Dozen.” The report included direct quotes detailing horrific care violations documented in the facilities’ federal and/or state kennel inspection reports The violations included thin-coated breeds like Italian greyhounds found shivering in the cold in temperatures as low as 9 degrees, dogs with open, oozing or bleeding sores, underweight dogs with their entire skeletal structures showing, and sick or dying puppies who had not been treated by a vet.

March 9, 2011, the HSUS released an update to this report.  The majority of the Missouri Dirty Dozen kennels are still state licensed and in operation.  On the same day, the Missouri Senate voted 20 - 14 to repeal Prop B, the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act.  The Missouri House will vote on this issue soon.
If there is any doubt in your mind that MO Prop B, as written and passed by voters last November, is needed and provides essential protection for dogs, please read below for details from the Dirty Dozen update.

For Heaven's Sake Kennel, Peggy Ryan, Reeds Springs MO
Although her most recent USDA inspection was compliant, this USDA licensed breeder has amassed 19 pages of Animal Welfare Act violations over the past two years.  A June 2010 USDA inspection noted repeated veterinary issues with two Chows, one of whom had "mats hanging down" while another had patches of untreated hair loss.  In February 2010 the kennel was cited for severely matted dogs, dogs with "very loose, greenish brown colored stool" who had not been gtreated by a veterinarian, animals in 36 degrees F temperatures who did not have enough protection from the cold, stacked wire cages where "puppies that were attempting to move around" were seen with their feet "falling throught the openings in the wire," dirty conditions, and more.

Previous federal inspections noted a severe flea infestation throughout the facility, dogs in 93 degree F buildings without adequate climate control, and puppies who were underswight and lethargic.

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