Missouri Known as "Puppy Mill" State [1/29/2006 1:23:30 PM]

Kansas City, MO -- State officials are angry about Missouri's reputation as a "puppy mill" capital. They say the reputation is unfounded.

 

Inspection reports compiled by the Missouri Department of Agriculture have shown some major problems at some dog breeding facilities in Missouri, which has nearly 15-hundred federally licensed commercial breeders, the most in the United States.

 

A 2004 report by the state auditor's office said problems in the state's commercial breeder inspection program "have eroded the integrity of the program."

 

http://www.wdaftv4.com/ 

2/2/2006 8:02 PM date accessed

 

Posted:1/16/2006 4:12:51 PM

Fox 4 Problem Solvers Discover Problem with Dog Breeder

Overland Park, KS - Amica Brock hoped it would be the Christmas gift her three boys would never forget. She was right, but she never expected it to work out the way it did. Brock bought her sons a puppy for Christmas, but the dog died three days later.

 

Brock wanted her money back and an explanation, but the Edgerton, Kansas, breeder who sold Brock the dog never returned her calls. That's when Brock called the Fox 4 Problem Solvers. Our investigation revealed the Edgerton breeder had not been inspected by the Kansas Department of Agriculture since 2004, even though state guidelines call for inspections twice a year.

 

The breeder never offered us an explanation either, but the people at Wayside Waifs did step up to help. Wayside Waifs gave Brock and her kids a dog. It's a cocker spaniel that the kids named Mason. Wayside also gave food, heartworm medication and a kennel.

2/2/2006 8:05 PM date accessed http://www.wdaftv4.com/ 

 

 

Posted:11/25/2005 3:27:25 PM

Too Many Cats in Riverside

Riverside, MO -- People living in Riverside say their feral cat population is out of control. Now, they're doing something about it. They plan to put $24,000 to work controlling the population of feral cats.

 

The money will be spent to trap the cats, neuter or spay them and then release the animals with notched ears. It's designed to cut the cat population through attrition.

 

A veterinarians' group says the cost to spay or neuter a cat is 35-dollars, while euthanizing a cat costs up to 100-dollars.

 

Officials in Riverside believe there are 600 feral cats in the town of three-thousand

http://www.wdaftv4.com/  2/2/2006

 

Animal Cruelty Case Upsets Investigators

60 Animals Found Living In Squalor

 

POSTED: 8:34 am CST January 20, 2006

UPDATED: 8:56 am CST January 20, 2006

 

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OMAHA, Neb. -- Douglas County deputies and Humane Society officials said a case of animal abuse and neglect outside Waterloo is the worst they've seen.

 

Workers discovered dead and neglected animals Thursday morning on a farm in rural Douglas County between Elkhorn and Waterloo. Thursday night, Humane Society workers were feeding, cuddling and caring for some of the animals they rescued from the farm, but two horses had to be euthanized because they were in such bad shape when investigators found them.

 

"The feet weren't taken care of," said Dr. Steve White, a veterinarian involved in the investigation. "They were just allowed to grow, so they can just kept growing and curled around."

 

The animals were among the close to 60 living and dead animals investigators found living in deplorable conditions on the farm, which sits near the Elkhorn River.

 

 

"We're finding both skeleton and freshly dead animals," said the Humane Society's Mark Langan. "It appears this has been going on for a long time."

 

Langan was one of the first people to see the inside of the house. He said it could be the worst case of animal cruelty he's had to work.

 

"It's a disease, that people here have been hoarding animals and hoarding junk. That's exactly what's happening here," Langan said.

 

Douglas County Sheriff's Sgt. Richard McShane said "the urine smell (on the farm) takes your breath away." McShane answered a call from a power company employee Thursday morning who reported that he was concerned about a horse on the property.

 

"The animals all over the place. The counter stacked with food. The conditions of the freezer -- it's unimaginable someone can cook (and) live in those conditions," McShane said.

 

McShane said the situation didn't just happen overnight.

 

"The reason we see the dead animals is because they haven't been able to bury them," McShane said.

 

It's so bad, the building inspector said, that the owners of the farm will have to leave because their home is uninhabitable.

 

The owners of the animals are facing several charges of animal cruelty . Half of the animals investigators seized are healthy and will be OK.

 

The owners could get the animals back if they fix the damage to their home and prove to investigators they can take care of their animals.

 

Accessed 2/2/2006 8:24 PM

http://www.ketv.com/news/6273555/detail.html?subid=10102001

 

Animal Cruelty Case Draws Response From Across Country

POSTED: 6:26 pm EDT August 26, 2005

UPDATED: 9:58 pm EDT August 26, 2005

ERWIN, N.C. -- A case of animal cruelty, in which authorities suspect four girls set a horse's tail on fire, is drawing reaction from across the United States.

Harnett County detectives are questioning the girls, all under the age of 15, for allegedly burning the tail of a 2-year-old registered spotted saddle horse, Dixie, while her owner was away on vacation last weekend.

One woman in California offered to send the tail hair from her horse that passed away to Dixie for a transplant. It is offers such as this one that give Vonda Hamilton hope that her horse can survive.

At her Harnett County stables, Hamilton says she is spending about six hours every day providing care to the horse's injuries. With every wiggle of Dixie's tail, Hamilton says she is encouraged.

"I'm hoping that's a good sign," Hamilton said.

WRAL viewers and horse lovers around the state who heard about Dixie have also offered their support and help. Barbara Thomason, a horse lover from Angier, says she does not want Hamilton to go through Dixie's care alone.

"It's just unreal," says Thomason, a complete stranger doing work around the stables to help out Hamilton.

"I am out here cleaning buckets and troughs because (Hamilton's) got other horses she's had to let go to tend to the sick horse," Thomason said. "I'm willing to do that if that gives her a little bit of peace of mind and comfort."

Investigators think the girls may have used hair spray or perfume to start the fire.

"It's so malicious. I don't know how you can explain it," said Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins.

Rollins says the juvenile suspects will be charged with animal cruelty, which is a felony. His department is urging the district attorney's office not to make a plea deal.

Dixie's veterinarian says the animal's situation is very serious and that she has only a 60 percent chance of surviving. The tail will likely have to be amputated.

"Flies are bothering her bad," Hamilton said.

Even without the horse's ability to swat flies, Hamilton says she does not want to put the animal to sleep.

"Doesn't she look to you like she wants to live? She looks to me like she wants to live," Hamilton said. "She's eating and she's drinking and taking all her medicine like a big girl."

Hamilton is now concerned about the cost of Dixie's medical care. She was relying on the $4,500 she expected to receive this week from the sale of the horse.

The Champagne Horse Breeders' & Owners' Association is accepting donations via its Web site.

With a little more information, investigators hope to firm up the case and make arrests. The Harnett County Sheriff's Office is offering a $250 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Deputies have posted fliers with the reward amount at local schools around the stables with hopes that students with any information will come forward. Anyone with information should call (910) 893-9111 or (910) 893-7115.

http://www.wral.com/news/4903444/detail.html

accessed 2/2/2006 8:31 PM

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2/2/06

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Hundreds of dead cats, dogs and other animals were found in two wooded areas of West Virginia, the state Division of Natural Resources said Thursday.

More than 250 dead animals have been identified, inventoried and photographed, the state said. They included animals with rabies vaccination and name tags, indicating they were pets.

Most of the animals were dogs and cats, but there were also mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, foxes, hawks and deer.

Some of the animals had been decapitated, said Maj. Jerry Jenkins of Division of Natural Resources law enforcement.

The dead animals were removed Monday from the wooded area in Hampshire County, near Capon Bridge, West Virginia. A second and similar discovery continues to be investigated in Hardy County.

Investigators believe the animals came from counties around the greater Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Fairfax County Police Lt. Rich Perez said some of the animals came from that county and indicated that some of the animals found had previously been turned over to Family Pet Cremations.

The Chantilly, Virginia-based company has contracts with the department to dispose of dead, sick or stray animals, Perez said.

"We are disturbed and concerned that animal remains we were turning over to Family Pet Cremations have turned up at this illegal dump site," he said.

The department would look at whether the contract with the company will continue, he said. Calls to the crematorium were not returned.

Jenkins said his agency removed more than 4,000 pounds of animal carcasses, some of them with intravenous tubes in their legs.

The U.S. Forest Service is also taking part in the investigation. Woody Lipps, a spokesman for the agency, said one of the dumping sites was in George Washington National Forest and the perpetrators could face stiff fines.

"Dumping debris on federal property is a federal misdemeanor, but the attorney's office could decide this was hazardous material and if that's the case, the fines and jail time increase dramatically," Lipps said.

The U.S. Forest Service expects to turn over its investigation to the U.S. attorney's office in West Virginia next week.