January 28, 2009
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Grrrrr!!!!!
I think that folks who run puppy mills need to be put into restrictive cages themselves, fed only when you remember to, don’t let them out to toilet and see how they feel after a week…let alone all their lives. This news article from today just riled me up…..
Mom, daughters ran filthy kennels
By Casey Norton & KOMO StaffSKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — A mother and her two daughters ran two suspected puppy mills in two separate counties from which investigators have seized nearly 600 dogs, according to newly-obtained court documents.
Investigators have declared the Mountain View Kennel in Mount Vernon a “nuisance.” The kennel belongs to Marjorie Sundberg, the accused mother.
According to court documents, Sundberg’s unlicensed kennel has been the subject of constant complaints since 2005.
Last week deputies seized nearly 450 dogs from Sundberg’s kennel. The dogs were found living in deplorable conditions. Many dogs were standing in their own feces without access to food or water inside.
Four of the dogs were found living next to seven dead dogs. Veterinarians later determined some of dogs were suffering from coccidia, an intestinal disease.
Officers said the dogs found there were mostly small dogs, including chihuahuas, Shih Tzus, poodles and Yorkshire terriers. There was also a room that was housing approximately 20 female dogs that were nursing litters of pups.
Investigators first learned of Sundberg’s operations after serving search warrants at the homes of Sundberg’s daughters, Renee Roske and Mary Anne Holleman near Snohomish.
At one of the homes, deputies found “several hidden compartments built into the house to hide dogs,” court documents state. Thirty nine dogs were found in the two homes; however, none of those dogs were seized.
At Holleman’s kennel in Gold Bar, deputies found 155 dogs, 87 of them of them stashed in an attic, living in ghastly conditions so horrific that it shocked even veteran animal control officers, officials said.
Officers said the odor from the feces and urine was so overpowering it could be detected well outside the residence. A large commercial dumpster stood in the yard overflowing with dog waste.
Medications and used syringes, used to treat sick animals, were found scattered in front of pens and in a refrigerator.
Investigators seized all the dogs from the property, as well as four dogs and three parrots.
Deputies found Jason Larson feeding the animals at the kennel. Larson was afraid to talk to them.
“He could be killed,” the affidavit said,” we were dealing with millions of dollars a year in revenue.”
“Both these subjects are well known in Snohomish County for operating illegal and unlicensed kennels for the purpose of mass production of puppies for sale.”
Snohomish County deputies alerted Skagit County officials when Roske admitted she moved several dogs to her parents’ home in Mount Vernon.
Sundberg and her husband told Animal Control officers “their daughter…does most of the sales of dogs they produce…a lot of their sales are over the Internet.”
An animal rights activist, who only wished to be identified as “Shelly,” has been tracking the family on the Internet and through their registered kennel’s ads. She said Roske has posted ads for 16 different breeds of puppies for sale at a time.
“She has 16 different breeds of dogs listed in those six ads. If that doesn’t tell you what’s going on, I don’t know what will,” she said.
Shelly said she’s been trying to alert investigators since she visited the Gold Bar kennel weeks ago.
“Her business license goes back to 1998 and as time went on, she just got out of hand. It turned into a huge puppy mill operation, and this is bigger than any one I have ever seen,” she said.
Shelly is afraid of what the family members might do if they lose their income from puppy sales.
“There are litters of puppies being born every day or every other day. Some of these dogs go from $700 to $1,200 for some of them,” she said.
Shelly said she has posted warnings on Craigslist to warn buyers about the puppy mill investigation.
Prosecutors in the two counties are collaborating on the case, but plan to file separate charges.
