Rampaging Chimpanzee Killed, Dead Puppies and Disappearing Puppy Mill - all on the same property!

The Sheriff's Department had responded to a call Monday night on a request to help capture an angry chimp running loose on a highway outside Winston in northwest Missouri. When officers arrived, the 9-year-old chimp opened the patrol car door and grabbed the leg of a deputy, who fatally shot it, Chief Deputy Todd Watson said.

When Watson went to talk to the owners, he smelled a strong odor and heard barking from an estimated 100-200 small breed dogs.  The owners said they also had three other primates.

Watson returned with a search warrant the next day but only found 13 dogs and 2 cats, who appeared to be neglected and abused.  He also found nine dead puppies in the yard.  He did not find the dogs he smelled and heard the day before. 

Brent Hudson, 49; his wife, Cherace Hudson, 41; and their friend Mary Overton, 52, were jailed on $5,000 bond. They did not have attorneys, Watson said.

The three other primates have been recovered. The Humane Society of Missouri is offering a reward for information on the dogs that were seen Monday but gone from the property by the time officials returned Tuesday.

State Agriculture Department spokeswoman Misti Preston said the breeder never had a state license. The home was in a remote location, with no neighbors nearby.

Missouri Agriculture Director Jon Hagler, who has said he wants to put bad breeders out of business, said in a statement that such operators put the health and welfare of animals at risk and place legitimate pet breeders at a competitive disadvantage.

Source:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ 

*Update-April 3*


91 of the approximately 200 dogs have been found and custody has been transferred to the Humane Society.  


The Humane Society said that the breeds of the dogs include Yorkshire Terrier, Pekingese, Chihuahua, Maltese, Miniature Pinscher and Miniature Poodle.

Associate circuit court arraignments for the three people charged in the case - Daniel Hudson, 49; Cherace E. Hudson, 41; and Mary C. Overton, 52, all of Winston - will be Monday. All three are being held in the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail in Pattonsburg, with $5,000 bonds.



The three people involved were charged at that point with numerous counts of animal neglect and abuse, and with owning exotic animals without a license. After the discovery of the dogs on Thursday, improper disposal of dead animals charges were also added against the three accused.


Source:
http://www.citizen-observer.com/articles/2009/04/03/news/news15.txt

Puppy mill raided - some dead, dismembered, skulls hanging from trees

Animal Service officers confiscated 38 dogs and puppies Saturday afternoon in Boulder Creek, CA after finding "more dead dogs than we could count" and dog heads hanging from trees.


Inside the residence, officers found dead dogs at the foot of the bed and "feces everywhere."

Geisreiter said most of the dogs were in "pretty bad condition" and were scared and not friendly.


Officers found 38 dogs who were alive and an unknown number of dead dogs and decomposing carcasses. Only one full carcass was found, the rest were body parts, including skulls hanging from trees, Geisreiter said.

"There were decapitated dogs heads all over the property, hanging from trees," she said. "We don't know how the dogs died or why their heads were cut off. We are investigating him for crimes against animals."


Robert Brunette will reportedly be representing himself at his trial which is scheduled to begin on March 23, 2009.

Court dates are subject to change. To check the status of a court date, call:
Clerk of the Court, Criminal Division
Superior Court of Santa Cruz County
Phone: 831-420-2200
Case # F-16961

Additionally, you may mail or fax polite letters to:
Bob Lee, District Attorney
Santa Cruz County
701 Ocean Street, Room 200
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Fax: 831-454-2227


Read more...

Man beat 5 Pomeranian puppies to death with hammer and is ACQUITTED!

Keith Barton, 73,  killed five Pomeranian puppies with a hammer because he did not want the SPCA officers to seize them.  The SPCA went to his house to seize his thirteen dogs.  He would rather these five be dead than held at the city shelter while he straightened things out?  I mean, the city shelter might have killed them too but at least it would have been more humane than getting their head smashed in with a hammer!

Keith Barton had applied for a licence for Pet Me Kennel, said animal protection officer David Lynch, and a follow-up inspection was being conducted after he had been told to clean up the property.  The SPCA officials and the animal control officer found that his property still did not meet kennel standards and proceeded to seize the dogs.

Barton was playing with the dogs in the yard as the 11 Pomeranians began to be seized, Lynch said. The protection officer said he noticed Barton takings dogs into a shed and thought he was looking for privacy to say goodbye to the animals.

"When he came out of the shed, he put on a coat. He sat on a chair on his back step, and he never said a word ," Lynch said. "I went into the shed to take the animals, and that's when I discovered that … they were dead."

Five of the dogs inside the shed were dead and one was seriously injured, Lynch said.

Judge Patricia Cumming must be mentally impaired because she said there was evidence that the the dog were "rendered unconscious" when they were hit and did not suffer when he was bashing their heads in with a hammer.  What about the first strike that (supposedly) caused them to lose consciousness?

She did feel that one dog, Jake, who survived, did feel pain.  She found him guilty of injuring the dog.  

Barton told the court, in November, he thought he had the right to kill his dogs and he didn't want the SPCA to take his dogs. He testified that he couldn't let the seizure happen because he "loved the dogs so desperately."

When Barton also testified he described the day he killed his dogs as "the worst day of my life, when I had to do that to my babies."

Barton said he would have killed all of the dogs if he had more time.

The Minto man said he thought he had a right to put his dogs down but a provincial veterinary pathologist said Barton's tactics were not an acceptable method of euthanasia for dogs.

The vet said it would have taken three to five minutes for the dogs to die.

Not only did he kill these puppies, he also neglected them while they were alive.  He was charged with three counts of failing to give proper care to his thirteen Pomeranians.  Why only three counts if there were thirteen Pomeranians?  The Judge only fined him the minimum of about $120 on each case.

The judge gave him a conditional discharge, with the condition that he cannot own a dog or pet for the next 12 months.  

This is an extremely violent act and at the end of this, we have five dead puppies, a $360 fine for not providing water to three of the thirteen dogs, the condition that he cannot own any animals for twelve months, and he was found guilty of injuring an animal (the one who survived).  What about the ones he KILLED?  Do they not deserve justice!?


Sources:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/11/28/nb-defence-dogs.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/03/07/dogs-killed.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/02/03/nb-dogs-barton.html?ref=rss 

Man who dumped 5 puppies in roadside outhouse will face NO jail time!

A British Columbia man will no face jail time for a disturbing animal abuse case.

Frederick Hoath, 57, is sentenced to a fine of one thousand dollars for each of five counts of animal cruelty. He also received two years probation and 100 hours of community service. Hoath must pay close to 750 dollars for the cost of the rescue. He is allowed to keep his own dog but is banned from owning any new pets for a period of two years.

Five puppies were dumped in a roadside outhouse and left to die in the Crowsnest Pass in January 2008.

The animals were discovered, rescued, and eventually tracked to litter of puppies owned by a Crowsnest Pass woman.

Samantha Rieberger, 42, is also charged with animal cruelty. She will stand trial in February.

In passing down his sentence, the Pincher Creek judge called Hoath a good person who did a cruel thing. At his trial, witnesses testified that Hoath was a helpful and caring neighbour who organized a community toy drive.

Animals rights groups say they are disappointed with the sentence.

The maximum sentence on cruelty to animal charges is a fine up to five thousand dollars, six months in jail, or both.


Read more... 

Pets as presents a good idea? It can be.

Through out this article I refer only to adopting an animal.  I do not believe in buying an animal from a breeder or from a pet store, who usually come from puppy mills or other less than satisfactory circumstances.  (Why reward these people with money for creating a life when millions of animals are killed every year in shelters??)  I guarantee anyone will be able to find an animal they want from an animal shelter or a breed rescue.  There are millions of animals who need good homes, just waiting for their new parent to walk through the door!

Pets as presents can be a good idea-ONLY if the recipient has made the decision to adopt a pet.  Pets can be at least a 20 year commitment.  Someone who doesn't want a pet, may mistreat them, neglect them, fail to care for them, or any number of other things.  It can also cause a problem between the people involved if someone feels obligated to keep a pet they did not want in the first place.

Adopting a pet is a very rewarding experience.  Some shelters allow you to do something called "Foster to Adopt", which means you will foster the animal for a few weeks to make sure it is a good fit.  At the end of that time, or before, you can return the animal if they are not working out.

The best thing for someone to do is to buy a gift certificate for an animal.  The person goes to the shelter, adopts an animal and you pick up the tab!  Petfinder.com offers these and some local shelters do, too.  Many people want to choose their own pet.  The animal will be living with them and it is a big decision.  They might want to wait until after the hectic holiday season when they will have more time to spend with them once they get them home to ease the transition.

Adopting a pet, a kitten or adult, is a big responsibility but it is very rewarding.  Younger animals require more time, more training, more energy.  Older animals (1 year +) are less energetic and can be relaxing members of your family.  That is not to say that older animals won't play.  They can and do!  They just rest eventually and it seems that kittens and puppies don't!

I have read about giving pets as gifts and some sites say that pets given as gifts are kept longer than those people adopted from a shelter or as a stray.  Other sites say the opposite.  I don't know what the truth is but I don't think people should treat a pet a certain way, with a certain commitment based on how they received them.  Pet parents need to take the commitment seriously and keep the animals that they say they are going to keep.  There are very few reasons that I feel are justified for relinquishing an animal.

Adopting a new pet is a wonderful opportunity for parents to teach their children responsibility in the house with taking care of a pet and with keeping commitments.  I hope that parents use the opportunity to raise educated, compassionate children and show them that when you adopt an animal, it is for the rest of their life.  We have too many animals being taken to shelters for ridiculous reasons, such a moving.  You can move with an animal, it just requires effort that some people don't want to deal with.  If that is the case, don't get an animal in the first place.  You get an animal's hopes up, bring them into your home, then bring them back to the shelter when they are inconvenient.

Be responsible and teach your children what it really means to adopt an animal.

$4000 Worth of Supplies Stolen From Animal Shelter!

To those that care about the homeless pets in Kansas City:

There has been a small tragedy at The Pet Connection (TPC). On 11/19/08, TPC was the victim of a crime that will have grave costs to their shelter animals and for those that they are not able to rescue. A trailer and all the supplies needed for building 8 new dog and cat rooms was stolen. It is so sad, disappointing, and everyone at the facility is feeling a little defeated. Jason Huff and another volunteer got most of the supplies donated and spent 2 days loading it all for TPC so that the cost would be minimal. Replacement value of our loss: $4000.

They were going to start construction over Thanksgiving. The Executive Director & Operations Director had cancelled holiday plans with their families so that they could build these much needed life savers. Their Christmas gift to the homeless pets was an important one. They estimate that these rooms will help successfully house and rescue 15-40 additional pets each month. Almost 70 percent of the rescued dogs at their facility were scheduled to be euthanized in area shelters simply because of space constraints.

If anyone can send additional funding for this project, they would really appreciate. If everyone they have helped this month, would send $5......that would be about $3000. We need help. Please send your pledge today. I know that together, we can make this horrible turn of events seem small.


If they do not receive a rally from their friends, they will not be able to complete the project until much later. They are turning away about a hundred animals a month, please help them! They need these resources to be available as soon as possible-to start from scratch again.

If you would like to donate, you can donate online by visiting their Donate Page. Or you can mail or drop donations by the facility at 5918 Broadmoor, Mission KS 66202.

Visit their website at thepetconnection.net

Small-dog rescue needs supplies in Tennessee-can you help them out?

Small-dog rescue needs supplies

Second Chance & Happy Tails, a small-dog rescue and retirement home, is in need of dry and canned Pedigree, Iams and Iams puppy dog food and monetary donations for veterinary care. The shelter also is in need of dental bones, biscuits, small collars, cleaning supplies, grooming tools, dog bedding, blankets and toys. In addition, the shelter is collecting the weight circle proof-of-purchase symbols from all Purina dry dog food bags to exchange for veterinarian visits or dog food.

Mail circles or donations to: 513 Yvonne Drive, Clarksville, TN 37042

Contact: Inge Irby, 503-8300, 1PawUp@bellsouth.net or visit www.secondchancehappytails.petfinder.org.

Breeders kill shelter animals!

I somehow found my way to this site, usfreeads.com, and found nearly 6000 ads for puppies. There are 6000 ads trying to sell litters of puppies. So, just say there are 5 to a litter...thats 30,000 lives created to make money. On nextdaypets.com, there are over 20,000 ads! On terrificpets.com, they have nearly 2,000 ads, some advertising one puppy others advertising entire litters.

Doing a google search for "puppies for sale", I get 3,230,000 results.
For kittens, I get just 659,00 results.

This is very irresponsible considering the amount of animals that are euthanized each year. I do not buy the argument that people are trying to save a breed. According to the Humane Society of the United States, purebreds account for about 25 to 30 percent of a shelter's dog population. Animal shelters care for between 6–8 million dogs and cats every year in the United States, of whom approximately 3–4 million are euthanized. If we use the highest estimated numbers (30% of 8 million) possible we come up with 2.4 million purebred animals in shelters nationwide. There is no reason to "keep the breed(s) alive", it is alive and well.

I do not see how breeders can defend their actions. Even if the breeders are giving the cats and dogs a good life, they still created a life that takes a home away from a shelter animal. How can they call themselves animal lovers if they are deliberately creating a new life in an already overwhelming population of cats and dogs who are euthanized every single day?

Money.

I think breeders do it for the money. I saw a Yorkie online going for $3,000! That is outrageous!

The site that I linked to above has this on their site: A replacement puppy (male or female of your choice) will be given at no charge, once the original puppy is returned to us at buyer's expense. The puppy must not be spayed or neutered.
They don't spay or neuter their puppies they adopt out?!

It is a tragedy that this is happening. Maybe if there weren't breeders and puppy mills out there, the innocent cats and dogs that were killed today might still be here. Because of human action, those cats and dogs are in dumpsters. Shame on you-irresponsible breeders!!

Your actions are helping to kill cats and dogs all over the country!

DON'T BREED OF BUY WHILE SHELTER ANIMALS DIE!

Adoptions at PetSmart today...

I helped with adoptions today at PetSmart. I am amazed sometimes by the ignorance of people. We were there from 11 to 3. We had many people come through who said, "No, I can't have anymore cats--my cat just had kittens." Where will those kittens go? They will probably be given to other irresponsible people who will say the same thing to us when they come through the store in 6 months or so. (btw, cats can have kittens as early as 6 months of age.)

We came in with 3 grey kittens and 3 adult cats. Which ones were adopted? The kittens were gone before 2:00. The adult cats, who are much less work, were still sitting there when 3:00 rolled around.

Nearly everyone who walked by commented on Avery, a short hair tabby. Nobody adopted him. He does have a cleft palate, which causes a deformity on his nose. He is spunky and playful, yet nobody wanted him. Murphy, a beautiful long haired orange cat was there and nobody wanted him. Orion, a sweet lap cat, was looked over also. I felt like I was one of those annoying car salesmen, or woman in this case. I really pushed to get those cats adopted. They deserve happy homes.

Why is our society so superficial? These kittens that were adopted today might be returned to the shelter once they are no longer "cute". Then they are destined to fight for a coveted spot in someone's house. What message are we sending to our children and these poor cats?

Adopting a cat or dog is for LIFE. I have two cats of my own. I adopted Gaby at 8 months (she was going to be euthanized for being black). My cat Ashtyn was a year and a half when I adopted her. I will have them until they pass away. I never thought any different. They are mine until the end. Period.

Please educate others whenever you get a chance. Let everyone know that you are a responsible pet owner and you will have your pet until the end. There is really no reason not to.



Murphy

Avery

Orion