Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Ginny Conley |
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Puppy mill - over 1,000 dogs seized
Parkersburg, WV (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Aug 23, 2008
County: Wood
Disposition: Not Charged
Case Images: 1 files available
Persons of Interest:
» Sharon Roberts
» Edwin Roberts
Case Updates: 4 update(s) available
More than 1,000 puppies have a new lease on life following their discovery Saturday in a large puppy mill breeding facility tucked away in the backwoods of West Virginia, just outside of city of Parkersburg.
Best Friends Animal Society is on site working with local Wood County law enforcement officials, the Humane Society of Parkersburg and the Humane Society of the United States, and, late Saturday began rescuing scores of dogs from the Whispering Oaks Kennels.
"Right now, we are concentrating on removing the newborns, the pregnant mothers, and any dogs who need immediate medical attention," said Rich Crook, rapid response manager for Best Friends Animal Society.
"The dogs, most of them dachshunds, Chihuahuas, poodles and other small breed dogs, were confined sometimes four or five to a cage measuring just two feet by three feet," Crook said. "Many cages had feces in them. All had poor ventilation. The sheer number of animals was overwhelming, and the odor of urine in 90-plus degree heat was stifling."
By the end of the day Saturday, Crook said as many as 200 animals might be removed from Whispering Oaks and transported to a local emergency shelter set up by the local group, the Humane Society of Parkersburg. The remaining dogs will be transported over the next two days, he said.
Best Friends has been working with the Parkersburg Humane Society since last May, when the agency called for assistance in the case. Best Friends also advised the Wood County prosecutor�s office in the case, and recently requested assistance from HSUS and other agencies to help with coordination of the operations at the local emergency shelter.
The fight against puppy mills, mass breeding operations that supply pet stores and fuel internet sales throughout the United States, is a priority initiative for Best Friends, which in the past two years led several other puppy mill busts. Puppy mills produce an estimated four million dogs in the U.S. each year for the pet sales market; and, sadly, an estimated six million homeless dogs and cats are killed in the U.S. each year.
"It�s a national travesty that the puppy mill industry is allowed to flood the market every year with so many dogs being killed each year in animal shelters," said Julie Castle, director of community programs at Best Friends.
Best Friends� Community Programs group works with local organizations across the United States on a wide variety of animal welfare issues related to pet overpopulation, including puppy mills and management of feral cat populations.
For ongoing information about the dogs rescued in West Virginia, visit www.bestfriends.org.
Case UpdatesSo far, 10 of the nearly 50 dogs rescued from a Parkersburg, W.Va., puppy mill have found new local homes.
Paulette Dean, executive director of the Danville Area Humane Society, said the pets arrived late on Aug. 29 and the adoption process started Wednesday.
"Most of the dogs are friendly and have no serious health problems," she said. "The two Chinese Cresteds must be adopted into the same home. The female is very shy and they are quite bonded (to each other). We promised the staff at the Humane Society of Parkersburg that they would remain together."
Dean estimates the shelter has received hundreds of phone calls from Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia as people inquire about adopting the dogs.
She said the dogs are not house broken, but would make good pets. One problem is people are willing to adopt the younger dogs, not the older ones, Dean added.
"It's going to be hard to find a home for the 10-year-old dog," she said.
There has been a lot of interest in adopting the Shih Tzus and the younger dachshunds. Neither of the Jack Russell dogs have been adopted, and some of the dachshunds with dental and other health problems have not found homes.
"One of the Jack Russell terriers is especially high energy and needs to be in a home with active people, preferably with prior experience with Jack Russells," Dean said. | Source: GoDanRiver - Sept 6, 2008
Update posted on Sep 6, 2008 - 10:11AM |
Nine frightened dachshunds arrived this week at the Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals from a massive raid on a puppy mill in West Virginia after authorities shut down the business and rescued 1,000 dogs of various breeds.
The dogs, used for repeated breeding, were kept in small rabbit hutches in 95 degree heat, many without enough water, officials said.
The owner of the facility turned over the animals and signed a document barring her from operating another breeding facility.
The dogs brought to SICSA are being cared for by foster families until they are socialized, undergo medical care and are ready for adoption. The organization is accepting donations for their care and will be looking for permanent homes in the coming months.
For more information, visit www.sicsa.org or send a donation to SICSA, 2600 Wilmington Pike, Kettering, Ohio, 45419. | Source: Dayton Daily News - Aug 29, 2008
Update posted on Aug 29, 2008 - 5:31PM |
Saturday, 982 dogs were seized from Whispering Oaks Kennel in Parkersburg,WVa., following a lengthy investigation.
The owner of the kennel, 72 year-old Sharon Roberts, agreed to surrender the animals and has not been charged.
The Humane Society of Parkersburg still doesn't know how much of a toll this case has taken on their bank account, but it has already seriously depleted their medical and food supplies.
As of Wednesday, the shelter still had 100 animals needed to be taken care of and in need of homes.
The population of animals in the care of the Parkersburg Humane Society went from one hundred to over a thousand in a matter of hours. Now, the group finds itself dealing with more than its equipped to handle alone.
Volunteers have been working to take donations and clean cages, just to name some of their duties.
The shelter operates about $50,000 over budget every year even with a skeleton crew and low wages. The longterm effects of this incident are yet to be determined.
Donations have been coming in from individuals and businesses. Animal rescue organizations from across the country have stepped up to help with the emergency shelter and the effort to transport the animals to other states for adoption. They are also helping with rehabilitation to make the dogs more adoptable.
There is still no exact timeline for how long the animals will need to be cared for at the warehouse.
In response to the horrible conditions at this puppy mill, the Moundsville County Animal Shelter is accepting donations of towels, rolled newspapers and money. Any donations should be made out to the Humane Society of Parkersburg. Donations will be accepted now through Tuesday. You can contact the Moundsville shelter by calling (304)845-9770. | Source: WTRF-TV - Aug 26, 2008
Update posted on Aug 27, 2008 - 6:50PM |
Parkersburg-area dog kennel has surrendered about 1,000 dogs to humane officials after authorities executed a search warrant on the property over the weekend.
Sharon Roberts, who has operated Whispering Oaks Kennels since 1961, also agreed never to operate a dog-breeding business again.
"They said 'If you don't voluntarily give up the dogs, we will arrest you and put you in jail and charge a fine for each dog here,'" Roberts said Monday. "What would you do?"
Authorities said the dogs were never let out of their cages and rarely, if ever, touched by a human being.
"I equate this to living in one room of my house for all of my life and somebody just dropping groceries by once a week, not a lot of stimulation," said Maryann Hollis, executive director of the Humane Society of Parkersburg. "This is not what dogs were put on this planet for."
Roberts disputes the allegation that the dogs had no human contact.
"How can you raise dogs without worming them and vaccinating them, trimming their toenails and grooming them?"
"We petted them and played with them and held them," she said. "They rode around on a golf cart with us. They were very well socialized."
Rescuers said the dogs, mostly purebred dachshunds, stumble when they try to walk on grass, tile or carpet.
"Some of them, you put them on the ground and they don't know what it is because they've lived their entire life on wire mesh," said Deputy Robert Sims of the Wood County Sheriff's Office.
But Roberts, 72, said all the pens were made of vinyl-coated wire, not mesh, and that they opened to covered exercise pens.
"All the dogs had food and water in front of them at all times," she said, adding that she and her four full-time and two part-time employees cleaned the cages every day.
Hollis said some of the dogs looked well fed, but that she's "seen some where the spine's been showing."
"You have to understand, in an environment with four or five in a kennel, they're competing for food," she said. "They become a pack ... fighting for resources."
Both Hollis and Sims said the buildings where the dogs were kept lacked air conditioning and that temperatures hovered in the mid- to upper 90s over the weekend.
Sims first arrived on the property Saturday to serve a search warrant while investigating anonymous complaints of improper discharge of dog-related pollution into a dry creek bed.
"You simply can't describe the overwhelming smell of the ammonia, the feces," Sims said of the dog runs. "And these were kept decently clean. But still, the smell was just horrible."
Samples have been sent to a lab and investigators are awaiting an analysis to determine whether to issue citations for environmental violations. No animal neglect charges will be filed because of Roberts' agreement to give up the dogs and get out of the dog-breeding business.
"She was trying to care for the animals the best way she could, but it was just impossible to care for that many dogs properly with the staff that the kennel had," Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Ginny Conley.
Most of the animals which range in age from day-old newborns to several years old were in relatively good health, although Hollis said there are a few that look to be suffering from mange, hypoglycemia and heat exhaustion. One dog is partially paralyzed, but the Best Friends Animal Society has committed to taking care of it for the rest of its life and is outfitting it with a cart so that it can get around, Hollis said.
Roberts' husband, Edwin, 74, was arrested Sunday on charges of assault of a police officer and obstructing a police officer. According to the criminal complaint, he repeatedly refused to put down a chain saw he was using to cut brush near one of the dog runs while the animals were being removed. He allegedly raised the saw toward one deputy and revved it before putting it down.
Roberts said her husband had ear plugs in while using the chain saw and didn't hear the requests to turn it off.
The animals have been temporarily moved to a Parkersburg warehouse. Each must be seen by a veterinarian and vaccinated before being taken to rescue sites across the country for rehabilitation.
In addition to housebreaking them, the dogs must be socialized before they can be put up for adoption, said Hollis.
"These dogs have never been outside of that environment. Everything is new to them," she said, explaining that experiences such as car rides and going for walks on a leash are foreign to them.
Animal rescue organizations across the nation are volunteering in the effort, which Hollis says could easily cost $200,000.
The time and money is worth it, she said.
"They're happy now, they've settled in," she said of the rescued dogs. "They come to you with these bright eyes, saying 'Thank you.' " | Source: Journal-Gazette - Aug 26, 2008
Update posted on Aug 26, 2008 - 7:30PM |
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