Cruelty Database » Case Details

Puppy Mill - 600 dogs found, 125 seized
Williford, AR (US)

Date: Aug 2003
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 20 files available

Abusers/Suspects:

Chester Clinton Baird, Jr

Patsy M Baird

Jeannette Baird

Patricia Baird

Case Updates: 4 update(s) available

Case ID: 1811

Classification: Neglect / Abandonment

Animal: dog (non pit-bull)

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Martin Creek Kennels near Hardy in Northeast Arkansas is owned by a man animal rights groups call the most notorious class-B animal dealer in the county. In August, the Feds confiscated more than 100 dogs from C.C. Baird's Martin Creek Kennels. Agents took the animals to Little Rock to the state fairgrounds before sending them on to Humane Societies and Animal Rights groups in Arkansas and across the country. Three of the dogs ended up in foster care in Crittenden County. "He's had a very bad injury to his eye and he's got scars all over his face." The other dog is still thin but friendly.

Julanne Ingram, president of the Humane Society of Eastern Arkansas, says an alarm went off in her head when a friend called and told her the dogs came from C.C. Baird's Martin Creek kennels. "The instant I heard his name I knew what the situation was because he has been charged before - he's been convicted."

In that August raid, agents from the United States Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Attorney's office in Little Rock, armed with a warrant, spent almost a week checking out more than 600 dogs. They found reason to seize 125 of the dogs. Bud Cummins, U.S. Attorney said, "There were veterinarians on hand at the time of the search and they examined each dog and some of them because of the state of their health they were seized others didn't have appropriate documentation at the site that established the person there's legal right to have those dogs. So they were taken." Cummins says Baird is being investigated for violations of the Animal Welfare Act and other criminal statutes. Cummins says the confiscated animals are one of the largest groups ever seized by the feds. The U.S.D.A. issued Baird's Class-B license. It allows him to legally sell animals to research labs. The big question many have is where does he get the dogs.

Animal rights groups like Last Chance for Animals say C.C. Baird abuses his animals, and they claim to have the undercover video to prove it. The group also accuses Baird of buying stolen animals, pets for 10 to 20 dollars a piece. They say he sells them for research, getting as much as 800 dollars an animal.

As a result of Last Chance for Animal's (LCA) undercover investigation, USDA licensed Class B dealer C.C. Baird, owner of Martin Creek Kennels in Arkansas, was charged with hundreds of violations by the USDA for the inhumane treatment of animals at his facility. The USDA is still allowing C.C. Baird to operate while civil charges are pending!

Please contact the USDA (who issued Baird�s license in the first place) to have his license revoked and to stop him from operating.

Please contact by letters, email, phone or fax:

Ann M. Veneman
United States Secretary Of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20250
Phone: 202-720-3631
Fax: 202-720-2166
E-mail: [email protected]

The Honorable Marc R. Hillson
Chief Administrative Law Judge
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250
Phone: 202-720-8305
Fax: 202-690-0790
[email protected]

If you wish to find additional contact information for people to write to, visit the Last Chance for Animals website.

Case Updates

Posted on Feb 18, 2006 - 11:55PM

On Tuesday, February 21st at 10pm/9c, HBO America Undercover will premiere DEALING DOGS, a documentary about Last Chance for Animals� groundbreaking undercover investigation into pet theft.

Last Chance for Animals conducted an undercover investigation into Class "B" dealer C.C. Baird and his facility, Martin Creek Kennels in Williford, Arkansas by placing one of its undercover investigators on the "inside" for six months. HBO America Undercover's DEALING DOGS follows "Pete" as he infiltrates the kennel and documents the hideous abuse and neglect of hundreds of dogs and cats.

C.C. Baird ran one of the country's most notorious pet theft rings and supplied research facilities with thousands of animals, many of them suspected to be stolen pets. This groundbreaking LCA undercover investigation led to the largest multi-agency (federal, state and local) animal abuse case in U.S. history. This is the story of that harrowing investigation and its historic outcome.

Visit www.DealingDogs.com to read more about LCA's investigation and find out how you can help.

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Posted on Aug 31, 2005 - 3:04PM

The man once known as "America's largest and most notorious Class B animal dealer" pleaded guilty on Aug 30 in a Little Rock federal courtroom to a criminal charge related to his 15-year operation of a Sharp County kennel.

Chester "C.C." Baird, 58, pleaded guilty to a single count of money laundering conspiracy, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of more than $5 million.

Baird's wife, Patsy, also 58, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, or failure to report a crime, in connection with mail fraud the Bairds admittedly committed while buying and selling animals. She faces up to three years in prison.

Chief U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes said he would set a sentencing date later.

As part of their negotiated pleas, the Bairds agreed to surrender to the government about 700 acres of land valued at $1.1 million, on which they lived and operated Martin Creek Kennels near Williford and sold dogs and cats, some believed to be stolen pets, to medical research
facilities.

They also agreed to pay $200,000 cash and reimburse government-approved animal rescue groups about $42,400 for the expense of caring for and finding homes for about 125 dogs and one cat that federal agents seized from the kennel in fall 2003. The money also will go toward the cost of caring for some of the 145 cats and 89 dogs the Bairds surrendered to the government in January.

The surrender was part of a settlement that the Bairds and their daughters, Jeanette Baird Thornhill and Patricia Baird, reached to resolve a 108-page civil lawsuit that the U.S. Department of Agriculture filed against the four on March 11, 2004. It alleged numerous violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, which regulates the transport, sale and handling of animals intended for research.

The case was settled just before a trial was to begin on Jan. 24 in Little Rock.

In addition to turning the animals over to the USDA, which in turn called on animal welfare groups that found homes for all of them across the country, C.C. Baird paid a $250,000 fine, the largest civil penalty in the history of the nearly 40-year-old law. He paid an additional $12,700 penalty for failing to comply with past cease-and-desist orders.

The agreement resulted in the permanent revocation of licenses that allowed the Bairds to legally sell and breed animals, effectively putting them out of business.

"Using animals for medical research is a very sensitive area, so it's vital we enforce the laws that apply," U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins said Tuesday. He said that although the investigation couldn't confirm that any of the animals seized from Baird's property were stolen pets, "Clearly, that's the main focus of the case. If they're violating the law [in failing to properly account for the pets they sell], clearly these animals can come from anywhere - including your backyard."

The Bairds' troubles with the U.S. attorney's office became public two years ago when federal agricultural and postal agents served a search warrant at the kennel, seizing the 125 dogs and one cat, and leaving about 600 animals on the premises.

Cummins said Tuesday that the raid came during a federal investigation that ensued nearly a year earlier after an undercover operation at the kennels by a national nonprofit animal advocacy organization based in Los Angeles called Last Chance for Animals.

Cummins said that after Last Chance turned over secretly recorded videotape obtained by a Last Chance member who posed as a worker at the heavily secured kennels, "federal investigators took over the case and corroborated all the information independently."

Among other things, the videotape showed a beagle being slugged and a terrier mix being shot in the head.

Chris DeRose, the organization's founder and president, attended the plea hearing on Tuesday. Afterward, he said that he was "extremely happy" with the work of the U.S. attorney's office and the U.S. office of inspector general, and that he hopes Baird will get prison time and another substantial fine.

DeRose noted that in the nearly 18 months since the time of the raid and the time the Bairds agreed to cease operations, "We estimate that about 1,000 dogs went through there," which would have easily enabled Baird to pay his hefty fine.

"There's big money in selling animals for medical research," Cummins agreed.

Baird sold animals to nearly 50 research facilities across the country, making a six-figure income for several years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lipe, who spearheaded the criminal investigation, told Judge Holmes that Baird made $584,000 in 2001 alone, solely by selling animals. DeRose has said that Class B dealers often buy animals, including stolen pets, from people who know the dealers and approach them at auctions. The animals are bought for about $15 apiece and sold to research labs for between $250 and $800 apiece.

Lipe told the judge that undercover USDA agents saw C.C. and Patsy Baird buying dogs at a monthly flea market in Ripley, Miss., which the Bairds frequented. Lipe said witnesses were prepared to testify about delivering cats and dogs to the Bairds at the flea markets.

She said people who sold animals to the Bairds, who operated the largest animal-selling operation in the country, would have testified that the Bairds prepared false acquisition records. Those documents made it appear the animals were bought from licensed breeders or animal shelters when they actually were not, she said.

Baird, who is also employed as a Church of Christ minister and an insurance adjuster, and his wife were freed until their sentencing date. They and defense attorney Kent Rubens of West Memphis declined to comment after the hearing.

Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Aug 31, 2005

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Posted on Feb 6, 2005 - 3:14AM

Baird, his wife, Patsy, and two daughters, Jeannette and Patricia received five years probation and fines amounting to $262,7000, the largest fine ever imposed by the USDA/APHIS (United States Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service). Also, their licenses to buy/sell animals for research labs have been permanently revoked.

USDA spokesman Jim Rogers said the Bairds paid the fine in order to avoid further federal charges.

Source: Daily American Republic - Feb 4, 2005

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Posted on Dec 30, 2004 - 1:42PM

Judge Hillson has scheduled a hearing date for January 24, 2005.

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