Dogs Rescued From Breeder Brought To KC
Mo. Breeder Accused Of Setting Fire To Property
POSTED: 1:03 pm CST February 27, 2009
Dogs Rescued From Breeder Brought To KC - Kansas City News Story - KMBC Kansas City
photo of some dogs & a mug shot of the breeder
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Dozens of dogs rescued from a Missouri puppy mill were brought to Kansas City area animal shelters on Friday.
An unlicensed breeder in southwest Missouri agreed to surrender 200 purebred dogs after allegedly setting fire to his property, distraught over his wife's leaving, financial problems and the prospect of losing his animals.
"I just went a little nuts today," Michael Vanderwall told the Ozark County sheriff Tuesday evening, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Authorities said Vanderwall, whose breeding facility has been under state scrutiny at least since September, became angry when a Missouri Department of Agriculture inspector arrived at his property earlier Tuesday and, seeing that conditions had not improved, tried to persuade him to surrender the animals.
The roughly 200 English springer spaniels and German shorthaired pointers had been roaming in groups on pasture with access to a kennel, barn and house, said Matt Rold, who heads the state's inspection program. Vanderwall was living in an adjoining camper.
Rold said Vanderwall allegedly set his barn, kennel, house and camper on fire Tuesday after the inspector left. The affidavit says Vanderwall was armed and initially wouldn't permit emergency personnel onto his property.
He later relented, was arrested, and told authorities his wife had left him, turned off his utilities, and informed the state he had abused his dogs. He said his property was under foreclosure and wasn't insured, the affidavit said.
The dogs and puppies, some of them burned, were taken Wednesday from Vanderwall's River Valley Puppies Kennels, near Tecumseh.
Twelve dogs and 10 puppies will be treated at the Central Missouri Humane Society in Columbia, with the others to be turned over to rescue groups, Rold said.
Vanderwall was held Wednesday in the Ozark County jail on a
charge of second-degree felony arson, and could face other charges, Prosecutor Tom Cline said. He already faces felony charges accusing him of passing bad checks. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney.
Vanderwall relinquished 50 of his dogs to the state Department of Agriculture in September, to make the situation on his property more manageable, Rold said, adding that conditions "did not meet the threshold of animal abuse."
Vanderwall also failed to pay a licensing penalty fee or pass inspection, and was never licensed by the state.
It was the third high-profile incident involving southwest Missouri puppy mills in two weeks.
On Feb. 13, the Humane Society of Missouri rescued more than 100 mostly Yorkshire terriers from an unlicensed facility near Pleasant Hope.
Six days later, the organization seized 208 dogs, a domestic cat and a Bengal tiger from a facility in Seneca.