Humane Society buys puppy mill

[shirlblack]

I saw this on Fox news yesterday.


The Wisconsin Humane Society is buying one of the largest dog breeding facilities in the nation, and plans to close the kennel and find new homes for the more than 1,100 dogs there, the society announced Friday.

The action appears to be an unprecedented step in the campaign by U.S. humane societies against puppy mills.

"We have not heard of this ever being done by a local facility," said Cory Smith, program manager of animal sheltering issues for the Humane Society of the United States. "You see these places and it's heartbreaking. So when you know that people are making a living by this, this approach seems like a logical step - to use financial means to get the animals out of there."

Puppy Haven Kennel in Markesan, about 90 miles northwest of Milwaukee, will close after selling its dog breeding business to the Wisconsin Humane Society for an undisclosed amount that Humane Society board member Tony Enea called "pennies on the dollar." In a statement, the society said the kennel's owner, Wallace Havens, was "willing to substantially discount the sale of the business because the dogs would be retired and placed in good homes."

Victoria Wellens, executive director of the Wisconsin Humane Society, said at a news conference Friday that new programs will be developed to help the dogs taken from Puppy Haven become more socialized and adoptable.

"None of these dogs has had a toy or been cuddled," Wellens said.

While in operation, Puppy Haven sold about 3,000 dogs a year. The dog breeds included pugs, beagles, poodles, miniature schnauzers, Shih Tzus, American Eskimos, Yorkshire terriers and mixes known as "designer breeds."

Havens was suspended and fined by the American Kennel Club in 2006 over conditions at his kennel, according to Daisy Okas, a spokeswoman for the AKC.

"AKC inspected Mr. Havens and found some dogs that were in overcrowded conditions, dogs with matted/dirty/neglected coats and a dog that had been injured with no evidence of receiving veterinary care. Also, he had issues with missing, incomplete and incorrect records and problems identifying some dogs," Okas said in an e-mail. "We gave him the opportunity to correct these problems and request a reinspection. He sent in his reinspection request, but then canceled the day the inspector was driving out to conduct the inspection. Therefore, AKC suspended him. Suspension means he can't register dogs with us."

The Humane Society of the United States also received complaints against Puppy Haven and Havens, according to Kathleen Summers, deputy director of the U.S. society's Stop Puppy Mills Campaign.

"I have had complaints about him from local shelters that say he would discard his leftover breeding stock when they couldn't breed anymore," she said. "He would bring them to the shelters and it was clear they had spent their whole lives in a cage. There were hundreds of dogs on wet floors, freezing with no temperature control in the winter."

Havens, speaking from his home in Kingston, said he sold the Puppy Haven assets to the Wisconsin Humane Society because he is 72 years old and "I'm ready to retire."

"I've been dealing with the Wisconsin Humane Society for years, and they have helped our sick puppies. They are very good about finding them homes," he said. "Some folks are good with dogs and not with people, but the society is nice to people and animals. They don't run us down."

When asked about past complaints about the conditions at Puppy Haven, he said: "Our dogs have been better taken care of than in a home. They have a run and food all the time."

The Puppy Haven dogs will be transported to the Wisconsin Humane Society over several months and will get medical treatment before being put up for adoption. Some of the dogs will be available for adoption in a few days.

The Wisconsin Humane Society is asking for contributions to help pay for the costs of the dogs' care and adoption.

[yorkieisme]

This is awesome and a great new step toward helping these poor animals.

[chachi]

I have read about that mill before and I am so glad it is being shut down

[Nikki+2]

That is absolutely amazing and so heart warming! Thank you for posting it.

[Nikki+2]

Here's a link to the Wisconsin Humane Society regarding this- Wisconsin Humane Society - News & Events with info on helping out.

[red98vett]

YES !!!!! Old Wallace of Puppy Haven is STILL defending himself acting like he was this 'caring' breeder' when he was nothing but a horrible puppy mill like we said ALL ALONG !

He's been brought up on this site quite a few times - here's one of the old links regarding this MILL - http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/off...n-wallace.html

Whoo - hoo - GOOD for the Humane Society ~! I hope this is a start of a trend and more states take charge like this. AND I hope they're telling the truth about finding homes for all those poor dogs.

[jencar98]

Originally Posted by red98vett

YES !!!!! Old Wallace of Puppy Haven is STILL defending himself acting like he was this 'caring' breeder' when he was nothing but a horrible puppy mill like we said ALL ALONG !

He's been brought up on this site quite a few times - here's one of the old links regarding this MILL - http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/off...n-wallace.html

Whoo - hoo - GOOD for the Humane Society ~! I hope this is a start of a trend and more states take charge like this. AND I hope they're telling the truth about finding homes for all those poor dogs.

Oh Ya - I remember Old Wally from arguments in the past.....thinking of how he was actually defended by a banned member.

I'm thinking he needs to go the way of the worn-out, bred to death dogs, he kept for all of those years.

WTG....Humane Society!!!

One down and how many hundreds more to go!?

[chachi]

Originally Posted by red98vett

YES !!!!! Old Wallace of Puppy Haven is STILL defending himself acting like he was this 'caring' breeder' when he was nothing but a horrible puppy mill like we said ALL ALONG !

He's been brought up on this site quite a few times - here's one of the old links regarding this MILL - http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/off...n-wallace.html

Whoo - hoo - GOOD for the Humane Society ~! I hope this is a start of a trend and more states take charge like this. AND I hope they're telling the truth about finding homes for all those poor dogs.

Do you remember when "Miss some body" even defended this guy as a legit breeder? I hope she sees this thread

[yorkieisme]

Just looked at his site, seems like there are two sides to a story. He also had a lot of dogs. He said they were worked with 24/7 but he had self feeders. All of the designer dogs shocked me. Seemed his puppies had problems a lot also since he gave discounts for the puppies to a few people. I don't understand the difference in inspections, if he failed one he should have failed the other. If those buildings are his, a lot of money was spent but he had a lot of pictures of different animals in one run. All in all I left the site feeling like they did the best thing when they took those poor animals away. Of course my husband's thoughts were, dang tax money is being used to buy this man out. My question is Why not just go in and take his animals? Why pay him? What about other puppy mills, now they will want money to be shut down.

[Reese1]

Wow, that's wonderful! I wish there weren't so many out there, but this is a big one and each one being shut down helps!

[jencar98]

Originally Posted by yorkieisme

Just looked at his site, seems like there are two sides to a story. He also had a lot of dogs. He said they were worked with 24/7 but he had self feeders. All of the designer dogs shocked me. Seemed his puppies had problems a lot also since he gave discounts for the puppies to a few people. I don't understand the difference in inspections, if he failed one he should have failed the other. If those buildings are his, a lot of money was spent but he had a lot of pictures of different animals in one run. All in all I left the site feeling like they did the best thing when they took those poor animals away. Of course my husband's thoughts were, dang tax money is being used to buy this man out. My question is Why not just go in and take his animals? Why pay him? What about other puppy mills, now they will want money to be shut down.

I don't think tax money is being used to shut him down. The Humane Society is not government (taxpayer) funded.

But even if it took government funding to shut him down, so be it. We use tax payer money to shut down drug labs, bad daycares and other unscrupulous businesses.

[yorkieisme]

Originally Posted by jencar98

I don't think tax money is being used to shut him down. The Humane Society is not government (taxpayer) funded.

But even if it took government funding to shut him down, so be it. We use tax payer money to shut down drug labs, bad daycares and other unscrupulous businesses.

I did not ask this to get any one mad..... I told him I didn't think tax money was used. But I do wonder if these animals will get homes or are some to far gone mentally to even be placed. I do agree it should have happened also.

[YorkieRose]

How much did they paid..anyone know?
He produced 3000 pups per year..what greed. At his age, he is very close to the gates of Hell, I would be very worried if I was him.

[izzierj]

I'm happy it's coming to an end for this horrible place...I just don't understand how someone can 'cancel' an inspection, it should be a surprise inspection !!! Afterall, if it's bad during the inspection, can you imagine how it was before it was given a chance to 'clean up'? This man should retire on a floor of frozen pee like his 'merchandise' did !!!

[mistyinca]

Originally Posted by shirlblack

There were hundreds of dogs on wet floors, freezing with no temperature control in the winter."

This just makes my blood run cold. How awful.

Thank goodness these poor doggies will get a chance at a loving home. They are going to need lots of love and attention to rehabilitate them.