Puppy mill busted

[Grendel]

Well there is a new problem. Guilford Co. animal shelter is now overloaded because they have to keep these dogs as evidence, and they need foster parents for their additional intake. I wish I could help, but I can't right now, so, I am trying to help by asking anyone in the area to foster if you can.

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by Grendel

Well there is a new problem. Guilford Co. animal shelter is now overloaded because they have to keep these dogs as evidence, and they need foster parents for their additional intake. I wish I could help, but I can't right now, so, I am trying to help by asking anyone in the area to foster if you can.

Fostering the Yorkies or the other dogs?

[MadDeDo]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

Fostering the Yorkies or the other dogs?

As far as I've heard (and what has been in the newspaper here), they are NOT adopting out or placing any of the Rush Kennel dogs in foster homes right now. Rather, they need fosters for all the other animals that were previously in the shelter before the Rush dogs came in. I think they are still busy evaluating all their veterinary needs. I don't know how many of them were Yorkies, that is only one of the many breeds that she had

[Anith01]

Just in case anyone's interested - the entire episode of (SR) on Wife Swap will air next Wednesday (4/21/10) at 1:00 CT on Lifetime. Its almost like you have to see it to believe it and I still can't. How can some people live with themselves????????

[megooego]

Wow, I cannot believe that video! That woman is nuts! How can you put a few of your dogs on a pedestal, letting them live inside in luxury and then have 100 more out in a kennel? It just doesn't make sense to me..

[mommadog1]

Originally Posted by megooego

Wow, I cannot believe that video! That woman is nuts! How can you put a few of your dogs on a pedestal, letting them live inside in luxury and then have 100 more out in a kennel? It just doesn't make sense to me..

I agree, I don't get it. I know this cocker breeder, has tons of champions and breeds way to much as well.. But she has ALL her dogs outside in kennels and not even one pet in the house. i have nothing to do with her any more though. I bought a dog from her years ago and it all went to hell in a handbasket after that. she makes me sick

[mommadog1]

Originally Posted by Anith01

Just in case anyone's interested - the entire episode of (SR) on Wife Swap will air next Wednesday (4/21/10) at 1:00 CT on Lifetime. Its almost like you have to see it to believe it and I still can't. How can some people live with themselves????????

Thanks for posting that!

[OvidDelma]

I bought my first Shorky (at least that is what they called her) She looks like she is mixed with Shih Tzu, Laso apso, pug and yorkie. Not really sure what she is. But this place raises all kinds and mixes - they never allow people to see anything but the puppy they are wanting to buy. They overcharged me. They charged me $450 for a $200 to $250 price. The puppy was stinky -

I would love to know that they were checked out with a surprise visit. This woman is rude and filthy mouthed. She contradicted herself when I was contacting them over the price after speaking to the Vet she refers all her people to use. I met two other people who had bought a puppy from them and neither of them saw anything but the puppy. They met me at 6:30 am in the morning across from the airport with my Mia. I saved this dog from living in her own mess.

I know their web page if anyone would be interested. According to her sight her clients are very happy with their puppies - as I am, but I do not believe they are doing for any other reason but to make money. When you breed and sale as many different breeds and mixes as they do, that is their income. That is wrong. They are not trying to better the breeds.

[megansmomma]

Here is a Fan Page on Facebook that you can join!


Rush Kennel - Horror at Pleasant Garden | Facebook


[QUOTE]PLEASANT GARDEN — On its Web site, Rush Kennel bills itself as “North Carolina’s No. 1 dog kennel,” a place where Weimaraners, Labrador retrievers and other breeds frolic in a fenced play yard before the day ends with a massage, pool bath and pedicure.

“We pamper our dogs and make them feel great all over,” proclaims the Web site for the kennel, which is owned by Pleasant Garden businesswoman Sheila Rush Savage.

But the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and the county Animal Shelter say they found something quite different last week in searching the kennel, after a four-month investigation of the breeding operation that sold purebred puppies for up to $800 each.

Investigators discovered filthy conditions that included large amounts of dog and rat feces, foul drinking water, malnourished dogs infested with such parasites as hookworms and heartworms, some dogs with rampant dental decay, others with severe lacerations and at least one with an eye infection so severe the eye must be removed.

Live electrical wires were strung across the cages, apparently to prevent the dogs from getting out, shelter director Marsha Williams said.

“In front, it looked very nice, very clean and very professional. It was behind the wooden privacy fence where you saw the issues,” said Williams, who helped deputies check out the kennel during their Wednesday raid.

Efforts to reach Savage and other kennel personnel for comment Saturday were unsuccessful. In the aftermath of last week’s raid, the 53-year-old dog breeder faces charges of animal cruelty, as does the shelter’s caretaker, Robert Landreth, 61.

After the two turned themselves in Friday, their lawyer said they had explanations for all the allegations and predicted they’ll be exonerated.

For example, attorney Kent Lively said, a rail-thin Weimaraner taken from the kennel and pictured recently in the News & Record was not underfed.

“(The dog) is an elderly dog and they tend to lose weight at 10 or 11 years old,” Lively said in an interview Friday. “She (Savage) doesn’t allow any of her dogs to be malnourished, is what she tells me.”

Before last week’s arrest, Savage was in the news during a 2007 stint on ABC’s “Wife Swap” reality show, where much was made of her affection for her nine Chihuahuas and poodles.

But evidence emerging so far in the case shows that the animal shelter, Guilford County Animal Control officers and the local Better Business Bureau have been concerned about Savage’s kennel for years.

The shelter took in 40 to 50 abandoned dogs from Savage in the past eight or nine years, Williams said.

“We would have to treat them for whatever illness or other problems they had,” she said. “They were not in very good shape when they were brought in to us. She said they were tired, like they were too old or she didn’t want to breed them anymore.”
The shelter did not pursue its own investigation of Rush Kennel because it lacked the authority, Williams said: “Animal Control was bringing them (the dogs) to us for her. We assumed they didn’t have any problems with her at that time.”

A spokesman for Guilford’s animal control program declined to comment on the situation, saying that it involves an ongoing investigation.

Last week’s arrests are the crest of a larger “puppy mill” problem triggered by North Carolina’s lack of a law requiring such operations be licensed and open to inspection by regulators, said Kimberly Alboum, state director of the Humane Society of the United States.

“I have animal control officers contacting me all the time from around the state saying, 'Look, I have what I consider to be a puppy mill here,’ ” Alboum said. “But there’s nothing they can do about it.”

Kennels are licensed and regularly inspected by the state Department of Agriculture only if they breed dogs for sale to pet stores or to research laboratories.

No state law specifically protects dogs raised in such kennels as the Rush facility, where they were sold directly to the public. They are protected only by an all-purpose animal cruelty statute focused mainly on requiring adequate food, water and shelter, Alboum said.

That could change after the General Assembly convenes in May when the House takes up the so-called “Puppy Mill Bill,” a proposal that has already been approved by the state Senate. The bill would license kennels that sell directly to the public through the Department of Agriculture, and give local animal control officers more authority to inspect their operations.

Building a criminal case using only the existing animal-cruelty law is difficult and time-consuming, said the Humane Society’s Alboum, adding she’s not surprised it took Guilford investigators four months to bring charges against Rush Kennel.

Sparked by a letter to the sheriff’s office from a Pennsylvania couple last November, the local investigation eventually unearthed a total of 18 complaints made against Rush Kennel with Guilford animal control officers, the Better Business Bureau and the state Department of Agriculture.

Sheriff’s investigators relied on those complaints, plus evidence from their own undercover dealings with the kennel, in persuading a judge to issue the warrant allowing them to search the Pleasant Garden compound and, ultimately, seize the 97 dogs housed there.

Complaints to the various agencies included:

* A Winston-Salem woman who purchased two poodles last May. One died from worms two days after purchase. The other was diagnosed with glaucoma.
* A South Carolina woman who said she went to purchase a Weimaraner puppy from the kennel. She asked to see the dog’s parents and but was told “that it wasn’t allowed,” and also told she could not see where the dogs were kept.
* A man who reported the puppy he picked up from the kennel in January was infected with worms and parasites, and very underweight. The man said he called the kennel to request copies of X-rays and veterinary records, but an employee refused and became defensive before hanging up on him.
* A woman who purchased a Weimaraner puppy in 2003. At 22 months the dog developed a “terrible cough, began to appear thin and began to tire easily.” The dog was diagnosed with “multiple heart defects and congestive heart failure.” The dog had to be euthanized. The woman wrote that a cardiologist told her the dog’s conditions were hereditary and “a breeder should not have bred a dog with the defect.”
* A New York woman who said the Yorkshire terrier puppy she bought in June 2008 arrived at her residence “obviously sick, urinating on itself, lethargic, and “it smelled bad” and “it was not moving.” The woman said she received no medical records with the dog and took it to a veterinarian, where the puppy died.

But Rush Kennel has a mixed record in Guilford County civil court, where it has faced seven lawsuits by disgruntled customers over the years. Two cases were settled out of court, one was dismissed on procedural grounds, and Rush won two and lost two to former customers.

Savage and kennel caretaker Landreth are free on bond now, each facing seven, felony counts of animal cruelty and five misdemeanor allegations of the same crime.

If convicted, they likely would face a maximum penalty of 52 to 56 months of probation under state sentencing guidelines because neither has a criminal record.

Whatever happens in the case, the animal shelter’s Williams will long remember the ugly conditions she saw last week at the place that advertised, “Our top priority is the health and well-being of every dog.”

“It’s just hard to have compassion for someone who does that,” she said of the conditions she observed. “You want to say: Put some of that money back into the animals that are helping you.”

THE LAWS MUST BE CHANGED NOW !/QUOTE]

[mommadog1]

[quote=megansmomma;3085496]Here is a Fan Page on Facebook that you can join!
Rush Kennel - Horror at Pleasant Garden | Facebook

PLEASANT GARDEN — On its Web site, Rush Kennel bills itself as “North Carolina’s No. 1 dog kennel,” a place where Weimaraners, Labrador retrievers and other breeds frolic in a fenced play yard before the day ends with a massage, pool bath and pedicure.

“We pamper our dogs and make them feel great all over,” proclaims the Web site for the kennel, which is owned by Pleasant Garden businesswoman Sheila Rush Savage.

But the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and the county Animal Shelter say they found something quite different last week in searching the kennel, after a four-month investigation of the breeding operation that sold purebred puppies for up to $800 each.

Investigators discovered filthy conditions that included large amounts of dog and rat feces, foul drinking water, malnourished dogs infested with such parasites as hookworms and heartworms, some dogs with rampant dental decay, others with severe lacerations and at least one with an eye infection so severe the eye must be removed.

Live electrical wires were strung across the cages, apparently to prevent the dogs from getting out, shelter director Marsha Williams said.

“In front, it looked very nice, very clean and very professional. It was behind the wooden privacy fence where you saw the issues,” said Williams, who helped deputies check out the kennel during their Wednesday raid.

Efforts to reach Savage and other kennel personnel for comment Saturday were unsuccessful. In the aftermath of last week’s raid, the 53-year-old dog breeder faces charges of animal cruelty, as does the shelter’s caretaker, Robert Landreth, 61.

After the two turned themselves in Friday, their lawyer said they had explanations for all the allegations and predicted they’ll be exonerated.

For example, attorney Kent Lively said, a rail-thin Weimaraner taken from the kennel and pictured recently in the News & Record was not underfed.

“(The dog) is an elderly dog and they tend to lose weight at 10 or 11 years old,” Lively said in an interview Friday. “She (Savage) doesn’t allow any of her dogs to be malnourished, is what she tells me.”

Before last week’s arrest, Savage was in the news during a 2007 stint on ABC’s “Wife Swap” reality show, where much was made of her affection for her nine Chihuahuas and poodles.

But evidence emerging so far in the case shows that the animal shelter, Guilford County Animal Control officers and the local Better Business Bureau have been concerned about Savage’s kennel for years.

The shelter took in 40 to 50 abandoned dogs from Savage in the past eight or nine years, Williams said.

“We would have to treat them for whatever illness or other problems they had,” she said. “They were not in very good shape when they were brought in to us. She said they were tired, like they were too old or she didn’t want to breed them anymore.”
The shelter did not pursue its own investigation of Rush Kennel because it lacked the authority, Williams said: “Animal Control was bringing them (the dogs) to us for her. We assumed they didn’t have any problems with her at that time.”

A spokesman for Guilford’s animal control program declined to comment on the situation, saying that it involves an ongoing investigation.

THE LAWS MUST BE CHANGED NOW !/QUOTE]

There is only one word for this woman.. EVIL!

[Thomas J]

Originally Posted by Grendel

First off, I know because I was born here, the accents are not NC accents, so please no stereotypes about the south or NC. .

She seems to have picked up a few words..but she is a transplant!

We had a Huge Puppy Mill shut down last year in a neighboring town.
It was a wonderful thing
Then the complaints came when they brought in people from other states to foster all of the animals.
We had plaenty of willing and able people that could have done this.
Was very strange to me..and many others. Maybe there was a logical reason?

[NCJM]

Hey guys, I am new to this site an all but I wanted to give this a bump back up because I came across the article on this woman and I decided to do some digging on the internet and I found her website WHICH IS STILL UP! www.rushkennel.com She is still advertising that she has dogs, including yorkies, to sell and she is still taking money! I am going to write the news caster that did the write up and see if he knows about her website still being up. I feel the need to make it my personal mission in life to make sure this woman never tries to operate a kennel or be a breeder ever again. Remember never buy a dog from a Sheila Rush or a Sheila Savage in Pleasant Garden, NC.

[red98vett]

Originally Posted by NCJM

Hey guys, I am new to this site an all but I wanted to give this a bump back up because I came across the article on this woman and I decided to do some digging on the internet and I found her website WHICH IS STILL UP! www.rushkennel.com She is still advertising that she has dogs, including yorkies, to sell and she is still taking money! I am going to write the news caster that did the write up and see if he knows about her website still being up. I feel the need to make it my personal mission in life to make sure this woman never tries to operate a kennel or be a breeder ever again. Remember never buy a dog from a Sheila Rush or a Sheila Savage in Pleasant Garden, NC.

Go for it ! Hopefully the site is operating but she isn't - but the laws just suck regarding mills

I don't know how these lowlifes sleep at night

[Lizzie07]

I will never believe that dogs or cats should be part of a business model. The basic principal of a business boils down to: sales minus expenses equals profit. What nearly every, single one of these do to increase their profits is cut their care of the dogs. Properly caring for 100 or 200, or just 50 dogs is labor intensive. Can you imagine having a bunch of litters and caring for all those puppies. Heck, just imagine the time to make sure all the puppies are properly weaned.

What really, really bugs me is the people who take more time buying a car than a puppy. Yet, I've never heard of a single person who is heartbroken their car died, or who dread telling their kids the car died. I've never even heard of people who's children were crushed when their car died. Heck, these days, very few people have a car in their lives as long a dog will be in their lives.

[PANAMA69]

Originally Posted by red98vett

Go for it ! Hopefully the site is operating but she isn't - but the laws just suck regarding mills

I don't know how these lowlifes sleep at night

Me either