http://www.wlextv.com/global/story.asp?s=7998033

This is a well-known rescuer in this area. She has taken in many dogs including German Shepherds. Obviously the rescue community in this area has been abuzz with this all day.

Here are some of the things I've heard people say:

"But she seemed so nice!"
"She was always so helpful!"
"I appreciated that she was always willing to take dogs"
"I saw her paperwork and that looked fine"
"But she had a really nice website"

(http://www.animal-assist.org/dogs.html if you're interested)

From what we've been able to determine today, she and her husband were making their income selling the dogs they "rescued." At least 40 dogs were found dead and the number is larger every time they update the story. Starving dogs were feeding on the dead. Over 100 dogs and counting have been found on the property in deplorable conditions.

Tonight Kentucky and beyond is littered with broken hearts of shelters, rescuers, and transporters who thought they were helping dogs to a better of life and instead helped deliver them into a living hell.

Those of us, me included, who saw some red flags and refused to send her dogs but did nothing further to sound the alarm will have to live with that for the rest of our lives.

This kind of situation IS WHY YOU HAVE TO CHECK EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!! Please please please!!! And why rescue is not the time to be quiet, deferential, polite, and not ask questions. Know where you're sending that dog. Be a busybody. When you see somebody not checking, help them out. Get involved. What happened today is not a once in a blue moon occurence, in fact it's all too common as people learn to exploit the Internet.

Basic home visits and vet checks would have revealed what this person was up to.

I imagine mods will probably want to move this to the general rescue section but I thought it was important to post it here first because I am hoping more people will see it this way.

You cannot afford to assume the best about people in rescue. You don't have to be cynical but you've GOT to be careful. A dog's life depends on it.

http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=46781

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Anima...afe_22082.html

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h...VB99AD92H22DO0

More than 360 domestic and farm animals, many of them emaciated, injured and suffering from mange and parasites, were rescued Tuesday from a filthy southwest Missouri property where they were hoarded and bred, authorities said.

The owner of the property was charged with child endangerment because six children, ages 1 to 11, also had been living in what authorities described as an unbelievable scene: 12 to 15 house trailers stacked to the ceilings with junk, trash and debris, crawling with cockroaches. The only water source was a bunch of garden hoses strung together.

"These homes are not fit for anyone to live in," human or animal, Polk County Sheriff Steve Bruce said.

The 363 animals include more than 70 dogs and more than three dozen cats, plus donkeys, rabbits, ducks, chickens, and exotic fish. The Humane Society of Missouri and Polk County also found 12 to 15 dead rabbits, dogs, cats, and poultry.

Quote:HOARDER EMERGENCY IN COLUMBIA, KY - MORE THAN 300 ANIMALS AND WE NEED HELP

On Friday 2/20 Clean Slate <u>Animal Rescue </u>in Columbia was raided. An estimated more than 300 dogs, cats, and farm animals were in danger of euthanization by the county. UR_KY had been investigating this rescue as well. It appears to be a situation where a rescuer went over the line into hoarding. Most of the animals have mange or other injuries and illnesses.
http://www.urky.org/Emergencies_.html

Another rescue: Pendragwn Chow Chow Rescue

http://www.whptv.com/news/local/stor...2NTkNGFBw.cspx

Quote:The Humane League says people have been complaining of lots of barking and horrible smells coming from the home, but didn't have enough information to issue a search warrant, until now.

The Humane League of Lancaster County has been working non stop since yesterday's rescue to find homes for these dogs, some were in such bad shape they had to be euthanized. The League calls this a very sad situation - especially because the woman caring for these animals loved the dogs but took in too many and became overwhelmed.

92 dogs were rescued from the East Lampeter Township home Tuesday afternoon from what the humane league calls deplorable conditions, two of the animals were found dead.

Kerry Flanagan, V.P. of Operations
“It was a very upsetting scene, dogs in crates stacked two high. There was fecal matter built up in some areas a few feet deep. The smell was overwhelming when you walked in it hit you like a wall.”

The victims were all chows and chow-mixes ranging from puppies to seniors. The dogs were transported Tuesday night to the Humane League, some doubled up in cages, some laying still - emotionally and physically broken. One dog had two broken legs. His buddy next door suffers from mange, a parasitic infestation of the skin. He's also emaciated and starved.

The Humane League says the neglect was unintentional by the rescue organization Pendragon Chow Chow Rescue operated by Terri Roby.

“This is just somebody whose love for animals got out of control...”

CBS 21 News could not get in touch with Roby but we spoke to a source close to the situation who says Terri is a great person who just couldn't say no. She was getting calls from shelters across the country begging for help in finding homes for these dogs. The situation got out of control.

Flanagan:
“She was very upset she was very apologetic and we were very sad at the situation. We think her heart was absolutely in the right place.”

It's unclear how long all 90 of the dogs had been living in the home but the Humane League says the dead dogs had been decaying--clearly laying there for some time. The Humane League says animal cruelty charges are expected to be filed next week as well as a charge of operating an illegal kennel.

QuoteEARBORN, Mich. — Police on Friday found about 150 dead dogs packed in freezers in the basement of a Michigan house littered with feces and trash where more than 110 live dogs, mostly Chihuahuas, were rescued this week.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_244614.html

Who knows if they just kept breeding or if he got them from places, but...again a cautionary tale and why sending dogs to people and rescues that haven't been home checked and thoroughly checked out is so dangerous.

On the side of one article:
Quote:
Quote: June 2009: Royal Oak police seized 33 dogs from a warehouse in Royal Oak that a Birmingham woman operated as the Itsy Bitsy Dog Rescue.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090724/NE...heal-at-shelter

And that:
http://www.freep.com/article/2009071...-get-new-homes

Dogs seized at Salina "rescue shelter"
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.s..._rescue_s.html
By Charles McChesney / The Post-Standard

October 06, 2009, 10:30PM

Click this bar to view the full image.


Three of the 31 dogs seized from Mallory Paetow of 115 Pinkerton St. look at a visitor to the SPCA.


Salina, NY - Thirty-one dogs and puppies were taken from a Salina home this evening. Eight have already been euthanized by the CNY SPCA because they were too ill to be saved.
Paul Morgan, head of the SPCA said he and two other animal cruelty officers went to the home of Mallory Paetow, 24, at 115 Pinkerton St. and found the dogs caged in the basement.
Morgan said Paetow told him she had sold some 125 to 150 dogs in the last year.

"Basically, she was running a kennel," he said.

Paetow was charged with three misdemeanors under state agriculture laws. She's charged with failing to provide proper shelter, food or medical care for the animals.

The dogs, from month-old puppies to dogs as old as 1 1/2 years were to be evaluated by veterinarians, Morgan said. None of the dogs would be available for adoption immediately, Morgan said.


--------------------------------------------
Prior to the seizure an email warning had been issued, but not soon enough for the dogs in her care, or the 125-150 dogs sold to non-screened buyers in the past year.

Quote:
Quote: We have received bad feedback on this rescue in Liverpool NY. Reports include more than 50 pups held in an unfinished basement (seen first hand); selling pups on site at Home Depot and listing them on craigslist; reports of bad holding conditions in her home. Her site says dogs leave there s/n, unless they are too young (and it appears she only pulls puppies). It does say she uses a voucher system. She pulled 35 or so puppies out of KY shelters in the last week or so. PLEASE, IF YOU ARE A SHELTER SENDING TO HER, THINK TWICE. GET VET REFERENCES. TALK TO RESCUES IN HER AREA. We could not find her registration as an animal rescue. This does not mean she has ill intent. She may just be a novice. BUT that does not excuse selling puppies on the spot at Home Depot or on craigslist. Please be careful.
I am not sure how she got to use the NYS Ag vouchers...

Quote:Authorities seize 31 dogs from Oak Creek shelter

By The Associated Press

Posted: Jan. 9, 2010

More than 30 Jack Russell Terriers have been removed from an Oak Creek animal shelter where authorities say the dogs were mistreated.

Oak Creek police acting on an anonymous tip responded to First Friends Animal Rescue. They allegedly found dogs with open sores and filthy fur.

The 31 dogs were taken to Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission.

The director there is Melanie Sobel. She tells WTMJ the dogs lapped up food and water as though they hadn't been fed for a long time. She says many had sores on their paws and fur soaked in urine.

A message left Saturday with First Friends Animal Rescue was not immediately returned.

Oak Creek police say they're seeking charges that include mistreatment of animals.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/81074577.html

I think she got these back?
Allegedly Abused Dogs Moved to New Wis. Shelter
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- More than 30 Jack Russell Terriers have been removed from a Milwaukee-area animal shelter where authorities say the dogs were mistreated.

Quote:
Quote: MILWAUKEE (AP) -- More than 30 Jack Russell Terriers have been removed from a Milwaukee-area animal shelter where authorities say the dogs were mistreated.

Oak Creek police acting on an anonymous tip responded to First Friends Animal Rescue in Oak Creek. They allegedly found dogs with open sores and filthy fur.

The 31 dogs were taken to Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission.

The director there is Melanie Sobel. She tells WTMJ the dogs lapped up food and water as though they hadn't been fed for a long time. She says many had sores on their paws and fur soaked in urine.

A message left Saturday with First Friends Animal Rescue was not immediately returned.

Oak Creek police say they're seeking charges that include mistreatment of animals.
http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/81077492.html

Stolen dogs NOT stolen


http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9019992

Quote:
Quote:The woman at the center of an alleged dognapping and attack at a Johnson City dog school has been arrested for filing a false police report.

The owners of the business, Cool School for Dogs, 3548 West Market Street, have also been charged with animal cruelty.

According to a press release from Johnson City Police, Ashli Thomas, 25, of 2806 Newbern Drive, has been arrested and charged with filing a false report. Police say Thomas admitted that she made the story up because she had left the dogs unattended and had not been caring for them properly.

Thomas and the owners of the business, Brad Josselyn and Tamara Josselyn, were also charged by Washington County Animal Control with eight counts of animal cruelty.

Police added that Thomas is in the Washington County Detention Center under a $5,000 bond. Her arraignment is scheduled for Friday in Washington County General Sessions Count.

The press release provided no further information regarding the Josselyns, or the location and conditions of the dogs.

Police were called to the business Tuesday at about 4 a.m., in response to a reported burglary. Thomas said she was sleeping in the business when awakened by the dogs barking. She went to investigate and told police she saw a white male attempting to steal the dogs.

According to a police report on the incident, Thomas was stabbed by the man in her right side. The report said five stitches would be needed to close her minor wound.

Thirteen Dobermans were allegedly stolen, with a "substantial reward" offered for their return.

Check back for more information as it develops.

Apparently the doggies day care place was boarding some of the rescues dogs. From the rescue's website:

http://www.caninehoperescue.org/

Quote:
Quote:Our rescue has experienced a great tragedy. Someone broke into the Cool School For Dogs Puppy Dog Day Care and stole many of the rescue dogs that were being cared for there. There were mostly Dobermans taken and 3 other smaller dogs, in total 13 dogs.

Quote: 100 animals rescued from 1-bedroom upstate NY home

Posted at: 02/04/2010 10:51 AM | Updated at: 02/04/2010 11:02 AM

WHEC-TVA central New York animal welfare group is hoping the public will adopt some of the 100 animals rescued from a one-bedroom rural home.

Officials at the Tompkins County SPCA say the rescue of dozens of dogs, cats, rats, guinea pigs and chinchillas is straining resources at the Ithaca-based organization's shelter, which was already full when the animals were removed from the home last week.

Investigators say the animals were being kept in unsanitary, overcrowded conditions at a home in Brooktondale, 10 miles southeast of Ithaca. Authorities say several dead animals were found on the property.

Officials say the animals were being kept by a person who was a self-scribed "animal rescuer."

Investigators haven't released the person's name.
http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s1400592.shtml?cat=565

Quote:
Originally Posted by raysmom View Post
Here is a prime example of why we need to be careful when we send a dog to "rescue". This "rescue", Humane Sanctuary, was raided recently and around 100 dogs were seized. They were found living in deplorable conditions, along with some cats, chickens, ducks and horses.

Here is a link to the story - THE PHOTOS ARE GRAPHIC - and the first photo is of a GSD. The dogs are now at the Trumbull County pound, which I believe is a kill shelter.

Sickening.

http://www.canineadvocatesofohio.org...uary/Index.htm
More:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/287631
"Deplorable conditions, filth, feces and animals living in there including two dead dogs that the others dogs were feeding off of because they were hungry,"

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/conten....html?nav=5021
Quote:
Dr. Rufus Sparks said walking around Kathy Witzman's property was "like running a gauntlet" because of the number of dogs tied up outside her Gustavus farmhouse."The cats couldn't do it. The ducks couldn't do it. We could barely walk around out there," Sparks said Monday from the undisclosed location where 162 dogs were housed following a raid Friday at Witzman's home at 5175 state Route 87.
In addition to the dogs, 18 cats, two horses, several geese, ducks and chickens were confiscated from the home.
Sparks, a veterinarian at Town & Country Veterinary Hospital in Howland, is one of about 10 local veterinarians assisting the Animal Welfare League with medical assessments and care of the animals. He said two dogs died since Friday.
Barb Busko of the Animal Welfare League said nearly all of the dogs have some kind of medical problem, whether it's dehydration or open sores. Two dogs were in a separate room, one just hours away from giving birth and another due within several days.
Thank goodness:
Quote:
A woman who found two stray dogs searched the Internet for somewhere to take them and found Witzman, who billed herself as a humane sanctuary, she said.
"When she saw the conditions the animals were kept in, she contacted the sheriff's office. That phone call kicked off this process," Busko said.
Pleads innocent: http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/1...lty/?newswatch
Quote:
BROOKFIELD — Judge Ronald Rice of Eastern District Court ordered Kathy Witzman of Gustavus to stay away from animals until a criminal case charging her with cruelty to animals and open dumping is complete.
He also ordered that close to 200 animals taken from her home on state Route 187 on Friday and Saturday become the property of the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County, which is caring for them at several undisclosed locations.
The league says the ruling will allow it to begin finding permanent homes for the animals, though it’s possible some will have to be euthanized.
During a Thursday hearing, Witzman, 58, operator of Humane Sanctuary Inc. for the past 14 years, pleaded innocent to the two charges and was released on a personal-recognizance bond, meaning at no cost.
She told Judge Rice she would try to come up with $2,250 in bond money by Monday to retain the rights for a month to three dogs she believed would not fare well under the care of the Animal Welfare League because of their aggressive tendencies.
“I wish I could keep them all. I just can’t afford the bond,” she said tearfully after the hearing.
Witzman said she realizes her home “wasn’t the Ritz” but thinks that her house, a barn and the backyard where she kept the 162 dogs, 15 cats, 14 chickens, five ducks and two horses kept alive a lot of animals that otherwise would be dead.
“It was a farm setting. This isn’t a million-dollar facility,” she said of the home authorities raided Friday, finding filthy conditions in the house, and dogs that reportedly were not being fed, watered or kept in a humane manner.
Witzman said she accepted dogs from all over Ohio and didn’t turn away breeds thought to be aggressive, such as pit bulls or bull dogs.
Witzman ran a “no kill” shelter, which doesn’t euthanize dogs for having aggressive tendencies, she said.
The raid put Witzman in the Trumbull County jail briefly and sent her 97-year-old mother to the hospital. It came about because a woman from Cleveland “ingratiated herself” at Witzman’s home and then brought other people there who thought dogs should not live outside during the winter, Witzman said.
Witzman said she believes the dogs — most of them living in cages or chained to dog houses in Witzman’s backyard or in a barn — were better off there than dead.
She added that she and her helpers distributed 160 pounds of dog food every day and water to every dog every day — a statement that Deputy Harold Firster of the Trumbull County Sheriff’s office disputes. Firster said he believes the dogs went long periods without food or water.
Witzman said some of the dogs were thin but only because they came to her that way. She said the two dead dogs found in the house were alive when she left but were attacked and partially eaten by other dogs because of the commotion in the house Friday.
Sean O’Brien, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said that if Witzman is convicted on the animal-cruelty charge, one of the possible terms of her probation is that she be prohibited from being around animals for up to five years. Witz-man’s next hearing in Eastern District Court is March 4.
Witzman said she first started her animal sanctuary in Suffield Township, Portage County, 14 years ago and moved to Gustavus in 2001.
Barbara Busko, Animal Welfare League president, said Witzman’s desire to help animals is sincere, but Witzman apparently was unable to accept that there are limits to what she can do. Unlike other no-kill shelters that refuse to accept dogs beyond a certain number, Witzman apparently refused to turn any animals away and “got overwhelmed.”
The website: http://humanesanctuary.com/dogs4adop.aspx

Scary because they say on it:
Quote:
The Humane Sanctuary, Inc. requires an application and a home visit.
Because of that...would I have thought them okay to send a dog to?