Kansas third in ‘Horrible Hundred’ list of puppy mills

When Morgan Hammond adopted her dog, Ellie, the animal had a cracked nose, was 10 pounds underweight and was missing a toe.

Ellie was one of 20 dogs rescued from a west Wichita puppy mill earlier this year. The 5-year-old American Staffordshire Bull Terrier was being bred and her puppies were sold on Craigslist.

Kansas is the third-worst state in the country for puppy mills, according to a recent report by the Humane Society of the United States.

The Humane Society’s annual “Horrible Hundred” list says Kansas has 14 of the 100 worst puppy mills for 2016.

Despite growing concerns about Kansas puppy mills, the state may have to cut back on its inspections because of budget woes, state officials say.

The Humane Society’s report lists several Kansas facilities as neglecting and harming animals. For one breeder in Hays, an “Emaciated mother dog (was) found with only 5 surviving puppies out of eleven,” the report said.

Another breeder from Clifton, near Manhattan, had underweight dogs with ribs and backbones visible, according to the report.

Dangerous, dirty and inhumane living conditions are common at puppy mills, said Kathleen Summers, who leads the Humane Society’s coalition against puppy mills.

“Often they’re kept in barns … in small cages where they don’t even have a chance to play with people, to exercise, to even put their feet in the grass,” Summers said. “None of the things that most people who own a dog would think of as humane care for dogs.”

Inspection problems

Kansas law requires dog breeders – anyone selling six or more litters in a year – to have a license. Licensed breeders are required to have regular inspections by state officials, where they’re required to meet detailed shelter, food, water, sanitation and exercise standards.

Currently, the state has four inspectors responsible for the oversight of 950 facilities across the state, including breeders, pet stores and kennels, said Bill Brown, the state’s animal health commissioner.

Inspections had previously been the responsibility of the Kansas Animal Health Department before it merged into the Department of Agriculture in 2011 under Gov. Sam Brownback. During the merger, the department lost one inspector and had trouble keeping up with regular inspections, Brown said.

“We were beating our head against the wall trying to inspect everybody,” he said.

In 2013, inspections moved to a performance-based system. Compliant facilities were visited less often, maybe every 18 to 24 months, while facilities with repeated violations had more frequent inspections, every two to four weeks.

Facility inspections haven’t been as strict since the merger, said Midge Grinstead, Kansas director of the Humane Society of the United States.

“They’ve been given this duty to take care of companion animals,” Grinstead said. “And it hasn’t worked very well for them.”

Brown said the department tries to work with breeders rather than just punish them.

“We want them to stay in business because that’s an industry, that’s money that stays in Kansas, that’s agriculture growth,” Brown said.

Typically, when breeders are found in violation of the health standards, they’re given an opportunity to fix the problem, Brown said. If it’s something that can be repaired on the spot, no penalty will be issued.

If it’s more of a long-term fix, Brown said inspectors will give the breeder time to fix it and return to reinspect. If the problem is still not fixed, the breeder is issued a warning letter. If it happens a third time, a citation and a fine is issued.

Virginia Hinderer runs Dusty Road Kennel in Wakarusa, near Topeka. Her facility is listed as one of the 14 “Horrible Hundred” dog breeders in Kansas. Hinderer doesn’t think much of her place on the list and said she treats her dogs humanely.

She does have a problem with the USDA inspectors, however. Hinderer said she has worked hard to meet the list of sanitation, feeding and housing requirements for her 40 schnauzers, but inspectors still find violations.

“I think they’re being a little unreasonable,” Hinderer said. “They want us out of business, and they make no bones about it.”

Punishment

Kansas law dictates that a breeder’s license can be suspended and the dogs seized if feeding, watering, sanitizing and housing practices are not consistent with the outlined regulations.

No dog breeding licenses were suspended between 2011 and 2015, according to state records.

At the state and federal level, it is rare to see a delinquent facility lose its breeding license, said Summers, with the national Humane Society.

“We see again and again that facilities that have terrible violations very rarely lose their license,” she said.

In some cases, Kansas dog breeders have faced fines.

In 2015, one facility in Winfield was charged $6,500 for violations of the Kansas Pet Animal Act after five consecutive failed inspections, according to state records provided by the Humane Society.

The findings outlined several violations inspectors found when visiting the breeding premise, including unsanitary living conditions and poor animal health.

“Ammonia levels caused the inspector’s eyes to burn and tear upon entering the foyer area of the kennel buildings and worsened as inspector entered the dog rooms,” the inspection report said.

The facility did not lose its license.

Grinstead, with the Humane Society, said she’s not sure what it would take for a license to be taken away, and she thinks the department needs to examine its procedures.

“If you’re educating over and over and over and they’re not changing their ways, they should not have a license,” Grinstead said. “They should not be able to sell animals. If they can’t take care of them, they have no business having them.”

Funding problems

Right now, facilities are inspected on a regular basis as well as a complaint basis, but it’s not sustainable, Brown said.

He said the Department of Agriculture will approach the state Legislature and request an increase in breeder licensing fees in order to increase revenue. With the current budget, the department may have to shrink its operations and its inspections, Brown said.

“It will probably be complaint-based (inspections) only,” Brown said.

But raising fees might not be the answer, Grinstead said. Instead, she thinks the department should start charging delinquent violations for re-inspection. That way compliant facilities aren’t punished.

“Why should I pay for somebody else’s mistakes?” Grinstead said.

Shop the shelters

Many buyers don’t think about puppy mills when buying from a pet store, Summers said. It’s typical for rural breeders to sell to brokers who ship the dogs to pet stores in well-populated areas.

“The problem with the system is that buys are so distant from seeing where the puppies come from that very often they think these puppies are coming from some pleasant family farms where they’re running in green fields all day,” Grinstead said.

“They have no idea that the conditions that the puppies were raised in are often inhumane.”

Ellie, the former puppy mill dog, is now living happily with Hammond and doing much better. She has gained 10 pounds, has smooth skin and enjoys playing with other dogs at the dog park.

There are plenty of good dogs available at shelters, Hammond said, and she has one piece of advice for potential pet owners:

“Adopt, don’t shop.”

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Kansas third in ‘Horrible Hundred’ list of puppy mills."