In Jay, Oklahoma a puppy mill was raided and 98 dogs were rescued from horrendous conditions.

The owner of the puppy mill had left town for more than a week, leaving the dogs without food. Many did not have access to water, nine of the dogs were already dead.

The owner of the puppy mill lived in a tent next to her puppy mill, Wehr said. She is expected to be charged with more than 100 counts of cruelty to animals, a felony, Berry said.

The uproar over the puppy mill in Oklahoma has been overwhelming, Wehr said. Oklahoma has the dubious distinction of ranking No. 2 nationwide for puppy mills - behind neighboring Missouri, she said.

Delaware County is a poor area, and some people there start raising puppies in hopes of selling them. But they are soon in over their heads - hardly able to support themselves, much less the dogs, Wehr said.

The dogs were rescued thanks in part to Darlene Wehr, a veterinarian from Delaware County, and the staff of the Denver Dumb Friends League.  The dogs were driven from the puppy mill to Denver, Colorado where they will be available for adoption.  Before the drive the dogs got their first taste of freedom.

Before the transfer, the dogs visited Salina’s dog park. They were overjoyed.

Unaccustomed to anything but dirt and filth, the miniature poodles and springer spaniels sniffed the grass. Then they had the time of their lives romping around the park, said Wehr, laughing.

If you’re interested in adopting encouraged to visit the Dumb Friends League Web site, or call (303) 751-5772, to find out when these dogs are available.

This is a very disturbing story, not easy to post. Even harder to read.

The purpose of putting this on the blog is to bring attention to this case and help get these people prosecuted.

FOREST GROVE, Ore. — A man and woman under investigation for allegedly attempting to euthanize their 13-year-old dog with a hammer have been arrested on animal abuse charges.

Long and his daughter, Susan, were charged after they hit their Labrador mix, Molly, on the head with a hammer and then buried her up to her neck in their back yard.

Long told KGW Monday he thought the dog had cancer.

Family members previously told KGW they didn’t have the money to pay to euthanize their dog.

But on Monday Long said his daughter had been afraid to take the dog to a veterinarian due to concern she would be accused of animal abuse.

He said they were trying to put it out of its misery and that when they buried Molly they thought she was dead.

But a neighbor later heard the dog yelping and called 9-1-1.

Forest Grove Police responded Friday afternoon to a report of a dog buried alive at a house on Laurel Street. The father and daughter were not at the home when police arrived; they had gone out to dinner.

Capt. Ashbaugh said police entered the back yard and found the dog buried up to its neck with an obvious head injury.

Long and Johnson claimed at the time they’d buried Molly in a hole “in an apparent attempt to limit the amount of blood on their property,” Ashbaugh said.

Molly ended up being euthanized because it was too late to save her.  Dogsters, we need to make sure there is never another Molly, this story is tragic and should never have happened. We are now the voice for Molly, the only one she has.

I urge everyone to contact the Washington County District Attorney, Robert Hermann, and demand justice for Molly.  Contact the D.A.’s  office at 503-846-8671 or via email at webmaster@co.washington.or.us.

In Riviera Beach, FL  Pit Bulls were taken from a home where suspected dog fight training was taking place.

A phone call about a dog in distress led officials to the home, Animal Care and Control were the first to respond.

At the house they found enough evidence to get a warrant for a full search.

Four pit bulls were taken from 446 West 14th street. Frank Huggins was arrested for a felony violation of animal fighting. The house belongs to his brother who could also face charges.

The dogs have multiple scars on their bodies and some had open wounds on their face and neck.

Deputies also removed a treadmill used to run dogs, weights, chains and needles. Investigators say the heavy weights are put on the dogs collars to strengthen them. They say there were other signs the dogs were being trained such as being individually tethered and their lean physique.

The training operation at Huggins house is considered to be an isolated incident.  However, officials are investigating to make sure it isn’t part of a larger ring.

* There was no pic with the article. The adorable girl above is Dogster member Vega, a rescue.

In North Wales, UK two officers living together are facing possible jail time for cruelty against their pet dogs.

A neighbor who had noticed some disturbing behavior called the RSPCA, when they came out to evaluate the situation they found no evidence of abuse.

Now comes the award for good neighbor (to dogs) of the year, she took it upon herself to set up a camera to get the abuse on film.

Prosecuting, Glenn Murphy said: “To her credit this lady purchased a camera and she took many hours of video footage.”

A DVD, about 15-20 minutes in length, was played to the court.

In one scene Mason was filmed hitting the pup’s head and kicking her.

Later the dog was seen pulling washing from a line before Macleod emerged from the house and chased it to a corner of the yard. Out of shot of the camera the dog could then be heard yelping.

Officers Anja Mason, 29 and Craig Macleod, 34 now face losing their jobs.  Both have been removed from frontline duty pending the outcome of the case.  Thanks to the caring neighbor these two will hopefully get what they deserve.

An accused animal hoarder who skipped bail on two cruelty cases has finally been arrested after two years on the run.

The arrest of Barbara Ryan ends a two-year odyssey that took her from Hemet to Tehachapi to Fillmore, among other locations, and involved more than 100 dogs and cats.

Authorities say she adopted several aliases, and they now suspect that an animal-rescue group aided her while she was on the run.

Ryan, who also uses the name Anita Gilbert, was in custody without bail at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.

Ryan was originally arrested back in September 2006 after a neighbor complained of the smell coming from her home.

Inside, authorities found 23 cats and 15 dogs tied to cupboards and in closets, said Rita Gutierrez, field services commander for the Riverside County Department of Animal Services.

The animals had suffered burns from living in their own waste, and they were covered with cockroaches, Gutierrez said. Urine and feces had saturated drywall in one room and caused it to disintegrate, and the building was deemed uninhabitable, she said.

That October, Ryan failed to appear for a Riverside County court hearing on felony animal cruelty charges, and the case went cold.

This story just keeps getting worse.  In July animal officers were called to investigate a warehouse that was occupied by Anita Gilbert, a.k.a. Barbara Ryan.

The warehouse windows were covered with plywood and the floors coated with fecal sludge, said Guy Shaw, director of animal services.

Inside, officers found dead cats in the freezer and crates housing sickly animals sitting in piles of filth and food cans, Shaw said. In all, there were 15 dogs and 37 cats.

The officers suffered nausea, dizziness and headaches from the foul air in the building, according to the animal control department’s case file. One veteran technician said the conditions were the most horrendous she had ever seen.

Now, thanks to Bob Herman who was Ryan’s bail bondsman she has been caught. Ryan skipped out on her bail and Herman spent hundreds of hours to track her down. Not only does this woman deserve jail time, I think some psychiatric care may be in order.

On September 30th I posted Heart Of Glass, a case where two dogs ate glass laced meatballs left in their yard.

I’m happy to report a man has been arrested for this cruel and cowardly act.

Pittsburgh, PA (AHN) — A Pittsburgh man is charged with cruelty to animals for feeding two of his neighbor’s dogs meatballs laced with glass and nails.

Brett Kolarik, 41, turned himself into police Friday after the dog’s owner, Debra Rogers, realized that the meatballs were filled with harmful materials after her dogs seemed unwell.

Police told reporters that Kolarik fed the dogs the hazardous materials because he was tired of their incessant barking.

The dogs, a beagle and a husky, required emergency surgery at a cost of $4,000. Both are home recovering.

If convicted, Kolarik faces up to two years in jail per count of animal cruelty. He would also have to pay restitution to Rogers.

I’m glad to hear the dogs are home and doing well. Let’s hope Kolarik has to pay the $4,000 medical bill,  along with jail time so he can think about what he did.

On Wednesday, the day we’ve been waiting for finally happened.

Pennsylvania House Bill 2525 was passed by the Senate.

The Senate and the House on Wednesday approved a bill that gives most commercial kennel owners an additional three years to comply with an array of new regulations to make their kennels more humane. The bill also gives the state agriculture secretary the power to extend that waiver even longer.

But even with provisions that supporters said water down the legislation, it still was an advancement for animal welfare in Pennsylvania, they declared.

”This is the day that we eliminate” Pennsylvania’s reputation ”as the puppy mill capital of the East,” said Rep. James Casorio, D-Westmoreland, the prime sponsor. ”The mistreatment of thousands and thousands and thousands of dogs kept in deplorable and inhumane [conditions]  will no longer stand.”

The bill has been changed from the original, but at least this is a beginning, you have to start somewhere.

Hopefully,  what Pennsylvania has begun will force every state to take a look at their laws, or lack of, so that humane treatment of dogs in puppy mills will be the norm rather than the exception.

On Sunday I posted a story about Max, Mad Max And The Convertible, who got loose after the car he was riding in was struck.

Luckily that story had a happy ending, this one doesn’t.  This story, while extreme, does reinforce the importance of making sure your dogs are secure in the car.

A Bronx, NY man who failed to show up in municipal court has had a warrant issued for his arrest.  James Dannenberg, is wanted for charges stemming back to a traffic stop when he was pulled over on suspected drunken driving.

Morris County Sheriff’s Officers stopped Dannenberg on March 27 after spotting his Toyota Camry allegedly swerving on Route 80 westbound near exit 30.

Dannenberg was being handcuffed and placed in a police car when six of his seven dogs jumped out of his car through a broken driver’s side window that was covered with cardboard and a towel.

Four of the dogs were hit and killed immediately, another was killed when officials tried to corral it and the sixth dog was later found dead on the road.

Dannenberg was also charged with careless driving, driving with a revoked license, failure to exhibit all documents, failure to maintain a lane, failure to keep right on a highway, fictitious plates, overdue inspection and obstructed view, in addition to seven counts of animal cruelty and improper transport because his dogs were not properly secured in the car.

Dannenberg is a homeless man who hasn’t been seen since not showing up for court.  If anyone has any information regarding his whereabouts they should contact the local authorities.  This is such a sad story, on so many levels.

Being homeless, I’m assuming Dannenburg could not afford these dogs,  yet he kept them anyway.  This leads me to believe that he truly cared and loved the dogs.  He probably did the best he could for them, but the bottom line is he isn’t fit to take care of himself let alone another living being.

*The handsome boy in the truck above is our very own Dogster member , Pharaoh.

A kennel in Emmaus (PA) will have its license revoked after an inspection by The Department of Agriculture cited the owner for severe sanitation issues.

Derbe Eckhart, the owner of Almost Heaven Kennel, will be cited for violating the state’s dog law and will have to sell or transfer enough dogs to no longer be considered a kennel. Any kennel housing more than 25 dogs is required to be licensed and inspected.

“Mr. Eckhart allowed conditions at his kennel to deteriorate into a deplorable state,” said Jessie Smith, special deputy secretary for dog law enforcement. “While we continue investigating his operations, we are taking this action to protect the health and welfare of the animals there.”

Thanks to House Bill 2525, recently passed by the House making progress in the Senate, if passed it will strengthen the current dog laws concerning commercial breeding kennels.

“Raising the minimum standards for commercial breeding kennels and requiring annual veterinary checks will benefit all dogs in these types of settings,” said Smith. “Current law does not require that dogs ever receive routine medical care and as a result, many go without.

H.B. 2525 would require veterinary examinations for each dog twice per year. It would also double the minimum floor space for dogs, eliminates wire flooring, and requires access to an exercise area twice the size of the dog’s primary enclosure. Current law does not require dogs ever be taken out of cages, much less given access to exercise areas.

I realize this is only a start,  but at least we’re beginning to see some change.  You can visit DogLawAction, to learn more about Pennsylvania’s Dog Law proposed legislation.

The person(s) responsible for this senseless act must have a heart of glass.  A woman in Pittsburgh (PA) is claiming that someone left meat, containing ground up glass and nails, in her yard for her dogs.

Owner, Deborah Rogers,  took the dogs to the veterinarian to be examined.  Dr. Kenton Rexford  was able to get the beagle to bring up some of the material, but the husky might need surgery.

The dogs, Shadow and Pepper, are now being treated by Dr. Kenton Rexford after x-rays showed nails and glass in the abdomens of both dogs. Officials say the material was hidden within balls of meat patties left in Rogers yard.

She had one question on the way to the vet once she realized the meat was put there on purpose.

“What kind of sick unit would destroy and torture and kill an animal for no reason,” said Rogers. “They are very loving dogs.”

If  Deborah Rogers husky needs surgery it could be a very costly procedure, she’s very worried about how she’ll pay for it.  She doesn’t have the money and is afraid her dog could die without the proper treatment.

Rexford says the options for treatment are tricky because inducing the material through the throat could cause different problems.

“As that glass or that nail comes through the esophagus, if there was no damage when it went down, are you then creating damage when you bring it back out?” said Dr. Rexford. “Yes, definitely that is a risk.”

Endoscopy or surgery may be needed for the husky, a decision that will need to be made shortly.  Dr. Rexford informed Deborah Rogers about a new organization to help people in need with emergency expenses, the Animal Care and Assistance Fund.

If you would like to help:
Animal Care and Assistance Fund
c/o Robert A Meeder, 4514 Plummer St., Pittsburgh, PA 15201-3032.
Phone: 412-348-2588

We wish Shadow and Pepper, pictured above, a speedy recovery.