Putting Bad Breeders out of Business: Impossible?

January 10, 2008 : 11:40 AM

Colorado breeder still in business despite years of complaints, failed inspections UPDATE Jan. 24th

UPDATE: The breeder's case was extended: click here to read the story.

A case involving a dog breeder in Montrose County, CO will be heard in court on January 22nd. She’s facing misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty for neglecting to provide treatment for a Pomeranian with an eye so infected, it was immediately removed by a vet when a state Department of Agriculture insisted that the dog receive medical attention. It’s a sad case, but does it warrant a protest on the courthouse steps, insisting that the breeder lose her license to keep and breed dogs? You bet it does.

Nita Smith has bred and sold dogs for decades. In the 90’s, she sold hundreds of puppies to pet stores, until her USDA license was revoked by the federal government for unacceptable conditions. Vendla Stockdale, vice president of Citizens for Animal Welfare and Shelter (CAWS) said, “We have 210 pages of complaints from the department of Agriculture on this breeder.” Even though people have been shocked by the conditions at Smith’s kennel for decades, and follow the proper procedures to report what they see, no measures have ever been taken to stop her from breeding and selling dogs.

Recent Violations

Pictured right: Puppies in a run at Colorow Kennel. Right now, ads for puppies from Colorow Kennel (the name of Nita’s facility) can be found in the classified ads in Grand Junction. She doesn’t allow potential buyers to visit the kennel, where she keeps approximately 100 dogs; instead, she offers to meet people at a neutral location. The end result is that no one sees what kind of environment their puppies come from. Except for Smith and one person who had been to the kennel, and was absolutely shocked at the conditions there. Luckily, that person stepped forward and contacted CAWS in August because conditions at the kennel were so bad, the informant didn’t know what else to do.

“When we saw the photos of this kennel, we were horrified,” said Vendla. “We held a board meeting to decide what to do about it. We couldn’t just ignore this.” So CAWS helped gather the abundant evidence of neglect and cruelty, and presented it to the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

The bottom line is that the Department of Agriculture has no plans to revoke Smith’s kennel license. Click here to read more news about Smith’s kennel and multiple violations.

Click here to learn more about CAWS

*CAWS will be holding a peaceful protest will be held at the Montrose County courthouse at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 22nd. Concerned citizens and area rescue groups will be in attendance to let officials know that abusive puppy mills should not be taken lightly. All are welcome to attend! Click here for directions. Contact CAWS for more information: caws@paonia.com.

[b]How You Can Help
1.) Choose to adopt pets instead of buying. Simple and effective to reduce demand for animals bred in this way.
2.) Visit network.bestfriends.org/truth for more ways to help, and for more information about puppy mills.
3.) Speak up.
“It is up to the public to voice their opinions about these cases to their elected officials,” said Vendla. Elected local government officials are responsible for prosecuting—or not prosecuting animal abuse cases, but all too often, problems are ignored or let slide with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, such as has happened in the case with Nita Smith.

CAWS encourages concerned citizens to contact the following offices to let them know that abusive and/or neglectful dog breeders should not be tolerated in your state and county. Here are the officials that have known about Nita Smith for years, but continue to allow her to operate:

1.)Colorado Animal Industry/Pet Animal Care Facilities Program
Kate Anderson, DVM - Program Administrator
700 Kipling St., Ste. 4000
Lakewood, CO 80215-8000
(303) 239-4168
(303) 239-4164 –Fax
kate.anderson@ag.state.co.us

2.) Montrose County Sheriff’s Department
1200 North Grand Avenue
Montrose, CO 81401
(970) 252-4023
(970) 249-6606
sheriff@co.montrose.co.us

3.) Elected District Attorney, Myrl Serra
1200 North Grand Ave.
Montrose, CO 81401-3166
(970) 252-4260
Fax (970) 252-4270

Comments

July 18, 2008 at 9:46 AM
posted by: reliableinformationman

*
UPDATE:

http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2008/07/18/news/doc488013c8079e1225212144.txt

Friday, July 18, 2008

Kennel Operator Fined; Olathe Facility Did Not Renew License

Kennel operator Nita Smith pleaded guilty to animal cruelty last week and is no longer in business after not renewing her license.

Smith’s Olathe business, Colorow Kennels, came under the fire of animal-rights activists last year, after the state agriculture department investigated and found violations of the Pet Animal Care Facilities Act.

The kennel was deemed to have failed an inspection in November, but was not subject to immediate closure under state rules. The state investigators’ report noted fecal matter, rats and rodent droppings in the facilities, and said a puppy had been found dead before the inspection.

Colorow Kennels complied with remedies investigators laid out, the ag department said previously.

However, Montrose County filed a local charge of cruelty to animals-neglect/mistreat in December, over a Pomeranian whose ulcerated eye went untreated.

According to court records, Smith was sentenced July 8 to fines, court costs and restitution totaling $389.

Paonia-based Citizens for Animal Welfare and Shelter led the charge to get Smith shut down. The organization was pleased with the guilty plea, member Debbie Faulkner said.

“That’s what we wanted. I would have hoped the fines would’ve been a little higher, but we never wanted her to have jail time. That wasn’t the point,” Faulkner said.

“So we are elated. Now we are going to wait to see if the state does close her. We’re hoping that this will do it.”

Because Smith did not renew her license, state-mandated closure would be a moot point, ag department spokeswoman Christi Lightcap said.

“If she ever did apply for another one, it (her conviction) would greatly affect whether she did receive another license. We’re under the assumption she’s not operating at this time,” she said.

Lightcap said a state investigator was in the area earlier this week. “We’re keeping an eye on the facility, but she doesn’t have a license with us right now.”

The state can revoke licenses in certain circumstances — for instance, when there have been three consecutive failed facilities inspections, or when there are convictions for cruelty — but considers kennels on a case-by-case basis.

Smith has a 2005 municipal court conviction for misdemeanor animal cruelty.

The state did not act against her license at the time, finding that though she was accused of throwing a cat from a vehicle, the ag department believed it had escaped the vehicle. The department’s report noted the cat was found uninjured.

According to court records, Smith had been convicted at trial; the case was closed in 2006.

“Any time there’s even one conviction, it’s unfortunate,” Lightcap said. “It would be unlikely we would ever reissue her a license, but we still take them on a case-by-case basis.”

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January 23, 2008 at 3:00 PM
posted by: sudzkelly

THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE !!! I HOPE EVERYONE BANDS TOGEATHER AND PUTS THIS MONSTER OUT OF BUSINESS!!!!!! SHE IS THE ANIMAL!!

January 23, 2008 at 1:15 AM
posted by: caws

Our demonstration went really well today, you can view the video clip on News Channel 8 in Grand Junction and the Montrose Daily Press has both article and video. Please take the time to view this as we hope it will make a difference for the lives of the dogs.

January 17, 2008 at 6:51 PM
posted by: mariahspromise

YOWZER!!! Hard to believe the conditions are allowable by PACFA!!! I sure hope there's a huge change in what's acceptable, because this is NOT!!! NO animal should live in those conditions!!!

January 15, 2008 at 9:21 PM
posted by: isabellasmom

So shocking to see this in Colorado isn't it? Unfortunately, it is shocking but not surprising. Greed is everywhere. Unless we stand up, we as a community will have accepted this. Is this the future of our fair state? Please contact the officals mentioned and your state representatives. This cannot continue.