A DeKalb County couple faces 45 misdemeanor charges following a seizure of 43 dogs and one pigeon in DeKalb County Monday night.
The dogs were taken to Humane Fort Wayne, which was the only shelter in the area with the space and bandwidth to help. Several dogs were sedated and shaved, due to mats in their fur from conditions at the home.
Executive Director Jessica Henry called it “probably the worst” of these situations she’d seen. She says Indiana has “turned a blind eye” to commercial breeders, implementing House Bill 1412 two years ago.
“Which masqueraded as an anti-puppy mill bill by mandating that puppy mills, commercial breeders and even shelters like ours would be subjected to random inspections.”
The bill also nullified any local ordinances put in place to try to crack down on commercial breeders.
Henry says the department tasked with doing inspections is underfunded and understaffed. She says as far as she knows, no area shelter has ever been inspected.
Henry called on legislators to repeal House Bill 1412 and replace it with meaningful and enforceable protections for animals.
The bill also changed how the state defines a commercial breeder, now defined as someone who maintains more than 19 unaltered female dogs.
“Meaning operations below that threshold face little to no oversight,” Henry said. “You can have 18 breeding females in your home and not be considered a commercial breeding facility.”
House Bill 1412 was authored by Rep. Beau Baird (R-Greencastle) and supported by Senators Liz Brown and Travis Holdman, as well as Representatives Ben Smaltz, Matt Lehman, Martin Carbaugh, Chris Judy, Bob Morris and Dave Heine.
A report released by Humane World for Animals earlier this week identified the commercial breeding industry’s 100 worst offenders, which included Enos Graber in Woodburn, Pawfect Puppies LLC in Grabill and Family Puppies and Corinna’s Puppies in Nappanee.
Breeders in Wolcottville and Hardinsburg were also flagged in the report.
Henry encouraged those looking for a specific breed to reach out to the American Kennel Club to find a reputable breeder or contact Humane Fort Wayne for assistance.
