Extra Special Pets & Animals
May 23, 2008 10:51 pm US/Central
Over 200 Animals Rescued From SE Minn. 'Pet Mill'
ROCHESTER, Minn (WCCO) ―
It's one of the largest seizures of animals for the Animal Humane Society. It involves just more than 200 animals in all, and it happened on a farm in Viola Township in Olmsted County Friday.
73 of the animals are dogs, mostly adult ones. They are the lucky ones, and so are their buddies, more than 130 bunnies. They're all bound for something better.
They started getting the care and attention they've been needing, when they got to the Animal Humane Society late Friday afternoon in Golden Valley.
Volunteers like Tanya Hulsey are helping.
"Somebody has to do it, and I love the bunnies," she remarked.
She and an entire veterinary staff were waiting for them. It's quite a difference compared to what they were used to, investigators said.
"The conditions are bad," remarked Senior Humane Investigator, Keith Streff, with the Animal Humane Society.
He described the owner's operation in Viola Township in Olmsted County as a classic puppy mill, where she had many more animals than what she could take care of.
He says it's an unsanitary place with multiple carcasses throughout the farm, including dead puppies and dead rabbits.
Working on a tip, Sheriff's Department and Animal Humane Society investigators removed just more than 200 animals.
The owner, they say, was breeding and selling dogs and selling the rabbits to a butcher for human consumption.
"There's nothing wrong with the number of animals she has on the farm, but the environment that which those animals are subject to is a problem, does not meet code, and it's a direct violation of the animal welfare chapter in my opinion," says Investigator Streff.
The animals that survived will go to new homes but not before getting checked-out too.
Some are overweight. Some have wounds and are pregnant. The rabbits need their toe-nails trimmed.
"Nothing life-threatening immediately. Just kind of typical, not really well taken care of and allowed to breed stuff," says one veterinarian who was checking out the dogs.
They're all things that can be fixed with time and some caring volunteers like Tanya.
"I get the satisfaction of seeing them get healthy," said Tanya.
Investigators said they will push for not only animal cruelty charges, but also felony charges relating to the carcasses found on the farm.
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