Peggy Gallek and Ed Gallek
9 months ago
HOLMES COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) – The FOX 8 I-Team found that the number of high-volume dog breeders registering with the state was skyrocketing.
Hundreds of high-volume dog breeders are now in Ohio, numbers confirmed this month by the Commercial Dog Breeding Advisory Board.
In 2018, there were 290 licensed high-volume dog breeders in Ohio. As of 2019, 418. There are now more than 600 high-volume dog breeders in the state.
Maureen Jordan, a volunteer with GRIN, a Golden Retriever rescue group, says she’s surprised the number has doubled in less than five years.
“It’s quite sad, it really bothers me to know what’s happening in these places.” » said Jordan.
For years, the I-Team has highlighted some high-volume breeders breeding dogs in what animal rights groups say are horrible conditions.
We found dozens of high-volume dog breeders located in Holmes County. We have tried to visit many of these breeders cited by the state for non-compliance issues. None of the breeders showed us where the dogs were kept and most asked us to leave.
State inspectors monitor dog breeders. But the I-Team found that the state has only five inspectors for more than 600 breeders.
“Only five inspectors,” Roseanne Moss said. “How can we really expect them to keep a close eye on big breeders? »
Moss has adopted dogs from some of the high-volume breeders. She said many dogs rescued from so-called puppy mills have health problems. She said one dog she adopted had internal medical problems and another had a deformed leg.
“She had a leg amputated, now she lives without a front leg,” Moss said. “I believe these kinds of conditions are not hereditary, I think it is over-breading and over-breeding.”
The Ohio Department of Agriculture supervises dog breeders. Dr. Dennis Summers, chief of ODA’s Animal Health Division, estimates there are enough inspectors to visit every licensed breeder each year. He says inspectors check to see if dogs are kept in deplorable conditions or don’t receive medical care.
“For the most part, we do our annual inspections,” Summers said. “The law only requires it once a year.”
Year after year, the Humane Society of the United States compiles a list called the Horrible Hundred. Ohio has ranked among the top breeders of problem dogs in the entire country for several years. So HSUS officials aren’t convinced the state can monitor all breeders with five inspectors.
“I think it’s very difficult for the state to understand what’s happening on the ground with all these high-volume dog breeders and make sure that all the puppies and dogs are adequately taken care of” , said Mark Finneran. from HSUS.
For now, rescue groups are trying to save one dog at a time. Volunteers are stunned by the growing number of breeders and wonder how many more dogs could be trapped in so-called puppy mills.
“I’m shocked,” Jordan said. “It makes me angry, but I think even more, it makes me sad.”