# Puppymill trying to open in MN



## snowballsmom (Mar 3, 2006)

I just found this info on another site. Please, please, call or email the county commissioners listed. I am sorry that I don't know how to link the page.
URGENT - PUPPY MILL TO OPEN IN MINNESOTA! Last year, we were horrified to hear the announcement of a new puppy mill that was approved to open in Minnesota. The Morrison County Commissioners approved a "dog kennel" (in other words, a puppy mill) to open in Belle Prairie Township, Minnesota. Six hundred adult dogs will be forced to live in tiny cages for the sole purpose of breeding puppies. These pups will then be sold in pet stores (NOT Petco or Petsmart), on the web, or in classified sections of newspapers. We've rescued well over a hundred puppy mill survivors and every single one of them has had horrific health issues because they never received proper medical attention. Almost all puppy mill survivors need expensive dentals because most of their teeth are totally rotten, others have limited vision because their corneas were scratched by their matted fur, while others come in blind or deaf from untreated eye and ear infections. Puppy mill dogs live their entire lives in wire cages, are bred every time possible, and forced to pump out puppies by the bundle. They rarely get handled, never get pet, never feel grass or sunlight, never are given things likes bones or toys...they never get anything. Their lives are truly miserable and this is why it is so appalling that anyone in their right mind would ever approve of such a thing to open, especially in Minnesota. The mill has already been built, and animal lovers all over the nation are working hard to shut this mill down. On Wednesday, March 14th and Monday, March 26th the Minnesota Court of Appeals will hold hearings about this puppy mill's operating permit at the Morrison County Government Center, 213 First Ave SE , Little Falls, MN 56345. If you can attend either hearing, please do. It is extremely important that the local authorities and the Minnesota Court of Appeals sees that the public cares deeply about shutting puppy mills down, and ending all of the pain and suffering that goes on there. If you can't attend the hearings, please write or call Morrison County staff. To learn more about these hearings as well as who you can write/call, please go to http://network.bestfriends. org/minnesota/news/ 13079.html and and http://network.bestfriends.org /puppymills/news/ 12854.html. For information about puppymills, please go to http://network.bestfriends. org/puppymills/news/, www.stoppuppymills.org, www.prisonersofgreed.org, www.petplace.com/ article-printer-friendly .aspx?id=3338, www.idausa.org/ campaigns.html (under CAMPAIGNS click on 'Puppy Mills'), www.consumeraffairs.com /printme.php?url= /pets/puppy_ mills.html, and www.kimtownsend. com/csusda.htm (USDA's Kennel Size Requirements). Considering that in just one year 20,000 animals are killed in the Twin Cities area alone, the last thing needed is yet another place breeding dogs. Think of how many more dogs will be euthanized because of this enormous "kennel" - rather than adopt a rescue dog, people will adopt a puppymill puppy.

Bev & Snowball


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## Gambitsgirl (Jan 14, 2007)

I signed this petition way back when I saw it on bestfriend network. What's the update? Please keep us posted and thank you on behalf of those you cannot speak, for bringing this to our attention!


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## snowballsmom (Mar 3, 2006)

I found this on the Morrison County Record website regarding the permit process for a puppy mill in MN (once again, I don't know how to post a link):

Public hearing on kennel gives Board plenty to reconsider

Matt Perkins
Staff Writer

The Morrison County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing Monday night to receive input on whether a conditional use permit (CUP) should be issued to Gary McDuffee for a dog breeding kennel in Belle Prairie Township.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals dismissed the board's January 2006 decision to grant a CUP to McDuffee. The Minnesota Court of Appeals' decision was primarily directed at the board and McDuffee's debarking plans, which suggested that adult breeding dogs might have their vocal cords surgically removed.

At the public hearing, however, the public's concerns were directed away from the morality involved in debarking plans that McDuffee has not yet utilized. Instead, those in attendance who spoke in opposition of McDuffee's CUP, a majority of whom were from outside of the county, cited instances in which McDuffee has been in violation of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) operating standards.

Daniel Boivin, one of McDuffee's attorneys, spoke in behalf of McDuffee, who was also in attendance and answering questions from the board. Boivin acknowledged the civil right and duty of residents to voice their opinions and concerns, but said the comments might be exaggerating some points.

"Every kennel is going to have USDA non-compliance issues," Boivin said. "There are always issues from time to time, but Mr. McDuffee is given a day to correct them and he always does."

A USDA pre-license inspection report for McDuffee's current Waggin Tails Kennel located in Belle Prairie Township, dated Feb. 28, 2006, cited several compliance issues that needed correction. Those issues included the kennel's attending veterinarian not having an approved vaccination schedule and parasite control plan for the facility to follow, surfaces that were not impervious to moisture, six pens that did not meet minimum floor space requirements and five pens that did not provide the minimum of six inches of head space for the animals.

McDuffee said that he corrected all issues within the allotted time, and was approved for licensing by the USDA in March. The kennel also received "satisfactory" inspections by the USDA in June and December, McDuffee said.

So those in opposition quickly redirected their arguments, explaining to the board that they felt the USDA was simply not the best form of regulation for dog breeding facilities.

Tim Shields, the attorney for the Minnesota Federated Humane Society (MFHS), suggested that separate inspections conducted by the board and the MFHS could address those concerns.

"I think that McDuffee and his attorneys are taking a narrow view of the possibility of inspections," Shields said. "They keep saying it's USDA, USDA, USDA."

And that was just the fact that Boivin wanted to make evident to the board.

"Our view is that when you start talking about making exceptions for inspections in this case, you force yourself to do the same for dairy barns and chicken barns too," Boivin said. "Then we get started down a path where it's a slippery slope."

In order to avoid any slip-ups in its reconsideration process, the board was advised by the Minnesota Court of Appeals to take a "hard look" at all the facts.

Marshall Tanick, representing neighbors of McDuffee in a court case regarding the county board's failure to complete what he says is a required Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW), said a "hard look" requires the EAW.

"It's very troublesome for the board to grant the CUP without completing the EAW," Tanick said. "It will cast doubt on the validity of the board's decision, and could easily result in continued, long, drawn-out legal processes."

But either way, whether it grants the CUP or does not, the board expects the legal process to continue.

"We are in a unique position because we can expect to be sued whether we grant the CUP or not," Morrison County Administrator Tim Houle said. "What we want to do is take a hard look at all the presented arguments and make the best decision from there."

The board will make a decision on McDuffee's CUP application April 3 at 9 a.m. in the County Board Room at the Government Center in Little Falls. There will be no public comment taken at that time. However, the public is welcome to attend.

It is in the court's hands as to whether they will alow this mill to open. Let's how sane minds prevail, and it gets voted down.

Bev & Snowball


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## angel's mom (Feb 14, 2007)

DEBARKING PROGRAM???????????????????????? WTF?????????????? 

If people don't understand the problem with puppy mill, this article certainly makes it clear! Six inches of clearance above their heads! Yank out their vocal cords so they can't bark! That is SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

Why is that the requirements, why is that what is allowed?!!??!!?!? 

Itis just wrong wrong wrong-- they are not livestock- in fact they are treated worse than livestock (cows, pigs, chickens, sheep). 

I don't understand people or a world where our best friends are allowed to be treated this way.


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## Gambitsgirl (Jan 14, 2007)

This makes me sick! I pray that you are right and the decision will be to stop this monster! How sad!
Please keep us posted!


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## snowballsmom (Mar 3, 2006)

UPDATED - This is a sad sad day, for this I am truly sorry to live in the state of MN.
















Morrison County to approve permit for proposed kennel 

The Associated Press - Wednesday, April 04, 2007

LITTLE FALLS, Minn.

Morrison County commissioners plan Thursday to approve a controversial permit for a 500-dog breeding operation, though they will likely attach several conditions.

Last year, commissioners approved a permit to allow Gary McDuffee to have as many as 600 breeding dogs at his kennel in Belle Prairie Township. They reduced the number at a meeting Tuesday after requiring McDuffee to set aside one-sixth of his indoor kennel space for the dogs to exercise.

The conditions will include requiring McDuffee to plant a buffer of trees along some of his property to reduce noise and forbidding him from debarking the dogs or using shock collars.

McDuffee received an initial permit in January 2006. But after neighbors and the Minnesota Federated Humane Society appealed, the state Court of Appeals ordered the county to revisit the issue.

The number of dogs McDuffee wanted to breed, along with questions about conditions at kennels he previously ran with his former wife, drew opposition from around the world, much of it fueled by Internet networking and online petitions.

"We've all caught a lot of heck on this thing, both ways," board chairman Don Meyer said during Tuesday's hearing.

McDuffee declined to comment Tuesday.

The county has a moratorium on new breeding facilities and is rewriting ordinances that govern how many dogs a breeder can have at one kennel. Commissioners hope to have new ordinances in place by July, county administrator Tim Houle said.

A lawsuit challenging an earlier board decision against requiring an environmental assessment worksheet is pending in Morrison County District Court. The changes McDuffee has agreed to, along with the conditions commissioners put on his permit, will likely be presented in court as reasons commissioners don't need to order the environmental assessment.

___

Information from: St. Cloud Times, http://www.sctimes.com


Bev & Snowball & Charlie


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## KandiMaltese (Mar 27, 2007)

Thank goodness he wasn't approved for shock collars or "debarking"

Sad day for sure.


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## Gambitsgirl (Jan 14, 2007)

This is a sad, sad, day. My heart just sunk into my stomach when I read this... ty for the update. I wish we all had happier news to read.
Stay the course and keep fighting for those dogs! My prayer is that the court and the state will hold him as responsible as they can with their provisions and that the humane society will stay on top of this one. How do these type of things still go on in this country?








Sad Indeed...


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