OMAHA, Neb.-
The 171 new arrivals at the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha—soon to be more—were enjoying the relatively wide-open space of their new, temporary home on Thursday.
They had been rescued from stench and filth at a puppy mill near Lexington in south-central Nebraska. A convoy of eight vehicles bearing crates of pups and mothers pulled into the Omaha shelter late Wednesday night.
The dogs had been kept in small buildings with scant water, surrounded by feces, urine stains and trash.
“The conditions were really bad,” Pam Wiese, a Humane Society spokeswoman, said on Thursday.
The operators “were putting down newspapers, then the dogs would poop, then they’d just put down more newspaper. There might have been six inches of petrified newspapers in a big pad,” Wiese said.
Many of the dogs were dehydrated, she said, and many had skin issues and parasites. Several had bad teeth because their diet of soft food didn’t provide tooth stimulation for good dental health.
“The biggest problem these dogs will have is behavioral,” Wiese said. “If all you do is let them breed, you get unsocialized animals that are bite risks.”
Wiese said a tip led a state inspector and Dawson County authorities to the dogs’ owner, whose name was not available.
“He gave up the animals,” Wiese said. The authorities “were more worried about getting the animals out of that situation than fighting him. But it’s an open investigation.”
The state official involved in the investigation is Rick Herchenbach, program specialist for the commercial dog and cat inspection program for the state Department of Agriculture.
He said he and the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office had received complaints about the dog operation and breeder, which he would not identify.
Herchenbach said he, a Dawson County deputy and two sheriff’s investigators went to the dog operation on Monday, “and what we found was a case of animal neglect and cruelty.”
He reported that to the county attorney’s office, as required by his department.
A call to County Attorney Elizabeth Waterman was not immediately returned.
The dogs’ owner, who is licensed as a commercial breeder, eventually agreed to surrender the animals.
Herchenbach would not say whether the breeder also surrendered his license.
Two of the dogs had medical conditions that forced the Humane Society to euthanize them, Wiese said, leaving 171 pups and mothers. One of the adults was about to give birth, she said.
They are mostly small breeds, she said: Pomeranian mixes, terrier mixes, a long-haired Chihuahua, some Yorkies, a couple of poodles.
Unless their medical conditions required immediate attention, the dogs were being left alone most of Thursday so they could get used to their new surroundings.
“Many of them have horrific odor, but we don’t want to stress them out more than necessary,” Wiese said.
Once they’re bathed and treated for any medical problems, they’ll be added to the general population available for adoption—some as soon as the middle of next week.
“We’ve got some cute little guys and we’ve got some pathetic little guys,” she said.
The Humane Society already had 240 dogs on hand, but there was enough room to handle the new total of 410-plus. Litter mates and the moms and their pups were sharing the individual, built-in kennels that are washed down at least once daily.
“On Sunday, we’re beginning half-price adoptions to try to get our staff some breathing room,” Wiese said. “We do still have some empty kennels, but we’re pretty much full.”
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On the Net:
The Nebraska Humane Society,
Nebraska Department of Agriculture:
