What do you think? Can an animal shelter also breed and sell puppies?
Recently, a friend shared a website with me that left both of us pretty disturbed. As animal welfare advocates we often see and hear things that can be pretty disturbing – puppy mills, animal abuse, animal neglect, etc. but this was one that seemed pretty wrong, at least on the surface.
It left us asking a lot of questions, including:
- How can a rescue or shelter claim to be saving dogs when it is breeding dogs and selling their puppies?
- How does a rescue or shelter legitimize the fact that they are selling dogs when there are so many dogs already in sitting in shelters needing to be rescued?
- If a rescue or shelter breeds dogs and sells their puppies, can they really be a rescue or shelter?
- Can a breeder claim to be a rescue or shelter, but really just be a front for selling dogs?
- How can a rescue or shelter breed a 7-year-old dog and still be considered a shelter or rescue?
- How can a state allow a breeder to be registered as a no-kill shelter too? Isn’t that some sort of state law loophole?
I can’t help but think something is wrong here. It doesn’t pass the smell test. But, I thought I would let you, the reader, weigh in and share what you think. Below are some screen shots of the website in question. I would love your thoughts on this.
What do you think? Is this a puppy mill or a shelter? Or is it a breeder masquerading as a shelter?
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Their Mission Statement begins with…
These are the quality that Have a Heart dog homes has to improve and care for the homeless and unwanted of the No-Kill shelter that they live on.
The breeding and puppies that come from these AKC dogs pay to build buildings, pay large electric bills and fence the 10 acres that is needed for all that are here.
They also say “This shelter has no choice but to breed some to support the many that never leave.”
Their puppies are sold on Puppyfind.com and Next Day Pets (Next Day Pets is a well-known website for selling puppies. Many puppy millers use this site to sell their puppies.)
There were only 3 dogs listed on their Adopt a Dog page. Here are two of them.
The majority of the website was focused on the breeder dogs and their puppies, including 7-year-old Angelique (who just had her last litter) and Cabella (no age given).
Clicking on the Breeders tab provides you with some additional information:
We will have more Goldendoodles and Golden Retriever puppies
in the spring.
Please call or email to reserve.Also puppies seen on Puppyfind.com and Next daypets.com
AKC bred Standard Poodle puppies ready now.
Although the site had a spot for you to Adopt a Cat, it appears there were no cats available – yet.
Their Happy Adoptions page features quite a few customer comments, but it appears many of the “adoptions” are puppies from the breeder dogs. In fact, I couldn’t find one picture of an adopted dog that wasn’t a Golden Retriever, Goldendoodle or Poodle – all puppies and all the same breed or breeds as the breeder dogs.
According to their About Us page they “are now licensed per state laws as a No-Kill with breeders through the DATCP.” which is the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Is it possible that they would provide a breeder with a shelter license? It seems so. Their last inspection was just this past month.
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Very tricky question. At first the two different practices seem like they would be hard to have under one roof, yet maybe they are trying to create a self-sustaining model where small scale breeding can raise enough funds to make the shelter self-sustaining and possibly able to care for more animals than they otherwise would have been able to. As you mention, very thorny issues arise out of this and I’m not sure there is an easy answer, but it is an interesting case to follow.
I have very mixed feelings on this. I feel if you breed you should be responsible for the lives you create for the entire life of the dog. Taking back any dogs that need to be re-homed. There is just too much breeding, too many unwanted animals. There needs to be some kind of control. It needs to stop. I know it’s a dream, but many breeders do just that and only have a couple of litters a year at the most. They care about their puppies for their entire life. This place can’t possibly do this, too many puppies in a years time to be able to do that. They are planning their next Spring litters already. They are in it for they money, they basically say that themselves.
There are so many unwanted dogs that breeding more seems crazy to me. Take care of the ones needing homes first. I get a very bad feeling about this one, something is not right.
This place reminds of the rescues that only take puppies and leave the Moms behind, they are a 501c3 puppy store. They do it over and over again and call themselves a rescue. It is wrong on many levels.
This is a puppymill dressed up to make u think they are a rescue…… Where do their dogs come from? See any reference on there about owners surrendering dogs or found dogs? Nope, only dogs they have are breeders and their puppies. SCAM Puppymill…..
This is a front, they do everything to hide their real mission and lure us with what we want to hear. Never in a million years, this is a rescue.
Very poorly disguised puppy mill. They breed “goldendoodles” for pete’s sake!
It smells to me too. It is one thing for a shelter to accept a pregnant dog and have those puppies for adoption, it is another to purposely allow the dog to become pregnant. I am sure that it is challenging for shelters to raise the appropriate funds to care for all the animals, but selling puppies is not the answer.
Thanks for sharing this story, while it is awful, it does point out a truth in the sometimes horrible pet business.
I have known pet foster parents that have been breeders but never a shelter. How can they be a advocate to shelter animals if they are contributing to the problem? This is a breeder and I would go as far to say its a puppy mill because they have way to many breeding dogs and puppies.
The worse thing the AKC could have done is allowing cross breeds in. I know some breeds have been breed to help with temperaments, adding poodle to the bunch has made a high shedding dog into a low or no shed dog etc. The AKC register states that all dogs register through them guarantees the pure of the breed and I have to shake my head because designer dogs are not pure breeds! . All I know is that about 15 yrs ago that goldendoodle, maltipoo etc were known as mutts and no one wanted to adopt them from shelters.
Thanks for bringing attention to this type of shelters.
Exactly! Goldendoodles are a “breed” for profit purposes only. Puppymill based on the information provided here and if not a puppymill then a poor choice for funding considering it contributes to the problem.
Agreed 100%..goldendoodles and other “designer mutts” are purely for profit. This is not breeding for the betterment of a breed.
Smells like an even more rotten puppy mill than usual to me. Puppy mills usually don’t ask for donations!
Either these chandeliers have a few loose light bulbs, or they’re assuming the public is as stupid as they are. There is no doubt this is not a respectable, well-run rescue. Merely by their actions, they are puppy mill or backyard breeder.
Does WI law actually allow for a non-profit to breed and sell pets for profit??
AAAH! So many, many, MANY levels of wrong here. I agree with Dr. Dan – this stinks like 3 day old fish as a poorly disguised puppy mill. Can we have it looked into by the local Humane Society or ASPCA related group? Surely the decision makers at groups that CAN intervene can see this just as easily as you found it and shared it with us right? Or at least this girl can hope….
I am not sure how it works in the United States but I do hope this “organization” is not a registered charity, though it’s shelter status suggests as much. It looks to me like they are using this status as a marketing gimmick to get people to think that by purchasing a puppy from them they are supporting a rescue. I am not clear that there is necessarily anything wrong with their breeding operation but they are definitely not a shelter or rescue and have no right to ask for donations from the public. A couple of foster dogs does not an official rescue make.
The things people try to get away with…
Smells a little too fishy to me.
Wow – that’s a new spin on the puppy mill scheme! I wonder if there are other breeders out there who are using this model to cover their actual purpose?
I don’t think there is any question that this is a puppy mill designed to look like a legitimate rescue. These have been around for a while.
…plus, they can’t spell!
What?? No. Just no.
What made me the most suspicious is that they only have two adoptable dogs??? And they’re a rescue and no kill shelter???? I’m not buying any of this…If they are legitimate they need a major image overhaul quick
“No choice but to breed..” No there are many many other choices. And the beautiful Golden who has had her last litter was born there. This is just wrong.
It’s one thing for a breeder to rescue one of it’s own kind and try to find it a home, but this is different.
While looking thru the “adoptions” page I see that they sold a schnoodle & a labradoodle puppy, breeding dogs not featured on their breeding dogs page. Their Golden are really crappy examples of the breed and the price makes me suspect, too. $500 for a purebred? How about no.
Is this place a puppy mill? I don’t think so. But using charity as a guise to sell dogs is shameful.
I don’t understand Wisconsin law and I hope there are not many States that allow this, though I have an idea that most if not all do. And wow, I do hope I’m wrong.
This could leave shelters with the same problem good breeders have with puppy mills. OMG! I’m going to write up my thoughts and point people to your post.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.
It would seem to me this is a puppy mill. Disgusting and sadly most people take things at face value. Not me. I had an argument with my daughter when she was home about her bulldog’s breeder. She has 16 dogs and two or three litters at a time? That smells like puppy miller to me.
I have to agree Jodi. I don’t know if it is a puppy mill (hard to know how many litters and breeding dogs), but certainly not honest or (in my opinion) ethical.
There is no doubt in my mind that this place is first and foremost, a backyard breeding facility. Sure, they may take in and adopt out other dogs, but this is a breeding facility. I felt so uncomfortable reading just the excerpts you provided, I can’t imagine looking through the whole site.
I think what disturbed me most out of the screen shots you have was this quote under the 7 year old, Angelique, “This is her 5th litter and her past is worth her weight in gold.” Just lovely.
agree with you Sarah. I don’t think it is a puppy mill, but I do believe it is a backyard breeder. I had the same sick feeling reading about Angelique. So sad. I wonder what will happen to her after her last litter?
I just had a friend drive there to purchase a std. size poodle, he said the place was a disaster. He couldn’t leave there without the puppy, brought it to the vet and it’s been inbred, has a hernia and eye issues that requires surgery and it’s malnutrition was so bad that the adult teeth that are coming in are affected. This place needs to be shut down for the benefit of all the animals. I would love to know how to help make this happen!
The website is http://www.goldenbarns.com/location.htm (I forgot to put that on my post)
Deb K – I am sorry I missed your comment the first time around. I did some checking with the Wisconsin group that changed the Wisconsin state law on puppy mills and was told there is a way to report this “breeder”. Here is that information. I’ll try to email you it as well. You may want to have your friend report her and his experience. http://www.NoWisconsinPuppyMills.com/file-complaint.html
OMG. I cannot believe someone wrote about her!!! I bought a puppy from this lady. You would not believe the conditions of this place. I didn’t even know she was still in business. I wrote anyone & everyone that would listen. I wrote the National Humane Society & others. She was off of Pet Finder for a while. OK let me tell you about the conditions of this place. The big dogs were running around with big open sores which she says were fly bites. The huge dog house, which was very nice, was fenced in for the smaller dogs & puppies. Then you walk inside. Open cages. Papers strewn about for the dogs & pups to pee on. Lactating mothers running everywhere with puppies suckling on any one of them. Even females that weren’t pregnant or had babies were lactating. These dogs were messed up. She had this big book laying there about cross breeding. I bought my puppy because I already fell in live with her before I bought her. So I went there intending to buy her. My puppy was sick. Her dewclaws weren’t removed properly. She has one that is just hanging there. We talked about having it removed but it would have been way too painful. She had guardia. She had an intestinal infection besides. She was nit healthy @ all. She would refund my money I paid for her but not the $700 I stuck into her. I couldn’t put her back into that situation. This lady needs to be out of business! She is a puppy mill under the guise of rescue. By the way my dog is Wired hair Jack Russel, Chihuahua, Toy Poodle, Rat Terrier. Dies that tell you anything? I would so love to talk to whoever starting investigating this backyard puppy mill.
Thanks for your comment Kathy. I only wrote about her site and wondered if she was running a mill. I didn’t know for sure, but your experience concerns me. Have you reported it to the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project or the media? You are the second person to comment about this place. I am wondering what the new puppy mill legislation says about puppy mills and conditions and what funding goes to inspections. This place passed an inspection in January of this year. When did you get your dog?
Hi Kathy – I did some checking with the Wisconsin group that changed the Wisconsin state law on puppy mills and was told there is a way to report this “breeder”. Here is that information: I did some checking with the Wisconsin group that changed the Wisconsin state law on puppy mills and was told there is a way to report this “breeder”. Here is that information. I’ll try to email you it as well. You may want to have your friend report her and his experience. http://www.NoWisconsinPuppyMills.com/file-complaint.html
I’ll try to email you it as well. I would encourage you to report your experience so they can investigate.
The website also has more information on Wisconsin Act 90 on their main page (left hand side bar): http://www.NoWisconsinPuppyMills.com/
Oh, this makes so much sense! It’s kind of like how doctors purposely gives some patients cancer so that they can make money treating them, and then use the profits for cancer research. They do that, right?
The legitimate animal shelters and rescues that I know of have managed to raise enough money to pay their bills by donations and fundraisers, not by breeding animals; it sounds rather fishy to me, in my opinion!
Fundraisers require work. Those who make a living from selling puppies are allergic to work.
Blah . . . A No Kill supporter supporting the breeding of mutts? There are legitimate ways to raise money without making money off the backs of animals. It’s called a bakery sale.
This is wrong on so many levels!!! I am appalled!!! Why would they breed dogs that may have health issues??? Do they certify hips and eyes? This is a puppy mill!!!
People passionate about dog rescue would NOT support dog breeding “to cover the bills”. It’s completely hypocritical.The website appears to be written by people with a not so great command of the English language…. and it appears they also sell puppies through NextDayPets.com and other known sellers of puppy mill offspring. Despicable, and preying on the ignorance of others.
This is not a bona fide shelter, this is a puppy mill. Lots of this,
Sadly true Robyn. It’s a darn shame that now we have to educate the public on places that appear to be an animal shelter while breeding dogs for sale.
I see breeders on adoption web sites all the time. I point out they are breeders as they are always advertising pups but Petfinder especially will not kick them off even with years of fraud and complaints. I have yet to see a shelter breeding but many do get in pregnant dogs and try to place the pups before they put them down due to lack of space. I rescue dogs full time and we never breed but if a puppy mill dog comes in pregnant I do not kill the pups. I do place them and make sure all are fixed before placement. Dachshund Rescue NW, Spokane, Wash. PS We really love competing with the puppy mills and back yard breeders on the adoption web sites with our dogs of all ages. I really love several calls a week asking for pups. Apparently they can;t listen to the voice mail telling them we do not sell pups nor do we help people create more. Big sigh. We rescued 120 Dachshund last year alone and turned away 500+. But we have also placed almost 950 of them since 1991 too. So drop in the ocean but always better then doing nothing.
You are doing good work. I understand your comment about a drop in the bucket, but for every dog you save, you made a difference. I also worry about puppy mills trying to compete with rescues and shelters by acting as if they are one. I hope that some day they will not be able to hide behind this facade because most of the public will recognize them for what they are. Until then, we will all continue to educate (just like you).
Perhaps if they had gotten a proper education and were literate, they wouldn’t need to sell puppies for a living. assholes
Here’s my email to this POS:
What the hell is wrong with you? BREEDING dogs and pretending to be a rescue organization? It’s clear to me you did not receive a proper education based on spelling and grammar on your website so allow me to define “rescue” for you:
res·cue
/ˈreskyo͞o/
Verb
Save (someone) from a dangerous or distressing situation.
Noun
An act of saving or being saved from danger or distress.
You do realize that by breeding dogs you are putting their lives in danger and causing stress to them? You must not have children yourself.
I suggest you stop what you are doing in terms of breeding AND misleading people requesting donations for this scam. I will be reporting you. You are the reason shelters exist. You are the reason people like myself work tirelessly to fundraise and nurse dogs back to health. YOU are the problem, certainly not the solution.
Well said Jessica
Just in case folks did not get it. We NEVER breed ANY dogs being a legit rescue organization. But I am too much of a Christian to kill pups once one is preggers and we rescue them, usually those are the puppy mill breeders. I do work to continue to educate those people in the region to tell folks who are pull mills advertising themselves as rescuers. I can;t shoot them with my husband in law enforcement. And yes most of thos goobers are allergic to work I have found and flood the market with a ton of mentally ill and unhealthy pups yet people keep buying from them. Here are two in our area and we keep paying to keep these web sites up: http://www.edragoon.com/closesleepyhollow and http://www.edragoon/closelittlelongdogs Two of my favorite people in this market. And we always educate folks about papers even AKC papers as being worthless. My whole thing is education since I started this dog rescue in 1991. What is annoying is people in the dog club here STILL buy pups in parking lots after years of letting them know that is illegal in this county plus meet the parents and see where they are bred at their home so they have some recourse when their pups are mental or unhealthy. So we end up rescing those as well. So I ask you? Who is the idiot here, our rescue or the breeders sucking in the dollars? Yes we still rescue and will continue to do so. But always frustrating with many reports of fraud, theft, lying and abuse of their customers by those two people, I use that term loosely, yet they are atill there abusing people for many years. Oh well. At least we know we are helping.
This is not a rescue. If they have a 501 it needs to be removed. Rescues spay/neuter they are aware that for every pup born one is being killed in a kill shelter someplace! Most rescues are aware that the AKC isn’t a friend of rescue. No rescue would support them because they support puppy mills. Yes, rescues do on rare occasions have a pregnant dog, if it is pregnant in a rescue it came in that way. Are you really confused or did you just want to start a conversation. Yeah if it was conversation you were looking for. Boo if you are an administrator on this page and are really confused!
Nah…if you’re trying to do both, y’ ain’t doing either justice…simple.
This is baloney; no real animal shelter would intentionally bring more animals into the world. She is contributing to the problem! I had a colleague recently get a “purebred standard poodle” from this place; shots not updated, surgery required to fix eyelid problems due to in-breeding, severe malnutrition and dehydrated. Thankfully for the pup my colleague couldn’t leave him behind and paid $500.00 for him and spent another $2,000 getting him up to good health. This place should be shut down immediately.
Agree Deb. I asked the question because I wanted to get a real sense from people what they really knew about rescues and puppy mills. Many puppy mills have tried this approach with success. People don’t know. Thank you for sharing your friend’s story. This place has been reported.