12/09/2024
California has a terrible black-market problem with fake local breeders buying out-of-state animals and passing them off as local, per the LA Times investigation. The animals are kept under inhumane conditions and sold for high profits. The owners are stuck with large vet bills. Another reason to adopt instead of shopping. The rewards are high for breeders, and risks and penalties are low. Here are excerpts from the article.
"...And California is turning a blind eye to a black market by destroying the veterinary records provided to the state that contain key details about the puppy resale trade, The Times found.
..With no clear way to trace their pet’s origin, buyers are often fooled into thinking they’re supporting reputable, local breeders, but are instead fueling a trade in which some puppies are born and raised in horrific conditions. Pet owners have been left heartbroken or facing thousands of dollars in veterinary bills when their new puppies get sick or die. Meanwhile, shelters across the state are overflowing.
..An overwhelming number of the dogs coming into California — more than 70% — were from Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma and Iowa, according to a Times analysis of travel certificates.
Many dogs were supplied by breeders cited or charged with abuse and neglect, including one in Wisconsin who knowingly transported puppies that had been diagnosed with the deadly and highly contagious parvovirus and failed to get them veterinary care.
..Hundreds more came to California from the compound of Steve Kruse, an Iowa breeder who once threw a bag of dead puppies at a federal inspector while being cited for animal welfare violations, according to USDA records reviewed by The Times.
..Shortly after, officers found more than 50 puppies in stacks of cages and containers in Matthews’ Norco garage. The temperature in the building was 95 degrees and smelled of urine, according to a Norco Animal Services report reviewed by The Times. The ceiling fan and mounted air conditioning unit were off.
..Frank Scagnamiglio, former head of Norco Animal Services who investigated Matthews before retiring in 2019, questioned where she sourced dogs and whether she actually bred them herself because there were always so many puppies on her property, but few adult dogs.
“If there’s no mom or dad, you need to question where the dogs came from,” he said. “Might be a puppy mill.”
..A USDA license is required for anyone with five or more breeding dogs who sells to pet stores or online without meeting the customer in person. In annual visits, USDA inspectors enforce the Animal Welfare Act, which sets a low bar for care. For example, dogs housed in groups can legally spend their entire lives in a cage and females can breed over and over, with no limit.
..Also, many puppies pass through at least one broker on their way into a family’s home, a process that obscures where their dog was born.
“We oftentimes get calls about ghost breeders who ... have burner phones,” said Jace Huggins, chief of humane law enforcement for the San Diego Humane Society.
Huggins said his office hears from people who have purchased sick dogs. “They want us to track down the person, and most of the time we can’t find them,” he said.
..An ex-boyfriend once told a Riverside County sheriff’s sergeant that during the Christmas season, Matthews made $100,000 a month selling puppies, according to a 2018 search warrant affidavit and an interview with the sergeant. The ex added that she forged paperwork to claim puppies were purebred and registered with the American Kennel Club, allowing her to hike up the price, the affidavit said.
..Pinedo asked to see the parents, which the woman had agreed to do on the phone earlier. “She goes, ‘Well, you know, the dogs are kind of resting right now. I’d prefer not to bring them out.’”....At home, the pup soon fell ill....over her 15 years, Lacey has had a slew of health issues that Pinedo said have cost $30,000. “She’s never been 100% right.”
..Jason Palmer quickly learned the French bulldog he bought in 2012 from “Jessica” in a CVS parking lot in Corona had parasites and a piece of plastic obstructing his intestine. The puppy, whom he named Franklin, aspirated on his vomit and developed pneumonia. Franklin survived, but Palmer said the dog was in and out of the vet for nearly a year. In 2015, Palmer settled a civil lawsuit against Matthews for $10,000.
..Retired Missouri pet transporter Debbie Earnest said one of her drivers was perplexed when she followed her GPS to the Bay Area address listed on a health certificate and found an empty lot.
It wasn’t just the address that didn’t exist. The names listed on forms for the buyer — Ran Xu and Jonabelle Semana — also were “fictitious,” she said.
..The nurse recalled Bauley saying that she bred the Yorkiechon, a four-pound, toy-sized Yorkshire terrier and bichon frise mix. The dog came from an Ohio broker, according to a travel certificate filed with the state of Ohio that included 18 other puppies bound for Millionaire Mutts.
“She ended up having Crohn’s disease,” the nurse said. “She’s on medication for life. She’s on a special diet. She has all this anxiety. We love her to death and we wouldn’t trade her for the world, but we’ve spent so much money.”
..In the dark Norco garage, Abruzzo agonized over leaving behind dozens of animals, including the tiny Boston terrier he delivered.
As he left, he knew he would report what he had seen once he returned to Missouri and was out of earshot of his driving partner.
“If they remained in those conditions, there’s a good chance they were going to die,” he said.
Two days later, within hours of Abruzzo’s animal cruelty report, a Norco Animal Services investigator obtained a warrant to search the property and seize the animals inside.
Authorities took 42 dogs, including the Boston terrier, and 21 cats from the humid garage, which they noted was between 94 and 99.8 degrees that August 2021 day. It was at least the third time animals had been seized from the Norco garage. The dogs were taken to the city-run shelter in Norco, where most were adopted. One was stolen from the shelter. Matthews was charged with two felony counts of animal cruelty.
Some of the animals had “broken bones, broken teeth. There was f***s everywhere. Some of these animals were sick,” a prosecutor said during one court hearing.
..Last summer, the niece of one of Matthews’ customers arranged a meeting to buy a dog in a Chino parking lot and instead alerted Times reporters. The niece said she was angered to learn that Matthews had duped her aunt into buying a puppy that, according to its microchip, had come from Kruse’s compound.
At the time, according to the niece, Matthews said her name was Jenny. With the criminal charges pending and the order not to possess animals in effect, Matthews showed up with her hair fully tucked into a black headwrap, a COVID-style mask pulled down under her chin.
..In July at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Judge Thomas Kelly sentenced her to 90 days of custody through a work release program, 200 hours of community service and two years of probation.
..He added that as part of her probation, Matthews could not shelter animals “professionally.” The prosecutor piped in, saying he thought the order would apply to owning or possessing any animal.
Matthews stood facing the judge, her legs fidgeting throughout the hearing. The attorney representing her, Graham Donath, started to argue that she be allowed to keep her personal pets.
Before he could finish, the judge agreed."
A Times investigation has found that truckloads of dogs from profit-driven mass breeders pour into the state from the Midwest, feeding an underground market where they are resold by people claiming to be small, local home breeders.
