By Bethany Nolan
331-4373 | bnolan@heraldt.com
6/5/2009

Ten dogs seized from a commercial breeding operation in Harrison County and brought to the Bloomington Animal Shelter are in relatively good health, and likely will be put up for adoption.

Shelter director Laurie Ringquist said Thursday the dogs include several yorkie and terrier mixes, a papillon, Pomeranian, Maltese and two puppies. A few are suffering from dental and ear issues, and two of the dogs are pregnant.

She said the shelter has already received dozens of calls from people interested in adopting the dogs, but said they still must be medically treated and undergo temperament testing before they can be made available for adoption. The dogs at the Bloomington shelter are part of more than 200 seized earlier this week as part of a tax-enforcement action by Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, whose office is seeking to collect more than $132,000 it says is owed to the state in unpaid sales and income taxes from Breezy Valley Dairy Farm property owner Virginia Garwood and daughter Kristen Garwood.

On Thursday, a Harrison County judge granted Zoeller’s request to block the two from doing business until those back taxes are paid. Ringquist said this is the third time in the past year the local shelter has taken in dogs removed from puppy mills.

“While we are happy that we are able to help these dogs find loving, forever homes, it demonstrates the need to regulate this industry to prevent animals from living in these conditions in the first place,” she said in a news release.

Sarah Hayes, CEO of the Monroe County Humane Association and president of Indiana Alliance of Animal Control and Welfare Organizations, explained new legislation that will take effect July 1.

House Enrolled Act 1468 will provide additional enforcement and required standards for commercial dog breeding facilities. For example, such breeders will be required to register with the state and pay a registration fee, increase cage sizes, not use cages with wire floors and must allow dogs out of cages for daily exercise.

Cages with wire flooring present myriad health issues, including that small dogs’ feet can slip through and be injured and that feces can affect other dogs below when cages are stacked, Hayes said.

The bill also increases penalties for animal neglect and cruelty, including medical neglect, she said. But while the new legislation increases statewide efforts on behalf of animals, she said animal advocacy organizations will continue to work for more stringent rules.

“The bill we have now is a good start,” Hayes said. “It will provide some baseline guides for standards of care and some accountability for these mills. But more work needs to be done.” Local legislators, including state Rep. Peggy Welch and state Sen. Vi Simpson, supported the bill, as did Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan.

State Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, captured local attention when he put language in the bill that prevents cities, towns and counties from adopting ordinances regulating commercial breeders that are more stringent than the legislation.

Local municipalities now have until Dec. 31 to enact such legislation, which would be grandfathered, but otherwise are “out of luck,” Hayes said. Bloomington and Monroe County already have such ordinances.

Reached at his law office in Bedford Thursday, Steele said he thinks the current law works well for both critics and advocates because it doesn’t penalize commercial breeders just for being in the business while also providing protection for animals.

“I think the legislation, once it goes into effect and has a chance to work its way in the populace, you’ll see that it has even better tools than our prosecutors have now,” he said. “I think this is a good piece of legislation as it finally ended up.”

Want to help?
If you’d like to help take care of dogs rescued from puppy mills, donations can be made to the Olivia Animal Protection and Rescue Fund through the Monroe County Humane Association, P.O. Box 1334, Bloomington, IN 47402.

On the Web
To view a copy of the new state legislation regarding commercial dog breeding facilities, visit
www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2009/HE/HE1468.1.html.