Woman charged with neglect after dogs seized

By NANCY BEAN FOSTER

An elderly woman has been charged with animal neglect after police and officials from the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire removed 44 small dogs from squalid surroundings.

On Tuesday, Virginia Smith, 78, was charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty and neglect after police and staff from the Animal Rescue League, acting on a warrant, removed 44 shih tzus, Yorkshire terriers, Maltese and poodles from Smith’s small house on Francestown Turnpike.

Smith’s husband, Roland, died at the couple’s home on March 1, and police and emergency responders became aware of the squalid conditions the elderly couple and the dogs had been living in, according to the warrant affidavit filed at Milford District Court last Friday by Police Chief Kyle Aspinwall.

Aspinwall said that he tried to convince Smith to surrender the animals, but had difficulty convincing her to let them go, so he sought a warrant to enter the house and remove the dogs, and enlisted the help of the Animal Rescue League in Bedford.

On Tuesday morning, police executed the warrant and Smith agreed to surrender 22 of the dogs, signing over custody of them to the Animal Rescue League. However, she refused to voluntarily surrender the other 22 dogs, Aspinwall said.

“The condition of these dogs is the worst I have ever seen,” said Maureen Prendergast in a press release from the Rescue League. “All of them are covered in fecal matter and severely matted. When we entered the area where they were kept, I observed many of them exhibiting a compulsive spinning behavior which is often indicative of animals kept in confinement for excessive periods of time.”..." More

Animal Activist Charged with Animal Cruelty

Judy Smith was charged with animal cruelty after 19 cats and dogs were taken from her Urbana home. Police say they were living in horrible conditions and called it a possible hoarding situation.

It turns out she is an employee of the Prairie-land Anti Cruelty Program.

Animal control officers call this one of the worst cases they've ever seen.

Susan Norris is the President of CatSnap, an animal rescue organization. She used to volunteer with Judy Smith, and can't believe what was going on inside her house.

"Sometimes in animal welfare, I think some people lose sight of the most important goal, and that is to provide humane care for the animals," said Norris..." More

Dozens of dogs seized from home

JASPER COUNTY - by Steve Stewart/KJAS - The Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals seized numerous dogs from the residence of the late Homa "Hal" Horace Smith on Tuesday morning. Smith, who died in July, was the father of Eric Smith, the man who killed Martin Lynn Byerly in 2007 and is currently serving a life sentence in prison.

SPCA employee Bob McClintock said he estimates there were 35 to 40 dogs on the property, 17 of which were living inside the house which is located at the corner of County Road's 245 and 244, just north of Jasper. McClintock said he and the other SPCA workers would not be able to capture all of the dogs, but they would try to catch the majority of them.

One by one, SPCA employees carried out dogs that were suffering from mange, malnutrition, and other apparent illnesses. They were loaded onto a special bus and will be carried to Houston where they will receive medical treatment, and will be evaluated for adoption.

A neighbor, Harvey Loupe, said that he could smell the dogs and their waste from his house about 300 yards away.

Hal Smith's widow, Janice Smith, lived in the house alone with the dogs following her husband's death..." More

Animal Instinct

An investigation into designer dogs leads to greater scrutiny of the 'puppy mill' industry.

By Suzanne Smalley NEWSWEEK

Bill Smith has dedicated his life to fighting "puppy mills," the warehouses where dogs are raised for profit in tiny cages, denied sufficient medical care, and often killed when they get sick or can no longer breed. Smith noticed that many of the farms around his shelter facility, near the heart of puppy-mill country in Lancaster County, Pa., were displaying signs boasting that they were or-ganic dairy operations. Smith found that one mill—B&R Puppies, which had been cited by authorities as recently as a year ago for housing dogs in squalid cages and failing to vaccinate them—was also supplying milk to Horizon Organics. Horizon is a major presence in markets like Whole Foods, where animal welfare is paramount.

My April article, "A (Designer) Dog’s Life," highlighted Smith's efforts. Before NEWSWEEK published the story, I notified Horizon and Whole Foods that my piece would reveal they were buying and peddling organic milk from a farmer who mistreated dogs. Horizon sent an inspector to B&R the next day and found dogs living in filth. The company suspended the farmer, John Stoltzfus, who has since dismantled his dog-breeding operation, according to Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture records. That allowed him to resume supplying Horizon, which he began doing earlier this month.

Smith demanded that Whole Foods send several hundred vendors a letter warning of repercussions for inhumane dog breeding. In mid-May, the grocery chain issued a stern request that ven-dors "not supply any products to our stores that have been sourced from farmers…who breed or raise dogs inhumanely." Smith says the Whole Foods letter was a "huge step" forward because "consumers have always had the power to close these facilities."...More