Puppy mill - 250 dogs
Buxton, ME (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 21, 2007
County: York
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Heidi A. Frasca
» John C. Frasca
Case Updates: 4 update(s) available
The owners of a kennel where dogs tested positive for parasites and mange have been charged with animal cruelty and police have seized control of the facility, which they call a puppy mill.
John and Heidi Frasca, owners of J'aime Kennel, faced 17 charges after Buxton police searched the facility early Tuesday. Police said the charges include 14 civil violations of running a kennel without a license, two criminal counts of animal cruelty and one criminal count of failure to provide necessary medical treatment to animals.
Of the roughly 250 dogs and puppies there, many had sarcoptic mange, a contagious disease found in dogs. Further tests for the intestinal parasite giardia were to be performed on the animals.
The dogs were primarily miniature Australian shepherds, Brussels griffons, French bulldogs, American bulldogs and shelties. It could take months and several hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore the dogs' health, officials said.
More than 40 volunteers from the Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, the Animal Welfare Society of Kennebunk and veterinarians helped police during Tuesday's seizure. Police have received repeated complaints about conditions in the kennel.
"In going in first, we said, OK, we can handle this," said Steven Jacobsen of the Animal Welfare Society. "As you went from room to room and saw the numbers of multiple animals per cage, we realized this was a fairly significant seizure."
Police also searched medical and veterinary records at the kennel. They urged anyone who has bought a puppy or dog from J'aime Kennel within the past few months to have the animal tested for both giardia and sarcoptic mange.
Case UpdatesThey came despite the snow, despite the wait, despite the uncertainty. They all had the same goal in mind: Bring home a puppy.
On Monday morning, about a dozen or so people gathered in front of the Animal Welfare Society like they were waiting for a hot concert ticket, or the newest toy on Black Friday. Some had come during the night and waited through the season's first snow; others came hours before the doors were slated to open. All were looking to adopt one of six Miniature Australian Shepherd puppies seized in the Buxton puppy mill raid in August and just being released for adoption that day.
Last in line was Springvale's John Sharpe and his 9-year-old daughter Jamie.
"The rest of the family's in the car," Sharpe said, explaining that his wife, older daughter and dog were waiting outside. "We're family number five."
Inside, shelter workers got ready for the rush. The puppies were ready - clean and clear-eyed, they were just half a dozen of the more than 300 dogs now in need of good homes following the raid.
They'd been moved to a kennel near the front and while they may not have known it, life was about to get good.
Five families came through the door at 11. So far, so good. With six puppies to be adopted today, it appeared no one would end up empty-handed. The first couple went in the back with a shelter worker and came out with two males to take a look at. They were taken down to the training room to have some time together, to make a decision. The minutes ticked by and then word came: They were taking both.
"It's Ben and Gordo," called out Senior Tech Jocelyn Layman.
There were murmurs up and down the line.
If someone else takes two there won't be enough for everyone, some said. And worse yet, other families were coming in the door. At least two more had joined the queue.
Family number one came out of the room and began going over legalities with the shelter staff while Ben and Gordo are returned to the kennel. All of the dogs must wait until Tuesday to be picked up; all new owners must read the paperwork on how best to care for a puppy mill dog and what to expect before they can take their puppies home.
With family number one done, it was time for family number two to visit the kennel. Dennis Driscoll had been waiting outside since 7:15 a.m. for the doors to open. The only reason he'd been able to be here today was because school was canceled. A teacher, he thought maybe the snow was a sign that the time had come for he and wife Sandra to get a new dog. They had lost their old girl, Sally, to cancer four years before.
Since shelter policy required that all family members (and pets) be present in order for anyone to adopt a dog, both Dennis and Sandra were there, ready to look at the puppies. They asked a shelter worker to bring in two females, Buffy and Cassidy.
"We'll see which one likes us best," Sandra said.
That didn't take long.
Minutes later, Cassidy was on her way to being Maggie and Buffy was on her way back to the kennel.
"This one attached herself to me," Sandra said. "I'll be in to pick her up tomorrow."
Dennis felt bad that they hadn't chosen Buffy, but predicted she'd be snapped up quickly.
He was right. Family number three, with two daughters, chose Buffy next.
And then there were two puppies left - and two of the original families, the Martins of Dayton and the Sharpes. Jamie Sharpe leaned close and whispered to her dad, "I hope we get Linus."
Blue-eyed Linus was Cassidy's littermate and the wild man of the group. While Linus went into the room with a few of the families, he always came right out again.
This time, when the Martins went in, both Linus and the brown and white Fauna came along.
Inside the room, Stephanie Martin crouched down to pet the puppies as mom Riquie watched. Riquie was leaning toward Linus, while it was clear Stephanie had other ideas.
"You want her, don't you?" she asked her daughter as she cuddled Fauna.
Still, the puppies had one other family member to meet: 1-year-old black German Shepherd Bam.
While Riquie held Bam on his leash he made his entrance and soon it became clear which puppy he preferred.
While Linus squared off with the bigger black dog right away, barking furiously, shy Fauna held his interest. Bam followed her around, finally placing his paw squarely on her back.
"He's telling her, 'You're mine,'" said animal care tech Gabby Van Natta. "And she's OK with it."
And so Stephanie - and Bam - had their puppy.
Which meant that poor little Linus was the last puppy standing, which could be a good thing - if the Sharpes could deal with his wildness, and if their 1-year-old Sheltie, Snickers, took to him.
The Sharpes came in and Linus trotted up. John knelt down, while Jamie cooed softly to the puppy. Big sister Casey, 13, came in with Gina to take a look at the puppy.
"How much bigger will he get?" asked John.
"Eighteen inches," Van Natta told him.
But while they chatted, something wonderful was happening. Linus was calm. It seemed the little wild man had taken one look at 9-year-old Jamie and fallen madly in love.
"It's like he said, 'I've been waiting for this family,'" whispered volunteer Deborah Kerr. When Jamie got up to bring 1-year-old Snickers in, he followed her to the door, looking sad. And when she returned, he ran up to her and stood on one side with Snickers on the other. The two dogs touched noses and the deal was sealed.
"Do you want a new home for Christmas?" Gina asked, holding the puppy close. "We have lots of love to give." | Source: Sea Coast Online - Dec 6, 2007
Update posted on Dec 6, 2007 - 12:15PM |
A kennel owner from Buxton was due in court Wednesday afternoon to answer to charges of animal cruelty. But John Frasca failed to show up.
A warrant has now been issued for Frasca's arrest. He is facing 25 counts of cruelty to animals.
State authorities raided the kennel owned by Frasca and his wife back in August. They found more than 250 dogs in various stages of distress, from malnourishment to parasites and diseases.
Since then, animal welfare workers have nursed them back to health and have even found homes for some of them.
The Frascas had lost their license to operate the kennel in the fall of 2006. | Source: WCSH - Nov 14, 2007
Update posted on Nov 14, 2007 - 3:10PM |
The owners of a Buxton kennel raided by authorities have filed an appeal to a judge's decision to grant custody of the dogs to the state.
While the appeal does prevent the state from making the dogs available for adoption, it does not mean they can't be moved from Buxton to new quarters.
"We're taking it further," Heidi Frasca said Tuesday. "This isn't going away." Frasca and her husband, John, own J'aime Kennel, where 249 dogs and puppies were seized in a raid in August.
The Frascas, who have been unable to obtain an attorney, filed the appeal themselves.
Biddeford District Court granted the state custody on Sept. 26. The state has rented space from Happy Tails Dog Daycare in Portland to relocate the animals, many of which are still being treated at the kennel.
The director of the state's Animal Welfare Program, Norma Worley, said the cost to care for the animals had risen to $150,000.
Worley said Tuesday "there's no definite day yet" when the animals will be moved.
The state's seizure of the animals was the largest ever in Maine. The Frascas were issued 14 summonses for an unlicensed kennel, two summonses for animal cruelty and one summons for failure to provide necessary medical treatment to animals. The court date for the summonses is in November.
About 180 dogs are at the Paucek Road kennel this week. Some of the dogs and puppies are being cared for at the Animal Refuge League in Westbrook and the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk.
Worley said many dogs are still receiving medical treatment at the kennel. Worley estimated 24 dogs have been diagnosed with sarcoptic mange and about 36 with giardia. She said the state is being cautious not to introduce diseases to the new shelter in Portland.
Local animal welfare workers and volunteers have been augmented with staff from the Humane Society of the United States and the American Humane Association, which moved an 82-foot mobile veterinary clinic to Buxton Sept. 30.
Debrah Schnackenberg, director of animal emergency services for American Humane Association, said the rig was requested by Worley. The brand-new rig is equipped with animal control equipment, oxygen, surgical equipment and space for veterinarians to perform surgery.
"We have a mobile vet clinic inside," Schnackenberg said from national headquarters in Denver, Colo.
Schnackenberg said the American Humane Association had two staff and 11 volunteers on duty at the rig Wednesday in Buxton. She said plans call for the rig to be in Maine until Oct. 28.
The rig has been stationed in the parking lot at Buxton Police Department because the kennel site is private property. Schnackenberg said the rig would be relocated when the dogs are moved to another site. | Source: KeepMeCurrent - Oct 11, 2007
Update posted on Oct 14, 2007 - 12:11AM |
A judge ruled Sept 26 that hundreds of dogs seized from a pair of Buxton kennel owners last month are now the property of the state. John and Heidi Frasca, owners of J'Aime Kennel, were accused of running a large-scale puppy mill after police raided their property and seized 249 dogs.
The couple failed to show up at the custody hearing in Biddeford District Court, and Judge Christine Foster ruled the dogs should be placed under permanent state care. The Frascas have three weeks to appeal.
In the five weeks since the raid -- the largest at an animal breeding facility in state history -- officials with the state Animal Welfare Program have been testing the dogs for infectious diseases. Court documents filed this week indicate that the dogs kept at J'Aime Kennel had numerous diseases and parasites, some of which are transmissible from to humans.
Christine Fraser, a veterinarian with Animal Welfare Program, reported that many of the dogs were suffering from a variety of ailments related to poor medical care and hygiene. Fraser's report said 57 of the seized dogs tested positive for giardia, a parasite that can be passed from animals to humans.
Fraser also found that 21 dogs tested positive for sarcoptic mange, a skin disease commonly known as scabies. Nearly half the dogs had some form of dental disease. Two dogs had fractures in their front legs that were never treated, resulting in limbs that were not usable.
"If not for the animals being seized, and provided medical treatment, many of those found at the kennel, mostly puppies, would not have survived," Fraser wrote.
Fraser said the state would care for the dogs for the three-week appeal period and eventually put them up for adoption when they have returned to health. The animals will not be ready for adoption for at least a month, she said. Steve Jacobsen, the director of the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk, one of the groups helping to care for the animals, said the group is not yet prepared to field requests from people interested in adoptions. At the time of the raid, police issued 14 summonses to the Frascas related to operating an unlicensed kennel and three more regarding animal cruelty and failure to provide animals with medical treatment.
On Sept 26, York County District Attorney Mark Lawrence said his office was reviewing the evidence to see if any of these summonses would result in criminal charges. Acting as their own attorneys, the Frascas filed a notice with the court earlier this week claiming that the legal actions taken against them were corrupt. The judge struck the six-page document from the record at Wednesday's hearing. "It's a fraudulent court," John Frasca said in a phone interview.
The Frascas' case has attracted attention among people concerned with animals and dozens of volunteers have helped state officials care for the dogs over the past five weeks. On Sept 25, about 15 people stood outside Biddeford District Court with signs condemning breeding facilities that pursue profits at the expense of animal welfare.
Robert Fisk, director of Maine Friends of Animals in Falmouth, said Maine has a comprehensive set of laws to protect animals, but the problems uncovered at the Frascas' kennel show the need for more aggressive enforcement.
"It's an important case because of the ... the numbers involved," he said. "It brings out the fact that backyard breeders and puppy mills are a fact of life in Maine that most people don't realize." | Source: Morning Sentinel - Sept 27, 2007
Update posted on Oct 8, 2007 - 11:52PM |
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