Puppy mill - 100 puppies crammed in truck without food or water - Bridgeport, CT

Tuesday, Sep 30, 1997

County: Fairfield

Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 2 files available

Alleged: Larry Jenkins

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

The puppies -- discovered after the truck was wrecked -- were brought to the Bridgeport Animal Shelter. They were housed in kennels throughout the area, Mayor Joseph Ganim said, while the truck driver, Larry Jenkins of Tunas, Missouri, faces 96 counts of cruelty to animals.

Authorities say the puppies are owned by a Missouri dog broker who was trying to sell them to pet shops along the East Coast. The case has brought renewed attention to how dog breeders treat the animals they offer for sale.

Case Updates

The puppies have been put under state custody pending the outcome of a trial scheduled for October 31, 1997. States attorney's vow that the puppies will not be returned to Matthews. In addition, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are investing, and the State Department of Motor Vehicles is looking for violations involving the truck driven by Jenkins. They are fighting to get the puppies back. October 31, 1997 was the court date for the puppy broker & Truck Driver arrested in the case of the Bridgeport puppies. Neither defendants showed up... said they missed their plane... twice. However, the lawyer for Superior Pets said that they have reached a settlement and agreed to turn over custody of the 96 remaining puppies to the Connecticut Humane Society. The case was continued until Monday, when the driver was ordered to appear, but in the meantime the pups now belong to the Connecticut Humane Society and Superior Pets has agreed to "no longer ship animals through Connecticut." The Humane Society says it will keep the puppies for about another month while it "gets them healthy, as well as spayed or neutered, and then they will be offered for adoption." There have been over 3,000 requests to adopt the puppies. The State's Attorney will be recommending 'accelerated rehabilitation' for the truck driver as part of the agreement. The president of the Humane Society is calling this "...an indictment of the puppy mill industry.... people are going to realize where these puppies really come from." The proposed law to ban the sale of puppies or kittens in pet stores in CT is still in the works.

Source: Auroralight Kennels Update posted on Oct 24, 2005 - 1:32PM

References

• CNN

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