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Case ID: 9791
Classification: Neglect / Abandonment, Hoarding
Animal: cat, dog (non pit-bull)
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Puppy mill - 350 dogs, over 500 animals
Bethpage, TN (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Oct 20, 2006
County: Sumner

Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 6 files available

Defendant/Suspect: Irene A. Meuser

Case Updates: 5 update(s) available

Investigators found nearly 400 dogs and other animals in bad shape Friday, at what they are called a puppy mill.

"I can't imagine what kind of hell these animals have gone through, because of this woman. I don't understand," neighbor Peggy Olea said.

Olea went onto the property with a hidden camera and presented the evidence to investigators.

The Sumner County Sheriff Department and the US Humane Society removed the dogs and cats Friday, and are checking them out for disease.

The dogs are all small breeds owned by 69-year-old Irene Muser at 880 Mt. Vernon Road.

Muser was cited for six violations of animal cruelty.

Health officials are concerned about the health of the animals since some dogs died of parvo, a disease that affects dogs.

"We're working very hard on pulling those animals out, getting them checked by veterinarians. We have volunteer veterinarians on site," Laura Bevin with the US Humane Association said.

Health officials said the animals are not up for adoption at this point, because it's still being investigated and needs to be cleared up in court first.

You can put your name on a waiting list to adopt the animals at the Hendersonville Humane Society. Call 822-0061 for more information.

The Humane Society is asking for donations to care for the dogs until they are available for adoption.

To donate, contact:
Operation Animal Hope
P.O. Box 962
Hendersonville, TN 37077-0962


Case Updates

The animals rescued from a puppy mill in Sumner County began their new lease on life Friday. They began going home with their new families.

More than 200 people have filed an application and have been entered in the lottery. Those that don't get drawn have been entered into an overflow list.

Two weeks ago, 370 dogs and cats were rescued from a puppy mill in Bethpage. They were found in filthy conditions.

Even though all of the dogs have been treated, fed, spayed and neutered, many are not out of the clear. They are considered special needs dogs. Many have ear mites, skin conditions, and some have lost their teeth due to malnutrition.

Since these animals came in, hundreds of volunteers have come in to help these dogs get back on their feet.

"When we started two weeks ago you couldn't hardly touch them. They had never been touched and handled. They were scared to death, and over the last 14 days...they've started showing a lot of personality," volunteer Laura Brackbill said.

If you wish to be put on the overflow list, call the Critter Clinic at 260-4771
Source: News Channel 5 - Nov 3, 2006
Update posted on Nov 3, 2006 - 8:48PM 
More than 200 people have applied to adopt animals seized last month from a Bethpage puppy mill.

On Tuesday, the Humane Society of the United States set up a mobile veterinary clinic to spay and neuter the dogs and cats confiscated from breeder Irene Meuser's farm. The local branch will join in today.

A lottery will be held starting Friday that will allow eight people who have passed the screening process to pick an animal each hour.

More than 280 animals were rescued from living in conditions of squalor, crammed in cages by the Sumner County Sheriff's Office and scores of volunteers.

Volunteers from area humane societies and animal protection groups have been caring for the animals during the past week. Meuser pleaded guilty last week to four counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and agreed to a lifetime ban on breeding animals commercially and also agreed to limit the number of her personal pets.
Source: Tennesean - Nov 1, 2006
Update posted on Nov 1, 2006 - 2:23PM 
A Bethpage dog breeder agreed to a lifetime ban on owning and selling dogs commercially and to limit her personal pets.

Irene Meuser pleaded guilty to four of six counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. She was not given any jail time but sentenced to two years of supervised probation. Meuser made her first court appearance since more than 280 cats and small-breed dogs were confiscated from her farm home.

As part of the plea deal, five of the more than 280 cats and small dogs confiscated from her property will be returned, including a dog named Minnie Pearl. Meuser also agreed to a limit of no more than 10 dogs on her property at any given time, including visitors.

More than 100 local authorities, U.S. Humane Society volunteers and veterinarians descended on Meuser�s farm in the rural, unincorporated community of Bethpage after a citizen complained about the animals� living conditions. They found hundreds of Chihuahuas, poodles, Shih Tzus and other small dogs in cages in three small buildings. In some cases, multiple dogs were held in cages that were too small. Several were sick and underfed. Some of the older ones were missing teeth.
Source: The Tennessean - October 25, 2006
Update posted on Oct 29, 2006 - 11:10AM 
Friday's raid of an alleged puppy mill in this Sumner County community wasn't the first time authorities had questioned breeder Irene Meuser about the way she cared for her animals.

In 1996, animal control authorities visited her home and found conditions that were very similar to those that prompted them to confiscate more than 280 cats and small-breed dogs from her home.

"We're pretty sure it had been happening for at least 11 years. We're not sure if it had been to this level, or if it had escalated to this point recently," said Tim Anschuetz, Sumner County Animal Control resource officer and head of the investigation authorities dubbed "Operation Animal Hope."

A citizen-filed report led to an animal cruelty investigation in 1996. That probe resulted in "a lot of recommendations" that apparently weren't followed, Sumner County Sheriff's Major Don Linzy said.

"Basically it was in the same condition 10 years ago that we saw" Friday, the sheriff's major said.

Meuser said in an interview Saturday that she's been accused of animal cruelty "four or five times" since the early 1980s.

"I was ready to quit, and they made me so damn mad that I stayed," she said of the accusations.

On Friday, more than 100 local authorities, U.S. Humane Society volunteers and veterinarians descended on Meuser's farm in the rural, unincorporated community of Bethpage, about eight miles northeast of Gallatin.

They found hundreds of Chihuahuas, poodles, Shih Tzus and other small dogs in cages in three small buildings.

In some cases, multiple dogs were held in cages that were too small. Several were sick and underfed. Some of the older ones were missing teeth. Others had no food and dirty water. Rescue workers had to don ventilator masks to block the odor of urine and feces.

"It was very dirty," Anschuetz said. "The animals were in bad condition. � They were not being fed properly. Some of them were dehydrated and needed fluids.

"They were in buildings that were not heated in the winter or cooled in the summer. We knew we needed to get them out of that environment. It was very important in light of the fact that cold weather is coming on," he said.

In one kennel, dogs were dying of parvo, an intestinal virus, on "a daily basis," Linzy said.

"You couldn't even walk in there and breathe," Linzy said.

Owner Meuser admits that some of her dogs needed help.

"They didn't look too pretty, any more than 80-year-old people who live out in the country look pretty," she said Saturday.

"I simply couldn't put my old dogs to sleep," she said. "If they are fed and watered and warm, it's better than being dead."

Meuser said they were allowed to run free on the property from time to time, but "most generally, they stayed in their cages. That's the way they wanted it."

The 69-year-old dog breeder has lived in the same Bethpage home, which she shares with her 14-year-old grandson, since 1978. And since then, she said, she's been criticized for the way she's cared for the dogs and cats that live on her property.

When authorities confronted her about her animals' living conditions a decade ago, Meuser said, she built one of the brick buildings on her farm, which replaced another old trailer that had housed caged animals. But she changed little else.

"I'm not ashamed of it, and I will not apologize for keeping my old dogs and not killing them," Meuser said.

While there have been "some complaints in the past" about conditions at Meuser's kennel, Linzy said, there were no other formal complaint reports since 1996 filed with the county until this month.

The investigation that led to the confiscation of Meuser's dogs and cats Friday started with a complaint report filed early this month, Linzy said.

A few days after the report, officers went to her home to check out the complaints. They returned a second time, accompanied by veterinarians, cameras and video equipment.

After the evidence collected during the second visit was presented to the district attorney, the decision was made to take the animals, Linzy said.

They are being cared for by volunteers at a vacant veterinary clinic in Gallatin. The owner of the clinic is letting volunteers use it free of charge, Anschuetz said.

One sick dog was put down at Meuser's home Friday. As of Saturday afternoon, none of the others had died. All the dogs at the clinic have been examined by a vet, authorities said.

"Almost all of them have sickness or injury," ranging from parvo and respiratory diseases to bone injuries and broken teeth, Linzy said.

"These are things that can be fixed," he said.

"We were kind of shocked to see the amount of dogs in that small space," Linzy said. "Some of them couldn't even stand up in their cages."

Meuser was allowed to keep some animals, including ducks, chickens, turkeys and goats. Linzy said state agriculture officials examined their living conditions and deemed they were good enough to allow Meuser to keep the animals.

But Meuser doubts the court will allow her to keep the dogs and cats taken from her home. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday. Authorities said her dogs and cats will be cared for by volunteers and held as evidence until the conclusion of her trial.

As a result of the investigation, Meuser faces six counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, each of which could carry a maximum penalty of 11 months and 29 days in jail. One count was issued for each of the three buildings where the dogs were kept. The other three were applied because of the discovery of three animals that were in particularly bad condition.

Because of the number of animals taken, "many more counts" are possible, Linzy said.
Source: Fairview Observer - Oct 22, 2006
Update posted on Oct 23, 2006 - 6:43AM 
Two weeks ago, Peggy Olea, an animal rescuer, disguised herself as a prospective dog buyer and visited a farm home here that was rumored to have more than 300 dogs for sale.

She said breeder Irene Meuser presented her with several urine-soaked puppies with severe skin irritations, covered in feces and animal lice.

"I was appalled at the conditions these animals were living in," said Olea, who owns five dogs. "I had to do something."

She did, and on Friday officials and volunteers removed more than 250 small-breed dogs from what some are describing as a "puppy mill" in the largest animal-rescue operation in Sumner County history.

Meuser was charged with six counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.

Investigators brought charges against Meuser, who kept more than 500 animals at her home, after learning that 15 to 18 dogs had died last week.

A team of more than 100 U.S. Humane Society volunteers, veterinarians and county officials, braving the chill and the nose-piercing smell of ammonia, worked feverishly from 6 a.m. into the evening caring for and cleaning more than 200 cats and dogs that suffered problems ranging from minor skin irritations to parvo, an in-fectious dog disease that causes dehydration and diarrhea.

Pet-rescue specialist Laura Bevan, the Southeast regional coordinator for the Humane Society, said the living conditions were some of the worst she had seen. Up to five dogs were sharing small cages in some instances and being forced to relieve themselves in cramped quarters, she added.

"The situation here is very, very poor," said Bevan, standing in front of six veterinarian-led rescue teams diagnosing cats and puppies on tables set up in Meuser's cluttered yard. "I don't know how the animals have breathed this air."

Animal rescuers worked with ventilator masks on their faces to block some of the pungent odors that permeated the air in the largely unventilated puppy pens.

The stench was so powerful that it caused some deputies to vomit, Sheriff's Maj. Don Linzy said.

Although the rescue team recovered roughly 250 dogs, investigators had counted about 350 in her possession earlier this week, Sheriff Bob Barker said.

"After she was alerted to what was happening, she removed about 100 dogs from the premises," he said. "The Sheriff's Department is in the process of recovering those dogs, as well, to avoid the spread of potential disease."

"The dogs lived in those cages 24 hours a day," said Linzy, standing outside the property on Mt. Vernon Road that is screened by a fence, overgrown by bushes in spots, and covered with a tarp in others.

Meuser bred and sold primarily small-breed dogs � dachshunds, Shih Tzus, Pomeranians. She was selling dogs from her 14-acre farm that houses hundreds of other animals, including cats, ducks, chickens, goats and turkeys.

The incessant whimpering of several hundred puppies, crowing of roosters and gobbling of turkeys could be heard from the road, which was blocked to make way for large horse trailers being used to ferry the animals to a makeshift shelter in Gallatin.

Barker said two weeks of planning and coordinating with regional animal rescuers went into the effort, dubbed Operation: Animal Hope.

Animal Hope team members crated the animals and stacked the crates in a white trailer headed for a Gallatin-based pet clinic, where they will be cared for by volunteers until the courts make a decision, Barker said.
Source: The Tennesean - Oct 21, 2006
Update posted on Oct 21, 2006 - 4:57AM 

References

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