Animal lovers flock to AWS to adopt neglected dogs (Printed Dec. 14, 2007)
By Stowell P. Watters
Staff Writer
On Aug. 21 hundreds of dogs were seized by police and animal welfare agents in a raid of J’aime Kennel in Buxton. Judge Christine Fraser at the Biddeford District Court ruled the pups should remain in state custody while the owners, John and Heidi Frasca were served with 17 court summons including 14 for running an unlicensed kennel, two for animal cruelty and one for failure to provide medical treatment to animals.
Welfare agents found that the automatic water feeding apparatuses neglected to take into account the small size of many of the dogs. The canines were treated for giardia and sacropatic mange, two diseases that can be passed between humans and dogs. Now the 249 animals are in a Portland holding facility owned by the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland where they are being treated and are watched 24 hours a day. Slowly they are being moved to the Animal Welfare Societies in West Kennebunk (AWS) and Westbrook where they are now being put up for adoption.
The kennel from which the animals were received is now being called, by the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, a “puppy mill.”
“By the formal definition, a puppy mill is a large-scale breeding operation that produces a large number of puppies for profit, with sales over the Internet, to local customers and to pet stores. Dogs are typically confined to small cages or kennels, often grouped in breeding pairs or large groups with little human contact of meaningful socialization,” according to a press release from AWS.
“This is the first week of many in which we will be offering the puppies,” said AWS Program Coordinator Carol Ann MacKinnon. Every day the organization moves a few more dogs to the Kennebunk site, and is placing them for adoption with qualified families at $170 an animal.
The application process involves a 24-hour waiting period while AWS performs a background check on the future-pup-owner. There is an additional application with disclaimers about the puppy-mill that the state mandates AWS to have completed. Adopters must supply AWS with a proof of vaccination for all current pets as well as evidence of spay/neuter surgery. If the adopter is a renter then a copy of the lease and a signed letter from the landlord are both required to make sure the pet is allowed in the home, said Steven Jacobsen, Executive Director.
Since these animals have gone through a period of neglect they are generally slower to make friends and accept the embrace of a new owner, MacKinnon said. According to her, some dogs require more affection-treatment than others to reintroduce them into a loving environment. The future-owners are allowed a lengthy one-on-one session with the dog of their choice in which they are required to bring any animals they already own to make sure the new dog will be comfortable with them.
On Dec. 9 AWS opened its doors for such families wanting to adopt a dog. While the shelter opened at 11 a.m., many families, including the Collettes of Lyman, showed up around 9 a.m. to get a place in line.
“We showed up at about 9, 9:30 a.m. and still we were second in line,” said Rich Collette.
“All of the puppy-mill puppies had really bad teeth and mats behind their ears, the pictures on the Web site do not give them justice,” said Elizabeth Hanson, grand daughter of Jeanne Collette. Hanson has done community service with AWS and previously handled the mini Australian Shepard the Collettes were visiting with.
As the three of them huddled around the small dog they chatted about their country-home in Lyman and told Tessa, the dog, that she would be very comfortable with their golden retriever. Tessa’s eyes are different colors; one silver and one brown. The family rubbed her belly as she coyly turned over and licked at their hands.
“See! She kissed me, she is just a little sweetie,” Hanson said.
The Collettes planned on returning with their other dog and introducing him to Tessa. They said they were happy to pay the $170 for the animal as it would, in part, save her from a life of neglect.
“We needed a dog, a small dog for Jeanne. So we read about the puppy-mill dogs on the internet and thought it would be great to get one, to help out a dog by giving it a loving home,” Rich said.
Travis Jacobs and Marie Ferrante of Windham were next in line after the Collettes; they had their sights set on a female American Bulldog named Isabelle.
Volunteers walked the timid dog into a special visiting room, its snow-white body shaking at first. A volunteer sat down with the family and talked to them about the dog, outlining its special circumstances as a puppy-mill puppy. She said Isabelle would need a lot of love and a lot of discipline, neither of which had been previously given to her. The volunteer also told the family that 6-month-old Isabelle was not to run at full sprint, so she must be contained or put on a leash, because of the damage it would do to her hips in the future.
“My wife was looking for a new dog, saw the puppies on the Web site and immediately fell in love with Isabelle. The fact that she comes from a history of neglect makes us feel all the better about bringing her into our home where she will get a lot of attention,” Jacobs said. The couple have two sons, Jason Ferannte, 10-years-old and Sean Jacobs, 3-years-old.
Robin Shannon and her family came from Saco hoping to adopt Isabelle too.
“You know what? I am just happy that these poor pups are going to loving homes. That is the most important part, although Isabelle was my number one pick,” Shannon said.
The Animal Welfare Society will be seeing applicants until all of the puppy-mill dogs have found good homes. Anyone wishing to adopt a puppy-mill dog can visit their Web site www.animalwelfaresociety.org where pictures and bios for each dog are available. The Animal Welfare Society is currently taking donations of food, paper towels and cleaning supplies to deal with the influx of the new dogs.
To contact Stowell P. Watters, call 282-4337 ext. 219 or email news@kennebunkpost.com.
Staff Writer
On Aug. 21 hundreds of dogs were seized by police and animal welfare agents in a raid of J’aime Kennel in Buxton. Judge Christine Fraser at the Biddeford District Court ruled the pups should remain in state custody while the owners, John and Heidi Frasca were served with 17 court summons including 14 for running an unlicensed kennel, two for animal cruelty and one for failure to provide medical treatment to animals.
Welfare agents found that the automatic water feeding apparatuses neglected to take into account the small size of many of the dogs. The canines were treated for giardia and sacropatic mange, two diseases that can be passed between humans and dogs. Now the 249 animals are in a Portland holding facility owned by the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland where they are being treated and are watched 24 hours a day. Slowly they are being moved to the Animal Welfare Societies in West Kennebunk (AWS) and Westbrook where they are now being put up for adoption.
The kennel from which the animals were received is now being called, by the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, a “puppy mill.”
“By the formal definition, a puppy mill is a large-scale breeding operation that produces a large number of puppies for profit, with sales over the Internet, to local customers and to pet stores. Dogs are typically confined to small cages or kennels, often grouped in breeding pairs or large groups with little human contact of meaningful socialization,” according to a press release from AWS.
“This is the first week of many in which we will be offering the puppies,” said AWS Program Coordinator Carol Ann MacKinnon. Every day the organization moves a few more dogs to the Kennebunk site, and is placing them for adoption with qualified families at $170 an animal.
The application process involves a 24-hour waiting period while AWS performs a background check on the future-pup-owner. There is an additional application with disclaimers about the puppy-mill that the state mandates AWS to have completed. Adopters must supply AWS with a proof of vaccination for all current pets as well as evidence of spay/neuter surgery. If the adopter is a renter then a copy of the lease and a signed letter from the landlord are both required to make sure the pet is allowed in the home, said Steven Jacobsen, Executive Director.
Since these animals have gone through a period of neglect they are generally slower to make friends and accept the embrace of a new owner, MacKinnon said. According to her, some dogs require more affection-treatment than others to reintroduce them into a loving environment. The future-owners are allowed a lengthy one-on-one session with the dog of their choice in which they are required to bring any animals they already own to make sure the new dog will be comfortable with them.
On Dec. 9 AWS opened its doors for such families wanting to adopt a dog. While the shelter opened at 11 a.m., many families, including the Collettes of Lyman, showed up around 9 a.m. to get a place in line.
“We showed up at about 9, 9:30 a.m. and still we were second in line,” said Rich Collette.
“All of the puppy-mill puppies had really bad teeth and mats behind their ears, the pictures on the Web site do not give them justice,” said Elizabeth Hanson, grand daughter of Jeanne Collette. Hanson has done community service with AWS and previously handled the mini Australian Shepard the Collettes were visiting with.
As the three of them huddled around the small dog they chatted about their country-home in Lyman and told Tessa, the dog, that she would be very comfortable with their golden retriever. Tessa’s eyes are different colors; one silver and one brown. The family rubbed her belly as she coyly turned over and licked at their hands.
“See! She kissed me, she is just a little sweetie,” Hanson said.
The Collettes planned on returning with their other dog and introducing him to Tessa. They said they were happy to pay the $170 for the animal as it would, in part, save her from a life of neglect.
“We needed a dog, a small dog for Jeanne. So we read about the puppy-mill dogs on the internet and thought it would be great to get one, to help out a dog by giving it a loving home,” Rich said.
Travis Jacobs and Marie Ferrante of Windham were next in line after the Collettes; they had their sights set on a female American Bulldog named Isabelle.
Volunteers walked the timid dog into a special visiting room, its snow-white body shaking at first. A volunteer sat down with the family and talked to them about the dog, outlining its special circumstances as a puppy-mill puppy. She said Isabelle would need a lot of love and a lot of discipline, neither of which had been previously given to her. The volunteer also told the family that 6-month-old Isabelle was not to run at full sprint, so she must be contained or put on a leash, because of the damage it would do to her hips in the future.
“My wife was looking for a new dog, saw the puppies on the Web site and immediately fell in love with Isabelle. The fact that she comes from a history of neglect makes us feel all the better about bringing her into our home where she will get a lot of attention,” Jacobs said. The couple have two sons, Jason Ferannte, 10-years-old and Sean Jacobs, 3-years-old.
Robin Shannon and her family came from Saco hoping to adopt Isabelle too.
“You know what? I am just happy that these poor pups are going to loving homes. That is the most important part, although Isabelle was my number one pick,” Shannon said.
The Animal Welfare Society will be seeing applicants until all of the puppy-mill dogs have found good homes. Anyone wishing to adopt a puppy-mill dog can visit their Web site www.animalwelfaresociety.org where pictures and bios for each dog are available. The Animal Welfare Society is currently taking donations of food, paper towels and cleaning supplies to deal with the influx of the new dogs.
To contact Stowell P. Watters, call 282-4337 ext. 219 or email news@kennebunkpost.com.
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