VIDEOS: SPCA pounces on Port Edward ‘puppy mill’
More than 32 dogs, including puppies, were found on the property.
SCORES of puppies, hunting dogs in pens, maggot-infested slop, a whip, a dog transporting trailer and deep freezers full of stinking, dead chickens is what officials discovered in a ‘puppy mill’ in the quiet town of Port Edward last week.
A puppy farm, such as this one, is a commercial dog breeding facility which is operated for profit over the welfare of the animals.
From the roadside the house, situated on Owen Ellis Drive, the busy main road into Port Edward, appears normal with even a fancy vehicle parked in the driveway.
No one would ever have suspected that a dirty puppy mill, housing 32 dogs, including roughly 18 puppies, was situated behind the walls of a residential home.
Last Wednesday staff of the LSC SPCA, officers from Hibiscus Coast Law Enforcement department and an official from the Department of Environmental Health and Safety conducted a sting operation after they received a tip-off.
The owner, who cannot be named at this stage, could not say how many dogs were being kept on the property.
He said there was ‘violence in the house’ and the dogs were their protection. “Not all the dogs always live there. Some are going to Botswana.”
Inside the yard, more than 10 greyhounds were kept in pens. Their drinking water was green.
The pungent smell of dog faeces drifted through the yard.
Inside the house, more adult dogs and about 13 puppies were found in two separate makeshift brick enclosures in a bedroom.
Outside, at the back of the house, five more puppies and their mother were discovered. An employee at the house ‘joyfully’ told the Herald reporter that the puppies were ‘happy’. They were eventually sold for hunting.
The SPCA vet later found that seven of the female dogs were pregnant.
When inspectors opened freezers they discovered them to be packed with dead, stinking chickens.
A whip was also discovered lying on the verandah.
Michael Muller, manager of the LSC SPCA, said every puppy mill was as horrible as the next.
He said a court order would be obtained and the dogs would be removed.
Although the dogs were in fair condition, Mr Muller said the owners had violated municipal by-laws and health regulations and possibly the Animal Protection Act.
