Breeder: Randall and Sheree Bonnette
Address: 5708 Liv 516
City, State, Zip: Chillicothe, MO 64601
USDA license: 43-A-2151
Date and time of CAPS Investigation: 3/13/22, 1413
Weather at time of investigation: 59°F and sunny
Approximate number of dogs and puppies observed at time of investigation: 16, though not all dogs were visible to me
Breeds: Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Poodles, Shih Tzus, Lhasa Apsos
The property had an assortment of barns located east of the residence on it. Three were clearly used to house dogs. The dog barns had rows of elevated indoor/outdoor cages on the barns’ east and west sides, with about eight cages per row. The cages had wooden frames, untreated wire walls, and doggie-doors allowing access to their indoor portions. In each cage, I saw one to three dogs of various breeds.
Cages appeared to be about two feet wide and tall, and four feet long. In one row of cages, I saw dogs jump up at the wire walls and pace continuously as I observed them. They primarily looked out from their cages towards the south end of the property. However, the southernmost dog runs had metal sheets covering their sides, so that they can’t be viewed from the road. This also inhibited dogs from seeing out of their cages except for what is directly across from them. For most dogs, this meant only into the cages of dogs from another building.
The northern ends of the dog barns had chain link runs near them, some containing dog houses. One large-breed dog was evident in one pen. The runs had crushed rock flooring. While some runs were partially blocked from my view, one was completely visible to me. Snow covered most of the flooring in it, including the area next to the dog house entrance. No footprints were evident in the snow. The runs appear to be for exercise but don’t seem be be used much (3.8 Exercise for dogs).
Evidence contradicting pet store claims
The “Real Petland Breeders” YouTube video shows dogs in spacious kennel runs and playing in vast, grassy yards. Bonnett’s kennel has dogs in cages. Additionally, the pens with crushed rock floorings, if they are exercise pens, are not the vast large grassy yards depicted in the Petland video.
