Breeder: Asmussen, James and Mary
Address: 44772 218th St.
City, State Zip: Oldham, SD 57051
Year: 2005
USDA License: 46-A-0235
Date of CAPS Investigation: 2005-07-27
Time of CAPS Investigation: 15:26
Breeds: Labrador Retrievers
On the property at the time of investigation: about 15 dogs and 25 puppies
This kennel consisted of two metal buildings with a series of outdoor runs and indoor enclosures.
First building
The building closest to the Asmussen house had about a dozen outdoor runs set up on two sides of the building. These pens had concrete floors, chain link walls, and each had a metal whelping room at the far end of the pen. Each pen housed a single Labrador.
Several of the chain link walls had broken wire. Jagged wire edges protruded into the pens themselves from the bottom corners of the doors and, in one case, halfway up the door itself (3.1(c)(1)(ii)-Surfaces). The outside surface of the metal walls of the whelping rooms had a layer of dirty build-up on them (3.1(c)(3)-Surfaces).
A thin layer of wood chips covered each pen floor. Metal food and water dishes were on the pen floors, and the food dishes were not placed so as to minimize contamination by excreta or pests (3.9(b)-Feeding). The water dishes were filled with dingy brown water (3.10- Watering), and a thick mob of flies was in each of the enclosures (3.11(d)-Pest control).
The whelping rooms were accessible by metal doggie-doors, had concrete floors, and metal walls and roofs. There was no artificial lighting (3.2(c)-Lighting) or air conditioning in these rooms (3.1(d)-Water and electric power).
James showed me a litter of puppies in three of the rooms. Most of the puppies were lethargic, lying still (2.40-Vet care) and had flies walking over them. In one cage, there was a puppy sprawled out on a wooden board just inside the doorway of its whelping room. It made no attempt to move when the door was opened (2.40)). All of the metal walls inside the whelping rooms had dirty build-up on their surfaces (3.1(c)(3)-Surfaces).
Second building
The second kennel building had about six indoor/outdoor enclosures on each of two sides of the building. The inside pens were each about four feet long and four feet wide and housed one to two adult Labradors. Several of these pens also housed whelping puppies.
There was no artificial lighting in the building and the whelping pens were very dark (3.2(c)-Lighting). A fan was running at one end of the building, and open windows at two ends of the building provided ventilation. A hallway separated the two rows of indoor pens, constructed of metal and wooden walls. Wooden boards set on the ground about 15 feet down the hallway formed a pen about three feet wide and three feet long for a Labrador puppy of about six weeks of age. A metal food dish, covered in flies, was sitting in the pen with the puppy, and a metal water dish full of brown water was placed outside the pen (3.10-Watering).
Several of the indoor pens had galvanized wire placed on top of them. One of these wire ceilings had fallen into the pen so that one side was lying on the floor of the pen while its opposite side was raised only about two feet above the ground. The dog in this enclosure had to crouch down to lie in the indoor pen (3.6(a)(2)(xi)-Primary enclosures). Mr. Asmussen said the wire had fallen into the cage and that he had never bothered to pull it back out (3.1(a)-Structure, construction).
The indoor/outdoor pens were separated by metal doggie-doors set against metal walls. The outdoor runs had concrete floors and galvanized wire walls. Metal food and water dishes were placed on the pen floorings. The water dishes were full of murky water (3.10-Watering), and the food dishes were not placed so as to minimize contamination by excreta or pests (3.9(b)-Feeding).
Flies swarmed inside and outside of the kennel building, all over the food and water dishes, and on the whelping puppies (3.11(d)-Pest control).
