Wagler, Edwin and Marlin from CAPS on Vimeo.
Breeder: Edwin and Marlin Wagler
Address: 10323 County Rd 475 N
City, State, Zip: Loogootee, IN 47553
USDA License: 32-A-0269
Date and time of CAPS Investigation: 4/16/24; 1540
Weather at time of investigation: 86°F and partly cloudy
Approximate number of dogs and puppies observed at time of investigation: 30 dogs (not all dogs heard on the property were visible to me)
Breeds: Saint Bernards, Golden Retrievers, Boston Terriers, Huskies, Dalmatians
The Wagler’s breeding facility was a maze of active and old kennel structures. There were two areas of outdoor runs for dogs, located at the southwest and southeast ends of the property. Another area was a barn with indoor/outdoor dog runs on two sides.
Of the outdoor runs, only the southwest was clearly was visible to me. This area of runs was two separate sections set next to each other. One had four outdoor runs; each was about sixty feet long and five to six feet wide. About six feet of them were concrete slabs, covered by an angled roof, with dog houses at their rears, the doggie-doors covered by windbreaks. The remainder of the runs had crushed rock floorings. There were two to three large-breed dogs per run. Adjacent to this area were three more runs of similar size, though slightly wider. They had floorings made of crushed rock and dirt and angled roofs to partially cover the backs of the floorings, under which were doghouses with windbreaks. These runs each had two Golden Retrievers in them.
Just to the east, and at the southern end of the property, was the structure with indoor/outdoor runs. The north and south sides of this structure had runs. On the east side of the barn were chain link pens, though I couldn’t see if dogs were inside. The north and south sides each had about eleven dog runs on them. I could see that the outdoor portion of the southern runs had concrete floorings and thick metal bars. These runs were each about five feet long and three feet wide. The dogs had enough space to move a few steps across the length of the pens before having to turn around; they could move a single step across the width of pens before contacting a pen wall. Only one dog was visible in each run.
Scattered around the south side of the property were old, raised cages which appeared to be the size for small and medium breed dogs. They were all either empty or used to contain birds of various species, such as chickens and quail.
The license is under Edwin Wagler’s name. The facility had 72 adult dogs and 68 puppies at the 9-12-23 USDA inspection.
The breeder is connected to the following store:
Petland Novi, Novi, MI (CVI 2023)
I investigated Petland Novi on 3/19/24. An employee showed me a video on. TV in the store, with dogs running and playing in yards. He said, “This is going to be their outdoor area that they’ll have. So they’ll have huge fences and yards for the puppies and the parents to be able to run in. And then having stuff out there. So they’ll have the grass.” The conditions at the Waglers’ puppy mill are clearly not grassy fields with enrichment for dogs but dirt and rock pens and concrete runs.
