Breeder: Norma Jean Harders
Business name: Golden Rod Kennels
Address: 675 Yutan Rd
City, State Zip: Boelus, NE 68820
Year: 2015
USDA License: 47-A-0593
Date of CAPS Investigation: 47-A-0593
Weather at the time of investigation: 81 degrees Fahrenheit and overcast
Breeds: Yorkshire Terriers, Shih Tzus, Maltese
Approximate number of dogs observed at time of investigation: 48 dogs, about 15 puppies
Norma Jean Harders (Caucasian female, about 65 years old, 5’4”, 140 lbs., with curled white hair) showed me her kennel property.
The kennel consisted of a whelping barn, two breeders barns, and a barn used to hold litters of puppies and, while I observed it, a single Shih Tzu breeder.
Whelping barn 1
The whelping barn had a row of seven elevated indoor/outdoor cages on one side of the building. The outdoor cages were made of wire, while the indoor cages had solid plastic floorings and plastic sheeting on their walls. These white plastic sheets were covered with light brown stains (3.1 Housing Facilities, General (c ) Surfaces (3) Cleaning). Each cage held a pregnant or nursing mother with her puppies, as well as a plastic whelping box with a small blanket or towel and newspaper sheets inside. A pregnant Shih Tzu had mucus encrusted under her left eye so thick her eyeball was barely visible. When I pointed the condition out to Norma, she pulled on the chunk of mucus encrusted hair, about the size of half a dime, and tore it off (Sec 2.40 Attending Veterinarian and Adequate Veterinary Care (a) Adequate vet care).
Several enclosures were on the opposite side of this room, but they had plastic sheets covering their doors and I could not see inside of them. I did see heating lamps attached to them, however, suggesting the cages were used for whelping.
Whelping barn 2
A trailer near the kennel area had three elevated indoor cages inside. These cages had thick plastic wire for floorings, with newspaper below the cages and on the floorings. One cage held a single Yorkie puppy and another held a single Shih Tzu. Food and water dishes were in the cages, and the room and the tops of several empty cages were littered with stacked dog crates, feed bags, and grooming and cleaning supplies. The Shih Tzu enclosure had several bags and plastic containers stored on top of it (Sec 3.1 Housing Facilities, General (b) Conditions and site). The Shih Tzu cage flooring had light brown fecal stains covering its top surface (3.1 Housing Facilities, General (c) Surfaces (3) Cleaning).
Breeder buildings
North of the whelping barns were the two breeder buildings. I saw about 16 elevated indoor/outdoor cages on the east side of one building, and three on the south side of another building. The cages held two to three breeders, and the walls containing their doggie-doors had brown stains on their surfaces above and below the doggie doors, as did the doors themselves (3.1 Housing Facilities, General (c) Surfaces (3) Cleaning).
Norma told me that she uses a broker named “Becky Busboom.” Busboom owns Pixie Pals in Nebraska.
