Breeder: Kauffman, Dan and Omar
Business name: Kauffman Kennels
Address: 1815 Beaver Dam Rd
City, State Zip: Honey Brook, PA 19344
Year: 2007
USDA License: Pennsylvania kennel class: K2 (closed – voluntarily)
Date of CAPS Investigation: 2007-10-24
Time of CAPS Investigation: 13:03
Breeds: Bernese Mountain Dogs, German Shepherds, Standard Poodles, Pomeranian, Miniature Pinscher
There were 22 dogs and 8 puppies at the kennel at the time of investigation.
Kennel description
The kennel was divided into three main sections, a woman who identified herself as a daughter of the kennel owner (Caucasian female, about 25 years old, 120 lbs, long blonde hair, glasses, appeared to be dressed as a Mennonite), said that the kennel was used for breeding and boarding. The horse stable was used to hold horses and dogs in one kennel area; another section was a series of outdoor pens on the opposite side of the stable as the house; and the third area was a row of outdoor pens and elevated cages behind a row of buildings near the house and hidden from view from the house and stables.
Stables
The stable building had three German Shepherds in one horse stall and two Shepherd puppies in another stall. Both stalls had no food in them and dirty, brown water in their water dishes. Fecal matter was smashed into straw and wood shavings on the floor, though it appeared that weeks of feces was piled on top of the straw of the puppy pen, much of it mashed into the corners of the pens and smeared onto the walls (PA Dog Law 21.29(a) and(c)(1)-Sanitation) (21.28(d)-Bedding). The Shepherd puppies were each about five months old, and their pen was in almost total darkness (21.27(2)-Lighting). A metal gate was inside the puppies’ stall, with thick cobwebs built up on its top surface (21.29(c)-Sanitation). In addition, the surfaces of a plastic doghouse and a large metal feeder on the ground of the stall were covered in fecal stains (21.29(c)(1)-Sanitation) (21.28(c)-Food). The food dish was clearly not placed so as to minimize contamination by excreta (21.28(c)-Food).
Poodle puppies
There was an elevated wire cage with an attached wooden hutch used to house six Standard Poodle puppies in the horse barn next to a stall. The puppies had no food, and one of their water dishes had a brown residue covering its surfaces (21.28(a)-Food) (21.28(c)-Water). Several days of feces was piled up on top of wood shavings under the cage (21.29(a)-Sanitation).
Shepherd pens
On the side of the barn opposite the puppy cage was a chain link pen set on the barn flooring which held a single adult Shepherd. The dog had food in a dish set on its flooring and a water dish containing brown water next to it (21.28(a)-Water). Over 24 hours of feces was in the pen, mixed with straw and wood shavings (21.29(a) and (c)(1)-Sanitation) (21.28(d)-Bedding).
A row of chain link pens was near the stable on its side opposite the house on the property. There were five pens, four on concrete slabs and the fifth on dirt. Three pens each held a single German Shepherd, while the other two each held two Shepherds, including the one with the dirt flooring.
Each pen contained a plastic or wooden dog pen, all without windbreaks (21.24(b)(6)(iii)-Shelter). The dirt pen had a plastic doghouse in it about 3.5 feet long and 2.5 feet wide and tall. The doghouse was not large enough for both dogs to stand in at once or lay in without being on top of each other (21.24(b)(1)- Shelter).
None of the pens had any food in them, and plastic water buckets in each were filled with dingy brown and green water (21.28(a) Food) (21.28(a)-Water). Chain link wiring was broken into sharp points next to the water bucket of one pen containing two dogs, and the hole was repaired with rusting chain (21.21(a)-Dog quarters). Over 24 hours of feces was in each pen (21.29(a)-Sanitation).
Bernese pen
Several cages stood by themselves near the horse stable. One was a chain link pen with concrete flooring containing a single Bernese Mountain Dog. The pen contained a wooden doghouse lacking a windbreak and over 24 hours of feces, most of it accumulated in the back of the pen (21.24(b)(6)(iii)-Shelter (21.29(a)-Sanitation). The concrete slab the pen extended about four feet beyond the front of the pen where it was partially covered in standing brown water discolored from excrement (21.24(b)(10) -Shelter).
Outdoor cages
Several other cages were near the Bernese pen. Two were abandoned, elevated cages with mounds of feces piled under them (21.24(b)(10- Shelter). Next to it was another elevated cage containing a German Shepherd puppy about six months old. The cage was attached to a wooden box at its rear and had two water dishes but no food inside (21.28(a)-Food). Feces were smashed into the pen flooring and over a week of feces were piled underneath the cage (21.29(a)-Sanitation). A chain link wire pen with dirt flooring that held two German Shepherds was close to the puppy cage. There was no food in the pen, but I did see two plastic buckets filled with dirty water set next to a chain link wall (21.28(a)-Food) (21.28(a)-Water).
Additional cages
The largest kennel area was not visible from the house or driveway on the property. It was a series of several outdoor enclosures containing dogs of various breeds. One was a chain link pen on dirt ground that held two German Shepherds and a wooden doghouse. There was no food in the pen but there were several water buckets containing brown and green, murky water (PA Dog Law: 21.28(a)-Water).
An elevated outdoor cage holding a Pomeranian and a Miniature Pinscher were near the Shepherd pen with dirt flooring. About a dozen outdoor pens with chain link walls and concrete floorings were next to the elevated cage. Near them was a row of chain link pens with concrete floorings and wooden doghouses, each holding two Standard Poodles. Several days of feces were smashed onto the pen floorings, and all of the dogs’ water buckets contained brown and green water (21.29(a)-Sanitation (21.28(a)-Water).
Several elevated wire cages attached to wooden doghouses were near the ground pens. One held a single Standard Poodle with over 24 hours of feces mashed into the wire flooring of its cage (21.29(a)- Sanitation). Two other cages each held two Standard Poodles.
Immediately after viewing Kauffman Kennels in Chester County, I contacted Denise Dougherty with the PA Dog Law Bureau, telling her that I witnessed what I believed to be a case of animal neglect at Kauffman Kennels. I also said that it was apparent that the kennel is still operating despite the fact that they are listed by the PA Department of Agriculture as being voluntarily closed.
Denise immediately gave me contact information for Maurine Siddons, a Dog Warden in Chester County – 610-909-5666. I left a message for Maurine on 10/24/07 explaining what I had viewed at Kauffman Kennels. On the night of 10/24/07, I e-mailed a short report to her, which is not edited to the current report noting all PA Dog Law violations evident at the time I was at the kennel. In the report to Siddons, I did not cite violations but merely described the conditions I saw, most notably the two German Shepherd puppies on weeks of feces and in a dark horse stall, dogs without food, dirty water buckets, and Poodle cages with feces piled on their floorings.
On 10/26/07 I called Siddons again, who told me that she had already been to Kauffman Kennels and had instructed the kennel owners to give away their dogs. She did not specify where the dogs went. I spoke to Siddons in person at about 8:30 am on 11/1/07 in Harrisburg, PA, where she again commented that Kauffman Kennels had given away their dogs to get them off of the property.
On 11/3/07 I drove by Kauffman Kennels and took several photographs. The kennel area at the rear of the property that used to hold two German Shepherds, several Standard Poodles, and a Miniature Pinscher and Pomeranian appeared to be empty. However, a row of outdoor German Shepherd chain link runs, a Bernese Mountain dog run, and an elevated cage behind the horse stable all appeared to still hold dogs.
