Breeder: Kauffman, Marcus
Address: 1824 110th St.
City, State Zip: Kalona, IA 52247
Year: 2006
USDA License: 42-A-0935
Date of CAPS Investigation: 2006-07-27
On the premises at the time of investigation: approximately 55 dogs and 30 puppies.
Breeds: Maltese, Shih Tzu, Huskies, Poodles, Bichon Frises, Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers
Main kennels
The main kennel structures on Kauffman’s property were two small barns, each with five elevated indoor/outdoor enclosures on both of their longer sides. The outdoor cages had untreated, thin-gauge wire walls and treated wire floorings, and the roofs of the building hung over the tops of the cages. Metal and plastic dog doors provided access to indoor cages made of treated wire. Many of the plastic doggie doors were torn and broken at their bottoms and corners (3.1(c)(2)-Surfaces).
More than 24 hours’ accumulation of feces was under the outdoor cages (3.11(a)-Cleaning of primary enclosures). The indoor cages were made of treated wire and had plastic self-feeders and water spigots. The PVC piping that framed the indoor cages was covered in brown and orange stains (3.1(c)(2)-Surfaces).
A row of three whelping cages made of treated wire were above each row of indoor cages. There were plastic self feeders and water spigots in each cage and plastic sheeting underneath all indoor and whelping cages to catch debris and excreta. Each of the indoor/outdoor enclosures contained two adult dogs; several of the whelping cages each contained a whelping mother and several nursing puppies. About half of the whelping cages were empty.
One whelping cage, on the right hand side of the doorway of the kennel building closest to the Kauffman’s house, was used to hold cleaning supplies and medicine (3.1(e)-Storage).
Matted Bichon Frises and Maltese
One Bichon had small dirty mats on her face (2.40-Vet care). Two Maltese sharing a cage had large, thick mats on their bodies and in the fur that covered their eyes. After Mrs. Yoder removed a Maltese from a cage, one could see numerous thick mats on its underside (2.40-Vet care). Two other Maltese in another cage both had small mats covering their fur. Mrs. Yoder allowed me to remove one of the Maltese and hold it, at which point I noticed especially thick mats around the dog’s face and paws. The mats around the paws were stained brown (2.40-Vet care).
Husky pens
Six outdoor runs on a concrete slab each housed a single adult Husky. The runs had wire walls, doorways made of metal barn siding and a metal roof to provide shade. Each pen, about three feet wide and eight feet long, was connected to a wooden dog house by a dog door. The floors of the pens were stained brown, compared to the white-colored concrete just outside of the pens (3.1(c)(3)-Surfaces).
Metal and plastic self feeders attached to the doors of the pens had a dingy build-up on their surfaces (3.2(c)(2)-Surfaces). The metal feeders were rusting in several places (3.11(b)(2)-Sanitization).
Outside the doorways of two cages, resting against a wooden pole between the cages, was a metal feeder covered in rust. The feeder had moldy food caked to its interior and was swarming with flies that also surrounded the other pens (3.1(b)-Condition and site); (3.11(d)-Pest control).
A single PVC pipe held water for all of the dogs; sections cut out of it allowed the dogs to drink from it. Fecal stains were on various spots of the pipe, though they were most evident on its underside (3.2(c)(2)-Surfaces). Algae and brown build-up was visible on the pipe’s interior (3.11(b)(2)-Sanitization).
Puppy cage
Several treated wire outdoor cages, measuring about five cubic feet in size, were elevated over the ground. They were in a row near another barn on the property, within about 80 feet of the adult Husky pens. Only one cage was occupied, and it housed a Husky puppy weighing about thirty pounds.
The cage door was unsecured, and the puppy opened the door with its nose and stuck its head out twice (3.1(a)-Structure; construction).
Several days’ accumulation of feces was piled underneath the cage. There was no food dish was in the pen, and an empty ceramic water bowl was on the cage flooring (3.9(a)-Feeding); (3.10-Watering); (3.11(a)-Cleaning of primary enclosures).
