Breeder: Martin, Reuben and Vera
Business name: Meadow Lane Kennels
Address: 526 Quarry Rd
City, State Zip: New Holland, PA 17557
Year: 2007
USDA License: 23-A-0056
Date of CAPS Investigation: 2007-06-27
Time of CAPS Investigation: 15:54
Breeds: Shih Tzu, Yorkshire Terriers, Chihuahuas, Cairn Terriers, Pomeranians, Pugs
There were about 100 dogs and 20 puppies at the kennel at the time of investigation.
The kennel building was a metal barn with elevated outdoor cages attached to indoor wooden boxes, some for breeders and the others for whelping. These enclosures were on each of the longer sides of the barn. Additional whelping cages were inside the barn.
Neglected surfaces
Each elevated cage held one to two dogs, with whelping cages also holding litters of puppies. Fecal stains covered the ground below all of the cages. The wall that held the doggie-door of a Shih Tzu pen was rusting and contained several small holes in it near the doorway. The walls separating all of the indoor and outdoor cages had a brown build-up on their surfaces (USDA: 3.1(c)(3)-Cleaning; PA Dog Law: 21.29(b)-Sanitation).
Cairn Terrier puppy
One cage held a whelping Cairn Terrier mother and her puppies of about three weeks of age. One of the puppies was in the outside cage, its legs hanging through the wire and unable to get up on the flooring. The puppy’s mouth was gaping open and panting, so I picked the puppy up and put it back in their whelping box before pointing out the situation to a woman at the residence who was showing me the kennel (Caucasian female, about 60 years old, 5’6”, 180 lbs, long gray hair and glasses). The woman responded that sometimes the puppies find their way outside and can’t get back in (USDA: 3.1(a)- Structure; construction; PA Dog Law: 21.21(a)- Dog quarters).
Injured Chihuahua
Another cage held two brown and white Chihuahuas. The brown one was missing all of the toes on its rear left paw, which kept sliding into the gaps of the wire flooring as the dog moved around the outdoor cage. Several times I saw the dog lift its leg up in the air rather than try to walk on it (USDA: 2.40-Vet care; PA Dog Law: 21.30-(Condition of a dog).
Injured Pomeranian
Two Pomeranians were in a cage together, and one that was cream-colored had a large bloody scab on the right side of her muzzle that was about an inch long and half an inch wide. The kennel owner said to me, “Watch, she rubs her face on the cage. That’s how she does it.” I watched the dog turn in circles in the cage, rubbing her face up against the wall closest to us. I pulled the dog out of the cage to examine the wound before the owner used her fingers to tear the scab off the dog’s face (USDA: 2.40-Vet care; PA Dog Law: 21.30-Condition of a dog).
Small Yorkshire cage
A room inside the kennel used to store supplies and food was also used to hold additional whelping cages, puppy cages, and a pregnant Yorkie. The pregnant Yorkie’s cage was about two feet wide and tall and three feet long. The dog inside was about two feet long from the tip of her nose to the base of her tail (requiring 6.25 square feet of space, with only six feet of space in her cage), and when she stood in a normal manner her head came within a couple inches of her cage roof (USDA: 3.6(c)(1)(i) and (iii)-Space; PA Dog Law: 21.23(b) and (d)-Space).
A bank of four wire cages across from the pregnant Yorkie held whelping dogs with their litters and a litter of puppies by themselves. Near this bank of cages was a stack of three other wire cages, each about two feet long, wide and tall. The middle cage held a nursing Yorkie mother and two puppies.
