Breeder: Miller, Samuel
Address: 5671 Landon Ave SW
City, State Zip: Riverside, IA 52327
Year: 2006
USDA License: 42-A-0897
Date of CAPS Investigation: 2006-07-26
On the premises at the time of investigation: approximately 58 dogs and 25 puppies.
Breeds: Yorkshire Terriers, Clumber Spaniels, Boxers, Miniature Pinschers
Yorkshire Terrier breeder
Miller brought out a female Yorkshire Terrier breeder to show to me before I observed the kennel. This dog had a thick black plaque on its teeth and two yellow, cauliflower-like growths on its gums (2.40-Vet care). Miller claimed the dog was only “a couple years old.” When Miller set the dog on the ground, it hunched down and didn’t move but just looked from side to side.
Building with indoor/outdoor cages
This building was originally described in the investigation report dated 9/30/04. It is a wooden structure with two rows, four cages each, on top of each other along two walls of the building. The cages had walls and floorings of rusting, treated and untreated thin-gauge metal wire (3.6(a)(2)(xii)-Primary enclosures); (3.1(c)(1)(i)-Surfaces). The walls separating the outdoor cages were plastic, and there were trays below the cages to catch debris. Each cage housed one or two adult dogs of various breeds, including Miniature Pinschers, Yorkshire Terriers, and Airedale Terriers.
Dog doors connected the indoor and outdoor cages. The walls and floorings of the indoor cages were plastic, except for the walls facing the hallway. These indoor cage walls were made of untreated, thin-gauge wire; some were covered with a second layer of treated wire.
One pen housing two Miniature Pinschers had feces and debris built up in its corners; Bits of feces had splattered over one wall (3.11(a)-Cleaning of primary enclosures).
Outdoor pens
Five outdoor pens with thick-gauge wire walls and rock floorings were next to the kennel building. Each housed two adult dogs of various breeds, including Boxers, White German Shepherds, and Swiss Mountain Dogs.
Each pen contained a dog house, and one Boxer pen contained two dog houses. One pen housed two White German Shepherds, and another pen housed two Boxers – these dogs were about four feet long from the tips of their noses to the bases of their tails. The dog house in each of these pens was about four feet wide, four feet long, and about three feet high – not large enough for both dogs in the pen to be in the dog house at the same time and lie in a normal manner, stand without their heads hitting the ceilings, or turn about freely (3.4(b)(3)- Shelter from the elements).
The dog houses had a dirty build-up on their outside surfaces and torn and scratched wood around the doggie doors (3.1(c)(2)-Surfaces).
A tarp about seven feet high served as a roof over the pens and provided some shade. Metal self feeders on their walls several inches above the ground were not placed in a manner that would minimize contamination by excreta and pests (3.9(b)-Feeding).
Several weeks’ accumulation of feces was on top of the rocks of the pen floorings. Some of fecal run-off had washed onto the rocks, as well. Flies swarmed the area (3.11(a)-Cleaning of primary enclosures); (3.11(d)-Pest control).
Clumber Spaniel pens
One edge of the kennel area had two elevated outdoor pens next to each other. Each pen had a cage, made of thick-gauge rusting wire. The cages were attached to a wooden dog house. Each pen housed three Clumber Spaniels.
Large water puddles under these pens were filled with several days’ accumulation of feces and were covered in flies (3.11(a)-Cleaning); (3.1(f)-Drainage and waste disposal); (3.11(d)-Pest control).
Whelping building
A whelping building measuring about 15 feet long and 10 feet wide had a row of four cages on one of its longer sides. The cages, made entirely of treated wire, were raised above the ground and had plastic and metal self-feeders attached to the walls and water spigots. Three cages contained nursing mothers and puppies, while one contained two Yorkshire Terriers and a Miniature Pinscher.
The cages were measured three cubic feet, and the Yorkshire Terriers and Miniature Pinscher were about a foot long from the tips of their noses to the bases of their tails (3.6(c)(1)(i)-Primary enclosures).
The other side of the building had three pens with plastic walls and floorings, each about four feet wide and four feet long. They housed larger whelping dogs and puppies, two containing Boxers and one containing a German Shepherd with her puppies.
Saw dust on the barn floor had food and feces mixed into it and was covered with flies (3.11(a)-Cleaning of primary enclosures); (3.1(f)-Drainage and waste disposal); (3.11(d)-Pest control).
Outdoor pens/wounded Boxer
Three sets of outdoor enclosures near the whelping barn consisted of two elevated pens each. Each pen had a wire cage attached to a wooden dog house. The cages were made of untreated and treated wire and had treated wire floors. These pens housed dogs of various breeds, including Clumber Spaniels, Airedale Terriers and Boxers.
Two of the dog houses lacked windbreaks (3.4(b)(3)- Shelter from the elements). All of the dog houses had worn and scratched wood around the doggie door (3.1(c)(2)-Surfaces).
One Boxer, housed in the pen furthest from the Spaniel, had an infected left ear with the skin torn away from its outer surface. The ear was swollen to about ten times its normal thickness and was covered in blood, pus, and flies. When asked about the injury, Miller claimed the dog had been in a fight, but he did not mention the dog was receiving treatment of any kind (2.40-Vet care).
There was more than a week’s accumulation of feces under each cage. The feces was covered with swarming flies. It also appeared feces was washed into puddles on the ground under each pen (3.1(f)-Drainage and waste disposal); (3.11(a)-Cleaning of primary enclosures); (3.11(d)-Pest control).
