Breeder: Randy Swartzentruber
Address: 4342 S 188th Rd
City, State, Zip: Halfway, MO 65663
USDA License: 43-A-6425
Date and time of CAPS Investigation: 3/13/26, 1248
Weather at time of investigation: 61°F and sunny
Number of dogs and puppies noted in a 7/31/25 USDA inspection: 133 dogs and 76 puppies
The facility consisted of rows of outdoor sheltered runs and a kennel building with indoor/outdoor runs on one side. The enclosures created a large rectangular-shaped area in the yard, with the sheltered runs arranged in several rows. All the enclosures had wire walls, though some walls also had metal sheets over them. The runs appeared to have dirt floorings. No enrichment of any kind was evident in the runs.
There were about 65 sheltered runs in total. Each was about 20 feet long and five feet wide. I saw one to four dogs per run. Metal sheets covered a small portion of the runs’ tops for shade. Some runs had square-shaped plastic containers in them for shelter and others had calf hutches.
The building with indoor/outdoor runs had about six runs per side, each about 15 feet long and three feet wide, with floorings that appeared to be dirty. I saw one to two dogs in several runs, but in others I didn’t see any dogs. The kennel building had two barren pens attached to it that were about 20 feet by seven feet in size, with doggie doors on them. It was unclear if these were play areas or additional dog pens.
Breeder is connected to the following store:
Diamonds and Doggies, 111 Commercial Blvd, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, FL 33308 (CVI 2024)
Evidence contradicting store’s claims
When I visited Diamonds and Doggies on 5/12/22, an employee said that their puppies were bought from “private breeders that are licensed.” I pressed the employee on what those breeders were like, and the employee claimed that the store sometimes buys from hobby breeders. When I pressed further, the employee claimed to know nothing about commercial facilities that breed for the store.
Swartzentruber’s facility has over a hundred dogs in barren enclosures with no enrichment of any kind. Clearly, he is a commercial breeder, not a private hobby breeder that is exclusive to one store. The store’s claims are commonly used in the pet industry to conceal the nature of USDA-licensed puppy mills, like Swartzentruber’s, which sell to them.
