Breeder: Wee, Reuben
Address: 2004 State Highway 91
City, State Zip: Balaton, MN
Year: 2005
USDA License: (formerly 41-A-0039)
Date of CAPS Investigation: 2005-06-14
Prior CAPS Investivations: 2001-10-31, 2001-11-01, 2001-11-02, 2001-11-04, 2002-09-22
Breeds: Miniature Pinschers, Pomeranians, Bullmastiffs, Boxers
There were about 38 dogs and 12 puppies on the property at the time of investigation. The physical layout of Wee’s property was the same as described in previous CAPS reports
Pomeranian and Miniature Pinscher Pens.
The Pomeranian/Miniature Pinscher pens each contained about five dogs. These pens had a single plastic dog house that was about two feet wide and tall and three feet long. The dog houses were not of sufficient size to house all of the dogs in their pens at once (3.43.21 Subd. 2-Shelter) (343.40 Subd. 2-Building specifications) and allow the dogs to lie in a normal manner or turn about freely (3.46.39 Subd. 4-Shelter size). All of the dog houses lacked windbreaks (343.40 Subd. 2-Building specifications). There was no shade other than the insufficient housing (3.43.40 Subd. 3-Shade) (3.46.39-Subd. 4-Shelter size).
In addition, the dog houses rested on the concrete floorings of the pens and were not elevated above the ground (3.43.40 Subd. 2-Building specifications). Week’s worth of fecal accumulation was on the flooring of each pen (3.46.39 Subd. 10-Confinement surfaces) (3.46.39 Subd. 12-Sanitation). Feces was particularly built up around the bottom edges of the dog houses and chain link walls pen (3.46.39 Subd. 12-Sanitation). This indicated the pens were likely hosed out with water, which caused the feces to accumulate in certain areas where it was not cleaned out (3.46.39 Subd. 11-Drainage).
Each pen contained metal food and water dishes. The inside of the water dishes were filled with a brown, dingy scum (3.43.21 Subd. 1-Torture) (3.43.21 Subd. 2-Nourishment) (3.46.39 Subd. 2-Water) (3.46.39 Subd. 12-Sanitation). The food dishes were all filled with bits of kibble completely saturated with rain water (3.43.21 Subd. 1-Torture) (343.21 Subd. 2-Nourishment) (3.46.39 Subd. 1-Food).
Bull Mastiff and Boxer Pens
The Bull Mastiff and Boxer pens had week’s worth of feces mashed into their muddied floorings (346,39 Subd. 12-Sanitation). Each pen contained two dogs. There were two plastic dogloo shelters with no windbreaks (343.40 Subd. 2-Building specifications). The bottoms of the shelters were covered in mud, leaving the dogs with no place to stand or lie down without getting wet (343.21 Subd. 2-Shelter) (3.43.40 Subd. 2-Building specifications) (3.46.39 Subd. 10-Confinement surfaces). The plastic food and water dishes in each pen had brown, dingy scum lining the inside of the water dishes (3.43.21 Subd. 1-Torture) (3.43.21 Subd. 2-Nourishment) (3.46.39 Subd. 2-Water) (3.46.39 Subd. 12-Sanitation). Only rain water was inside the food bowls (3.43.21 Subd. 1-Torture) (343.21 Subd. 2-Nourishment).
A pen with a Bullmastiff and a Boxer had an outdoor enclosure connected to a wooden barn that was on the southwestern end of the kennel. The Bullmastiff’s front right leg had several bleeding sores on its ankle, which was swollen to over twice its normal size (343.21 Subd. 1- Torture) (3.43.21 Subd. 7-Cruelty). In another pen, a non-whelping Boxer’s nipple was swollen to over 10 times the size of its other nipples (343.21 Subd. 1-Torture) (3.43.21 Subd. 7-Cruelty).
Whelping Building
With the exception of heat lamps for some puppies, the whelping building had no heating or air conditioning (3.46.39 Subd. 7-Temperature). Proper ventilation was not present, especially considering the large accumulation of feces (3.46.39 Sub. 8-Ventilation). An unheated shelter must provide shelter and bedding as prescribed by 343.40, yet there were no shelters inside the whelping building that satisfied this requirement (3.43.40 Subd. 2-Building specifications)
The whelping building appeared to have a nursing Boxer, three Bullmastiff puppies of about six months of age, a Miniature Pinscher, and seven Bullmastiff puppies of about eight weeks of age. The larger Bullmastiff puppies were able to roam freely in the middle aisle of the whelping building with access to an enclosed outdoor yard west of the building.
The younger puppies were on a flooring of wood chips and shredded paper with week’s worth of feces mixed into it (3.43.40 Subd. 2-Building specifications) (3.46.39 Subd. 12-Sanitation).
Bits of kibble were in two metal food dishes and scattered about the ground (3.43.21 Subd. 1-Torture) (343.21 Subd. 2-Nourishment) (346.39 Subd. 1-Food). A water dish with a brown, dingy buildup on its inner surface was next to the food dishes (3.43.21 Subd. 1-Torture) (3.43.21 Subd. 2-Nourishment) (346.39 Subd. 2-Water) (346.39 Subd. 12-Sanitation).
The bottom half of a plastic dog house rested in one corner of the pen. The surface and walls of this dog house were covered in a layer of fecal residue (346.39 Subd.. 10-Confinement surfaces) (3.46.39 Subd. 12-Sanitation). All of the surfaces inside the whelping building had a brown build-up on their surface (346.39 Subd.. 10-Confinement surfaces) (346.39 Subd. 12-Sanitation).
The adult Boxer was in a pen about three feet wide and four feet long. The pen had a heat lamp shining down into one corner, indicating nursing puppies were in the pen. A pen on the north end of the whelping building had a nursing Boxer mother with a heat lamp set about three feet above the ground. At least one Boxer puppy was visible beneath the light.
The middle aisle of the building had a dirty metal desk and rusting metal chair sitting in it. Several bottles of exposed medicine were sitting on top of a cover over one of the pens (3.43.21 Subd. 1-Torture).
The only light source in the pen at the time of investigation, other than the heat lamps noted above, was through the windows of the building (346.39 Subd. 9-Lighting). This was insufficient light to clearly see inside the building beyond what is noted above.
The southeast end of Wee’s yard contained an area of uncut grass just east of two trash piles. The grass had a wooden board about 2.5 feet wide and four feet long. Under this board was what appeared to be two Pomeranian carcasses and a dog skull (35.82 Subd. 2-Disposition of carcasses) (343.21 Subd. 1-Torture). Flies were swarming around the bodies.
Mr. Wee told the CAPS investigator on 6/15/05 that he sells puppies to Patti Noethe (42-B-0078) in Britt, Iowa. Mr. Wee said he claims the dogs belong to his son and daughter even though the dogs live on his property and are in his care. Effectively, he is selling his dogs to a broker through his children. Mr. Wee states on paperwork that his children own the dogs at his facility. The children are thus exempt from licensing because they have supposedly fewer than four breeding females.
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