Dog kennel case may lead to law
PLEASANT GARDEN — On its Web site, Rush Kennel bills itself as “North Carolina’s No. 1 dog kennel,” a place where Weimaraners, Labrador retrievers and other breeds frolic in a fenced play yard before the day ends with a massage, pool bath and pedicure.
“We pamper our dogs and make them feel great all over,” proclaims the Web site for the kennel, which is owned by Pleasant Garden businesswoman Sheila Rush Savage.
But the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and the county Animal Shelter say they found something quite different last week in searching the kennel, after a four-month investigation of the breeding operation that sold purebred puppies for up to $800 each.
Investigators discovered filthy conditions that included large amounts of dog and rat feces, foul drinking water, malnourished dogs infested with such parasites as hookworms and heartworms, some dogs with rampant dental decay, others with severe lacerations and at least one with an eye infection so severe the eye must be removed.
Live electrical wires were strung across the cages, apparently to prevent the dogs from getting out, shelter director Marsha Williams said.
“In front, it looked very nice, very clean and very professional. It was behind the wooden privacy fence where you saw the issues,” said Williams, who helped deputies check out the kennel during their Wednesday raid.
Efforts to reach Savage and other kennel personnel for comment Saturday were unsuccessful. In the aftermath of last week’s raid, the 53-year-old dog breeder faces charges of animal cruelty, as does the shelter’s caretaker, Robert Landreth, 61.
After the two turned themselves in Friday, their lawyer said they had explanations for all the allegations and predicted they’ll be exonerated.
For example, attorney Kent Lively said, a rail-thin Weimaraner taken from the kennel and pictured recently in the News & Record was not underfed.
“(The dog) is an elderly dog and they tend to lose weight at 10 or 11 years old,” Lively said in an interview Friday. “She (Savage) doesn’t allow any of her dogs to be malnourished, is what she tells me.”
Before last week’s arrest, Savage was in the news during a 2007 stint on ABC’s “Wife Swap” reality show, where much was made of her affection for her nine Chihuahuas and poodles.
But evidence emerging so far in the case shows that the animal shelter, Guilford County Animal Control officers and the local Better Business Bureau have been concerned about Savage’s kennel for years.
The shelter took in 40 to 50 abandoned dogs from Savage in the past eight or nine years, Williams said.
“We would have to treat them for whatever illness or other problems they had,” she said. “They were not in very good shape when they were brought in to us. She said they were tired, like they were too old or she didn’t want to breed them anymore.”
The shelter did not pursue its own investigation of Rush Kennel because it lacked the authority, Williams said: “Animal Control was bringing them (the dogs) to us for her. We assumed they didn’t have any problems with her at that time.”
A spokesman for Guilford’s animal control program declined to comment on the situation, saying that it involves an ongoing investigation.
Last week’s arrests are the crest of a larger “puppy mill” problem triggered by North Carolina’s lack of a law requiring such operations be licensed and open to inspection by regulators, said Kimberly Alboum, state director of the Humane Society of the United States.
“I have animal control officers contacting me all the time from around the state saying, 'Look, I have what I consider to be a puppy mill here,’ ” Alboum said. “But there’s nothing they can do about it.”
Kennels are licensed and regularly inspected by the state Department of Agriculture only if they breed dogs for sale to pet stores or to research laboratories.
No state law specifically protects dogs raised in such kennels as the Rush facility, where they were sold directly to the public. They are protected only by an all-purpose animal cruelty statute focused mainly on requiring adequate food, water and shelter, Alboum said.
That could change after the General Assembly convenes in May when the House takes up the so-called “Puppy Mill Bill,” a proposal that has already been approved by the state Senate. The bill would license kennels that sell directly to the public through the Department of Agriculture, and give local animal control officers more authority to inspect their operations.
Building a criminal case using only the existing animal-cruelty law is difficult and time-consuming, said the Humane Society’s Alboum, adding she’s not surprised it took Guilford investigators four months to bring charges against Rush Kennel.
Sparked by a letter to the sheriff’s office from a Pennsylvania couple last November, the local investigation eventually unearthed a total of 18 complaints made against Rush Kennel with Guilford animal control officers, the Better Business Bureau and the state Department of Agriculture.
Sheriff’s investigators relied on those complaints, plus evidence from their own undercover dealings with the kennel, in persuading a judge to issue the warrant allowing them to search the Pleasant Garden compound and, ultimately, seize the 97 dogs housed there.
Complaints to the various agencies included:
- A Winston-Salem woman who purchased two poodles last May. One died from worms two days after purchase. The other was diagnosed with glaucoma.
- A South Carolina woman who said she went to purchase a Weimaraner puppy from the kennel. She asked to see the dog’s parents and but was told “that it wasn’t allowed,” and also told she could not see where the dogs were kept.
- A man who reported the puppy he picked up from the kennel in January was infected with worms and parasites, and very underweight. The man said he called the kennel to request copies of X-rays and veterinary records, but an employee refused and became defensive before hanging up on him.
- A woman who purchased a Weimaraner puppy in 2003. At 22 months the dog developed a “terrible cough, began to appear thin and began to tire easily.” The dog was diagnosed with “multiple heart defects and congestive heart failure.” The dog had to be euthanized. The woman wrote that a cardiologist told her the dog’s conditions were hereditary and “a breeder should not have bred a dog with the defect.”
- A New York woman who said the Yorkshire terrier puppy she bought in June 2008 arrived at her residence “obviously sick, urinating on itself, lethargic, and “it smelled bad” and “it was not moving.” The woman said she received no medical records with the dog and took it to a veterinarian, where the puppy died.
But Rush Kennel has a mixed record in Guilford County civil court, where it has faced seven lawsuits by disgruntled customers over the years. Two cases were settled out of court, one was dismissed on procedural grounds, and Rush won two and lost two to former customers.
Savage and kennel caretaker Landreth are free on bond now, each facing seven, felony counts of animal cruelty and five misdemeanor allegations of the same crime.
If convicted, they likely would face a maximum penalty of 52 to 56 months of probation under state sentencing guidelines because neither has a criminal record.
Whatever happens in the case, the animal shelter’s Williams will long remember the ugly conditions she saw last week at the place that advertised, “Our top priority is the health and well-being of every dog.”
“It’s just hard to have compassion for someone who does that,” she said of the conditions she observed. “You want to say: Put some of that money back into the animals that are helping you.”
Staff writers Jennifer Fernandez and Dioni L. Wise contributed to this story.
Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com
Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: Shelter director Marsha Williams and veterinary tech manager Marissa Studivent handle a Weimaraner that weighs 40 pounds, which is 35 pounds less than normal.
Tips on buying a purebred puppy
The Humane Society of the United States recommends looking at the local shelter first. You can often find purebreds there.
But if you’re going through a breeder, the Humane Society and the American Kennel Club suggest:
Get a referral for a good breeder from your vet, local breed clubs or at a professional dog show.
Visit the breeder. See how the dogs in your breeder’s home interact with the breeder. Are they friendly or do they shy away?
Ask to see the dam or sire of your puppy.
Expect your breeder to ask questions of you, too.
Make sure expectations are clear — in writing is best — of how and when you will pay for the puppy.
Do not send money without speaking to the breeder and checking credentials and references.
If your dog must be shipped long distance, you should only pay half up front and the rest once you’ve had a vet examine the dog.
If the dog is AKC registered, the form should be available when you pick up the animal. Don’t pay for or take the dog home without the form filled out by the seller.
More online
More online Sheila Rush Savage appeared in an episode of “Wife Swap” in 2007. Watch an excerpt on YouTube at http://tinyurl.com/ybgh89p.
The full episode airs at 2 p.m. April 21 on Lifetime.
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