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Seized dogs are stolen

By Greg Purvis
The Times-Journal

Published April 18, 2007

A week after Fort Payne police discovered a puppy mill during an alleged drug bust, four of the dogs are missing again.

The officers found marijuana and 37 dogs as well, in what SPCA Executive Director Freda Waters described as “a squalid puppy mill.”

“We have our fair share of them, and it’s a nationwide problem,” Waters said.

On April 4, Fort Payne police and drug task force agents arrested Samuel Paul Easler, 36, and Heather Vanesse Lutes, 33 both of Fort Payne, at 803 Sixth Street SE. Easler and Lutes were both charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

“After we made the arrests, we reported the conditions of the animals to the SPCA,” said Police Chief David Walker. “It was obvious they were raising a lot of dogs at this location.”

Walker said law enforcement personnel get involved when an SPCA inspection reveals that criminal charges should be filed often in cases of severe neglect or cruelty.

But on Saturday, Waters came to work only to find a large section of the SPCA’s fence cut and four of the 37 dogs missing.

“Of those dogs, 29 of them were Chihuahuas,” Waters said. “They are small dogs, easy to grab, and they are worth money if you know where to sell them.”

Waters said selling the small dogs has become a highly lucrative business.

“We get suspicious anytime we find a lot of animals warehoused in filthy conditions, the females kept constantly pregnant and the whole reason they are kept alive is to make money,” Waters said. “The problem is, there are no specific laws forbidding puppy mills from operating. As it is now, we have very little to work with. We’ve got basic animal cruelty laws and that’s about it.”

Waters said puppy mills usually operate by selling the dogs to unlicensed middlemen called bunchers. The bunchers sell dogs to dealers licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture who pay about $25 per dog.

“Chihuahuas are desirable because they are small, sociable dogs,” Waters said. “The dealers sell them to labs who use them for medical and pharmaceutical testing. The labs pay about $500 each for the dogs, so you can see how much money is involved. It’s a multimillion dollar industry.”

An industry, Waters says, that is largely unregulated.

“There is no way these little Chihuahuas let themselves out of the kennel,” she said.

Walker said the case is under investigation, and Easler and Lutes have had no additional charges.

Fort Payne City Councilman Andrew Hairston said his father—Officer Andy Hairston—and his sister had both adopted some of the remaining Chihuahuas from the animals seized by law enforcement.

Waters said she plans on adding surveillance cameras and expanding the alarm system to cover the kennel area.

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811 Greenhill Blvd.NW, Fort Payne, Alabama 35967 | Tel: 256-845-2550 | Email