Unlicensed USDA Ohio 'Puppy Mill'

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• published: 19 Feb 2013
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This Knox county (OH) breeder, Lone Oak Kennel, has a long history of citations (includes many indirects and directs) issued by the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)! The last inventory count of animals living in this kennel exceeded 100 dogs and puppies! The breeder is currently not licensed by the USDA but does hold a kennel license issued by the county. Bill Amick, Mount Vernon News March 18, 2013 Tom Coleman, Lone Oak's operator (and past owner of Copper Lakes Kennel in Alma, Ga.) provides a case history of the passive enforcement that animal advocates fear under the new Ohio law, SB 130 (Ohio Commercial Dog Breeders Act). In a nutshell, Copper Lakes was quarantined by disease for more than a year, the kennel made a poor showing with federal inspectors, and Coleman moved the operation illegally. Consequences were few, and far from aggressive. Despite its critical inspection in December of 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture did no follow up. Georgia blew the whistle when its quarantine was broken, but its punishment was revoking a license Coleman no longer needed. Looking at the Ohio phase of the story, activists hope for more decisive action from the Department of Agriculture as it assumes authority over high-volume dog breeders. Georgia contacted USDA and ODA on Feb. 10, 2012, to advise them Coleman had moved hundreds of dogs that might carry brucellosis. State laws were involved, but ODA referred Georgia to the Knox County Dog Warden and took ownership of the situation only after a USDA veterinarian went to the top at ODA. Brucellosis is infectious and can be transmitted to humans, but ODA took three weeks to respond. Dr. David Frew inspected Lone Oak on March 2 and slapped a quarantine on an estimated 400 dogs, citing import violations. Any chain of custody was long since broken. It's impossible to establish how many dogs left Georgia, what happened to 47 thought to be infected or how many arrived in Danville. Inquiries to ODA have been routed to legal counsel Howard Henry and communications officer Erica Hawkins rather than animal health officials. Asked about the time lapse between notification and quarantine, Hawkins responded, "That would have depended on workload. There were a lot of unknowns we had to verify." "Brucellosis is not listed as a dangerous infectious disease," Henry added. "It's not something that a vet has to report. Georgia may have a different protocol than we do." Several strains of brucellosis affect livestock and game, and Ohio law categorizes the canine form as least dangerous. Most conditions of ODA's quarantine were lifted on May 3 without formal documentation of rabies vaccinations or brucellosis testing. Five animals remained under quarantine, but nine months would pass before ODA had any further contact. When questions were raised in February, ODA obtained a handwritten note from Danville veterinarian Teresa Hoxworth stating that an unspecified number of dogs that tested positive for brucellosis had been euthanized. An outbreak dating back to September 2010 was apparently ended. Coleman's recollection is that about a dozen dogs were euthanized, but ODA told the News that State Veterinarian Tony Forshey places the number between 50 and 60. The importation of diseased dogs without health clearances violated several sections of the Ohio Revised Code. Coleman was unlucky to have dogs exposed to brucellosis, but critics believe he was lucky to have broken companion animal laws in Ohio. "The only enforcement action taken was the quarantine," Henry said.