HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. — Nothing seemed out of the ordinary outside the house on Barrett Street in Havre de Grace, but inside the home, deputies discovered dogs crammed together in filthy cages suffering for lack of water and proper care.
“The floors and walls were caked in filth and waste,” said Ariel Lefkovits, part of the initial rescue team, “So many of the dogs have matting, have severe dental disease. Some of them are severely emaciated.”
Watch as the investigators describe the conditions inside the house
With the county’s shelter already full, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office notified the Humane World for Animals, formerly known as the Humane Society of the United States, to help rescue the terriers.
“We had to turn to an outside organization here in order to bring in a team,” said Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, “They brought in 30, I believe it was 30 people, three vets included to go through the house and ultimately, what we thought were 70 or 80 dogs in the house was 111.”
It appears the breeding operation has been in business for years without incident, advertising the puppies’ parents that are titled through the American Kennel Club.
Although a criminal investigation is ongoing into obvious neglect of the animals on a large-scale, this didn’t appear to be the sort of fly-by-night puppy mill simply looking for a quick buck at the dogs’ expense.
“77-year-old woman at one time did the breeding and it’s obvious the whole operation got away from her,” said Gahler.
The rescue team has taken the animals to an undisclosed location to treat them and nurse them back to health, but they caution people seeking to buy pets on the internet to take a closer look to make sure they get what they’re paying for.
“lt is so important when you’re looking for a puppy to see for your own eyes where the puppy and the parents are coming from,” said Lefkovits, “See that environment with your own eyes, because AKC paperwork or the cute advertisements you may be sent are really not the full picture.”
