Current and past mill campaigns
Submitted by shelley on Fri, 2012-04-27 09:43
Submitted by shelley on Fri, 2011-12-30 20:15
The USDA has released a relatively complete set of inspections for Rabbit Ridge including the missing August 2nd inspection, as well as newer ones at the end of November. However, they did remove the inspection for November 29, but not before I got a copy (pages two, three, four, and five).
Though the inspections state that the USDA APHIS inspector was accompanied by a VMO, which I believe is a representative from the Missouri Department of Agriculture, the MDA shows no new inspections since August, 2011.
From the August 2 inspection:
Submitted by shelley on Tue, 2011-09-13 16:55
I'm preparing an article related to Lolli Brothers Animal Auction. This organization supposedly sells exotic animals for captive hunts, and other atrocious uses.
This organization has not been inspected since 2009. I'm trying to find out more information about this organization, and why it has not been inspected in almost two years. In that same amount of time, Southwest Auction, which also auctions animals in Missouri, has been inspected four times.
I'm also trying to verify whether Judi Riordan-Lolli, a Field Inspector for the MDA's Animal Care Facilities Act Program, is related to one of the owners of Lolli Brothers Animal Auction.
If you have any information, please email me.
Submitted by shelley on Thu, 2011-09-08 16:06
I just received the recent inspections for Rabbit Ridge from the Missouri Department of Agriculture. This joins with the recent USDA inspections.
As you can see, the MDA has had to do three inspections since April. The MDA also found problems at Rabbit Ridge—some very significant, such as dog with mats, hair loss, and wounds on his feet.
I still don't have the August 2nd inspection from the USDA. In fact, the USDA pulled the August 15/16 inspections from the APHIS database, though I have a copy linked in my Sept 3 Rabbit Ridge writing.
One thing I like about the MDA reports: they provide the count of adult dogs and puppies. According to the inspection in June, Schrage has 204 adult dogs, 72 puppies, for a total of 276 dogs.
Submitted by shelley on Sat, 2011-09-03 08:22
Updated
It's been some time since we checked into our first Kennel Campaign kennel, Rabbit Ridge. Too long, it seems.
An August 4th inspection in the USDA APHIS database provides the following rather alarming information (complete inspection report):
There is a hutch style enclosure on the east side of the facility that did not have sufficient shade provided during the day light hours. The location of the enclosure is such that during the late afternoon and early evening hours there is no shade provided for the dog. Dogs that do not have sufficient shade could suffer from heat stress. Dogs must be provided with sufficient shade during the daylight hours for their health and well being at all times.
Licensee fixed at time of inspection.
This is a repeat non compliant item.
Submitted by shelley on Thu, 2011-08-18 11:32
Attorney General Koster has come out with a look how much we care about the doggies site, which is basically a load of bilge water.
Two breeders have been closed down. Two. And both breeders were allowed to hold on to their dogs until resolution of their cases, and one is even allowed to breed dogs again in six years.
I don't really care about the political party of all the people involved, because both Democrats and Republicans have tried to help the dogs, and both Democrats and Republicans have done a lot of damage to the cause of animal welfare in this state. What I do care about is truth, which is sometimes hard to see when politicians use so much smoke, and so many mirrors.
Submitted by shelley on Thu, 2011-06-16 09:56
According to Case.net, the case against Shirley Gilbert for violations of the Animal Welfare Act has been extended to June 24th. This means that the dogs continue in Gilbert's custody for at least another two weeks.
Oh, yeah, this filing a restraining order as a way of ensuring care for dogs in licensed and unlicensed facilities is really working out. I'm sure the dogs in appalling conditions are thrilled that the wheels of justice regarding their welfare are spinning slowly.
Governor Nixon had a dog and dog show at the Humane Society of Missouri this week about the "Missouri Solution". I'll have more on this next week, as well as kicking off an entirely new and expanded set of Kennel Campaigns.
Submitted by shelley on Fri, 2011-05-20 13:37
A fellow Missourian, Taunia Adams, emailed Senator Munzlinger, the state Senator for the Rabbit Ridge kennel district, about the kennel. Following in his response to her:
You are right in assuming that I do not advocate for animal cruelty. I read this blog post and did some investigating. I spoke with the Director's office at the Department of Agriculture (MDA) and they performed an on-site investigation on May 12 at the Rabbit Ridge Kennel. According to the MDA, there was one very minor violation. Other than that, everything was in order. The blog post cites previous USDA inspections. I'm sure you're aware that the Federal government is out of my jurisdiction and I'm not an expert on their inspection standards or punitive policies.
Submitted by shelley on Sat, 2011-05-14 08:50
I received a copy of recent Missouri Department of Agriculture inspection activity for Rabbit Ridge Kennels.
To put everything in perspective, I created a timeline of inspection/violation that overlaps between the USDA/APHIS inspections and the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) inspections. Sorry for the length of the writing: there are so many violations. Note that I didn't have access to inspection reports before the USDA 2008 and MDA 2009 reports, except the one dated 2003.
October 14, 2003: USDA inspectors noted one sick dog, as well as issues with excessive accumulations of waste, all around the hutches containing the dogs.
Submitted by shelley on Sun, 2011-05-08 14:31
The USDA inspected the Rabbit Ridge Kennel, owned by Donald Schrage, April 5th.
Rabbit Ridge was featured in HSUS's Dirty Dozen. This kennel is a repeat offender, and has been a repeat offender since at least 2003. The April 5th inspection was a focus inspection, based on violations noted by the USDA inspector in March. The March inspection was a focus inspection, based on violations the inspector noted in November 29, 2010. The November inspection was a focus inspection, based on violations the inspector noted November 16, 2010, and so on. This one breeder has been inspected by the USDA nine times since January 1, 2010. The breeder repeatedly fails inspections, with items such as the following:
