Acting on a tip, animal control went to a sled-dog breeding facility in Colorado.  There they found approximately 100 starving huskies and husky-mixes.  Eight were already dead. 

Mary Steinbeiser, regional shelter manager, said that on a weight scale of zero to 10 with zero being dead and 10 being obese, these dogs were probably about a one.

“It looked like no one had been there to feed and water them for quite some time,” Steinbeiser said. “The conditions were horrible. They found empty dog food bags with bodies in them.”

The worst part is that this was not the first time animal control had been called to this facility.

Animal control officers said they had been called to the property before and records show that the owners were issued “notices of warning” by the state on cruelty to animal violations in 2004 and 2006.

To read the entire article, click here.

Breeder Sheri Thompson has been charged with two felony counts of cruel treatment to animals and five misdemeanor counts of violation of owner’s duties and operating a kennel without a license.  On Oct 16, two adult dogs, a Labrador Retriever and a pregnant Siberian Husky, and four Lab puppies – one deceased – were discovered at Thompson’s 10-acre property without adequate food, water or shelter.

According to the forfeiture petition by Lee County prosecutors:

“Two puppies were found in a wire metal cage that was propped off the ground by cement blocks.  There was not any food or water in the cage.  The third [living] puppy was found in a pull-trailer with two small holes on the door.  There was not any food or water in the trailer.  The Husky was in a metal fenced kennel and was pregnant.  The kennel did not have a clean water supply nor appropriate bedding.  The cage had feces throughout.  The Husky gave birth to [seven] Husky puppies on October 31, 2009.  The animals were seized by members of the Lee County Animal Control and the Lee County Sheriff’s Department.”

The dogs and puppies are all doing well in the care of the Lee County Animal Shelter.

It’s no surprise the article also mentions that Thomson previously pled guilty to two counts of animal cruelty and operating a kennel without a license in 2006 and was given a year’s probation. 

“Several months later, the American Kennel Club suspended Thompson’s privileges for 10 years and imposed a $2,000 fine.

Nearly a decade before that, the AKC banned Thompson from breeding cocker spaniels and collies for 10 years after she refused to allow an inspection of her records and practices.”