Rabu, 22 Januari 2014

Accused of running puppy mill, Fanning Springs residents dispute charges


Two people accused of running a puppy mill out of their Fanning Springs home said Wednesday that the allegations made by the Levy County Sheriff's Office are false.


The Levy County residents are facing multiple charges of animal cruelty and animal neglect after deputies say they found 60 dogs in the home living in 'inhumane conditions,' Levy County Sheriff's Office Lt. Scott Tummond said.


Levy County Animal Services received a tip from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that people at the home were breeding dogs for the purpose of resale and selling them on the website Craigslist. Animal Services requested help from deputies, and when deputies arrived, they were overpowered by the smell of ammonia from urine and feces found in the house, Tummond said.


Deputies said the home's residents, Susan Stocum, 73, and William Rice, 49, told them they were adopting out the dogs for a $75 fee in various surrounding counties. None of the animals had veterinary documents, Tummond said.


Animal Services seized the dogs and moved them to a facility where they are being treated medically and held as evidence. Stocum and Rice were charged with multiple felony counts of animal cruelty, Tummond said.


Stocum on Wednesday said she, her daughter, Kathy Thomas, and roommate, William Rice, were taken by surprise when deputies showed up to their home in the 7000 block of Northwest 165th Street and took their dogs. Thomas is not facing charges in the case.


Stocum said the home was not, as deputies allege, a puppy mill but a loving home where many of their longtime pets had just had litters at the same time.


'These are my babies,' she said. 'That man said we were abusing these dogs, and that's not true. Our babies were not in little cages.'


Thomas said people have been posting death threats against them online on Craigslist. She also added that the dogs were not being abused and were treated well.


'They slept in our beds, in our arms,' she said, her voice breaking. 'I'm really broken-hearted about this. These are my children. They didn't even take their names or ask about their personalities when they took them.'


Stocum's next-door neighbor Robert Missel said he and other neighbors have complained in the past to deputies about Stocum's dogs barking. Missel, who has lived next to Stocum since 2006, said the dogs bark for about 75 percent of the day.


'It's so quiet now,' he said. 'It's very weird because the noise is gone.'


Stocum's home had a sign by the mailbox that said 'Pups for Sale,' but someone took it down when Missel began complaining about the noise to the Levy County Sheriff's Office in 2007, he said. Missel said someone from the house gave his visiting ex-wife a card advertising for a business named 'Pups with Love' that sold dogs.


According to Levy County court records, Stocum was found guilty of a misdemeanor in 2002 for failing as a pet dealer to give a buyer information about a sold pet's health condition before the exchange.


Adam Leath, Southeast regional director of the ASPCA, said that although it's common for the Internet to be used to sell animals, people must do their research before they buy a pet online.


'Do your homework,' he said. 'Many times, people selling online say they've taken the animals to a veterinarian and they haven't. It is required for anyone selling an animal to provide an official certificate of veterinary inspection, often known as a health certificate, to the buyer. If you don't provide it, you can actually be charged with a misdemeanor.'


Leath also advised not to purchase puppies from pet stores because the animals are acquired frequently through puppy mills. Instead, people should try to adopt from an animal shelter, where pets have been seen by a veterinarian, he said.


Stocum and Rice, who are not currently incarcerated, can face up to five years in prison if they are found guilty of animal cruelty by the State Attorney's Office, Tummond said.


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