Are you next?

[punk-a-doodle]

Yep, but I don't know if she works a full-time job (yet another thing I haven't seen mentioned in the media coverage), and honestly, as a part-time worker, I could more than easily handle 200 animals by my lonesome if I wanted to use my time for just that (at this point, I don't). Especially in a well designed system, or even just a semi-okay caging system. I'm sure some of my friends who are faster than me could do so on top of a full-time job. And yup, caged animals. Drop pans makes doing so fairly easy. When I clean cages, I have to switch out the entire cage and add several items in and follow very, very specific protocols for doing so.

Drop racks are a breeze, but none of my rooms have them.

whether you think half of all the members of BYC knew her or not

The comments mentioned were actually on the article offsite from BYC, a local newspaper article in the original post. People from the community the breeder is from most likely commented. Again, feel free to read them skeptically, but yes, I can completely see the value of at least reading them. Not going to force anyone to do so, but glad the OP mentioned they were there.

EVERY time some fool overwhelms themselves with too many animals to properly care for every one of them adequatly, it creates BS laws and regulations that get strapped to the rest of our butts forcing us to abide by more rules than we already have to adhere to because one jerk couldn't be responsible and keep only the number of animals that they could adequately care for!

The issue being discussed is not whether bad breeders should be held accountable, but if this is in fact the case here. The reporting on this story has been more than lacking. That's putting it politely. I would actually call it an insult to viewers, but that's just me.​

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Sums up my view of the majority of news reporting. The few times in my life I've had first hand knowledge of something that was reported on, there have been, shall we say, obvious gaps between actual events and what was reported. Never was a story fully accurate.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

es

 

[dainerra]

Quote:
I would almost agree with what you are saying. BUT.. Do you sit around your chicken coop with a bottle of water, just waiting to offer a drink? Do you follow behind them with a pooper scooper, picking up any poop as soon as it hits the ground? Probably not. So, in reality, you are deciding when to check their water supply and when to clean their bedding.

OF COURSE there are people who shouldn't own animals. Who don't clean their bedding on a regular basis. Who don't provide food and water. That is against the law and, though the Animal Control system isn't perfect, they are what we have. Your neighbor abuses his dog? Call the local shelter/animal group. They will get something done.
We had a case here a few years ago. The Humane Society came sure. They were giving interviews, collecting donations to help the animals, the whole nine yards. Then they went home. The dogs, the work, the adoption process? All that was done by a few local groups and volunteers. Of course, all the money was donated to the Humane Society, so that went with them when they left town.

I don't know names, and I'm too lazy to look, but there was a pitbull breeder. He had been breeding and developing his bloodline his entire life. Beautiful dogs, excellent temperament. Someone accused him of dogfighting so he was arrested and his dogs confiscated. The media was everywhere. "Dogs with scars!!" "Litters and litters of puppies" "Dogfighter Busted!!"
On all counts, the charges were dropped. Unfortunately, being pitbulls, his dogs were euthanized. Oops. Our bad..

So, yes, I do sometimes wonder about being "next" I only have 2 dogs and a handful of chickens. But, there are too many groups out there that would rather our pets be dead than living with us.

 

[sourland]

What are our options if some similar group shows up in our back yard? I would call our local police force- I know them, and they know me- 46 years in this home. What right do they have to sieze animals? I would identify each animal and put a $ value on them and indicate that this value diminishes to $0 if they are spayed or neutered (talking dogs here.) I know a person who was given the responsibility of dispersing a breeder's entire kennel upon the owners demise. He was doing his best to place these quality field champion females when a group came in and seized all of them except for 2 that were in the house. By the time a 'rescue' movement was initiated by those of us in the sport, all had been spayed. It amounted to the loss of an entire family of producers and performers. As owners what should we do to protect the animals that we may have spent a lifetime developing? Very evidently unjustified seizures do take place.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

dainerra wrote:
I would almost agree with what you are saying. BUT.. Do you sit around your chicken coop with a bottle of water, just waiting to offer a drink? Do you follow behind them with a pooper scooper, picking up any poop((quote))
My chickens have access to multiple water containers, 2 large and 3 small. all 5 are the typical chicken water systems that you fill the container, screw on the bottoms and then flip over the whole container. I have 5 water systems for 13 pullets and 2 barn cats. I do not 'sit around' in my coop, I unlock the barn and prop the door open for free ranging in the morning and check the main large water systems and recheck in the evening at lock in time. AGAIN, my animals are NOT living in tight cages where they are sitting in their own excrement so naturally the manure is cleaned out of the shavings during the weekends and no one can say I force my animals to live in excrement. Even my 2 barn cats have a litter box at each end of the barn, one of average size and the other very large. Chicken feed stays nice and clean since the addition of the 2 cats cleaning the barn of rats that used to be a problem. Anything else I can answer? Does this sound like I may be missing something? I welcome any organization to come and check out the entire premises, I've never had a complaint from any neighbor and the lot is very long and skinny which gives me 5 neighbors rather than the typical 3 that normal lots have.

 

[chels23]

I have mixed feeling about this story. I think more information should have been provided and it's hard to judge when you can't see any proof. To me the rabbits they show look healthy. They appear to be clean and their eyes look clear and aren't showing any signs of being sick. Also 84 degrees is warm, but it's is by no means unbearable. As far as the cages having poop under them um they are rabbits and they poop a lot. Now if the rabbits are running around in the poop and they have no place to sit without being on the poop then that's different. They said that their were a "handful" of dead ones which is proof that conditions weren't ideal and the lady maybe was overwhelmed with over 200 rabbits. At the same time though they didn't say if they were babies or if they knew how they died. For all we know they could have been newborns that the mother rabbit killed. It's hard to know without being there.
Was the lady warned about the conditions before her rabbits were taken or did they just show up while she was at work and take them? What about the other animals the report said she had? Were they in bad shape? I think this is just a case of people wanting to show that they have this new program for a reason and they jumped the gun.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Most posters seem to be assuming all the problems were made up and that the authorities were wrong. Furthermore, if there was anything really bad about the animals in the article, it had to have been made up, and if there was anything good about the care, that part of the article has to be true.

That's a lot of assumptions.

Long hair rabbits in 84 degree temperatures? Feces filled cages? Swamp coolers cause excessive humidity and unhealthy conditions for animals - as prone to upper respiratory infections as rabbits are, I wouldn't keep them around a swamp cooler. And it's still 84 degrees?

Why is it ok to keep rabbits that way?

My friend who has long haired rabbits works very hard to keep their area cool(they have an air conditioner for their rabbits, and it is not excessively humid - it's really nice) and to keep their cages clean and not just clean the cages, but manure and urine not accumulating to depths under their cages, which is just as bad for the air they breathe as if it's in their cage.

We got a rabbit from a place where the rabbits were out in the heat and there was lots of manure and urine collecting under their cages - and it died. We spent several thousand dollars on veterinary care, and it still died.

And if a town or city has an ordinance against keeping 200 animals, or you have to get a breeder's license, then get the breeder's license, or risk being shut down. People have to follow the laws of the land.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

Dear Welsummerchicks. Thank you for restoring my sanity and my faith in that there ARE people out there with genuine concern for animal's well-being. I think I love you! LOL PS when I read your name I was thinking "Welsummer" they HAVE to be good! I still read your post with one eye open, just in case, and was so relieved!

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I like air conditioning.

Though, I did not see many comments at all on this topic about having something against AC. Most I've seen commenting on the topic on various boards who are skeptical of this whole situation are questioning how things were handled (by all the groups involved, which expanded past AC) and would simply like hard evidence. Most, including myself, find AC to be a valuable resource in promoting animal welfare. More seemed concerned that they apparently took direction from AR leaning groups on this one. Ultimately, AR groups (as opposed to welfare) actually are not down with you having chickens, well-kept though they may be. Especially if you eat eggs from them.

PS. We can talk about AR in general terms, right? Just not specific groups? Or do I have that wrong?