Ok, I have refrained from posting my opinion till now. Here is my stance on the subject. I do believe that there are people out there that either get overwhelmed do to an outside factor and need someone to step in or are hoarding (another example of needing help) or are just irresponsible and should not have animals to begin with. I agree that the animals in those situations do need help.
However, just reading the article doesn't make me believe that's what's going on. There seem to be many missing facts and evidence. I'm sorry, but the way the media loves to show off "deplorable" conditions in situations like this it surprises me that there aren't more photos of the conditions. The media is notorious for slanting the facts one direction or another. That is not to say that something may not have been right at this person's residence but it seems a little suspicious that there's a new hotline and the very first call is for this? The media also likes to throw around the word "hoarder" whenever a large number of animals is involved. That is simply not accurate all the time. Breeders frequently have large numbers of animals at one time.
As to the dead rabbits, not only did they not give a specific number but they neglected to say if they were adults or kits which makes a huge difference as rabbits are known to loose kits. There was mention at one point that she had culls in her freezer going to a zoo I believe and it is entirely possible those are the dead rabbits they were referring to.
There also seem to be a few people who are bothered by the lack of a breeder's license. While that is worrisome that she did not follow the rules, her website states that she has been breeding rabbits since 1982. That is a long enough time that it is entirely possible the laws changed after she had been breeding for a while. She may not have known the law changed or because her business started before the law was written, she may have been grandfathered in and wasn't required to have one. We simply do not know.
I believe what Redeyre was intending when she started this thread was to make people aware of situations like this. She is a responsible breeder of some amazing dogs and I can see how something like this would be very scary for her. People get confused about what it takes to develop a specific line of any kind of animal so having large numbers sometimes looks like a red flag.
For those of you that don't understand why anyone is defending this woman, please remain open-minded to the fact that the media excels at sensationalism and half-truth reporting. Also, a lot of people seem to be nit-picking her housing/watering setup. As with any animal, there are a lot of opinions as to how said animal should be kept. Many horse/barn owners have to post disclaimers like "my barn, my rules" because if they don't, they will hear about it from everywhere how they are doing such and such wrong and need to change. The same is true for any breeding situation. Without seeing detailed pictures of her setup, everyone is just speculating as to what is going on. Debiraymond knows her through a friend but that's the closest anyone is for getting any additional information - this woman is not able to defend herself here so please try to remain impartial until more information/facts are available.
However, just reading the article doesn't make me believe that's what's going on. There seem to be many missing facts and evidence. I'm sorry, but the way the media loves to show off "deplorable" conditions in situations like this it surprises me that there aren't more photos of the conditions. The media is notorious for slanting the facts one direction or another. That is not to say that something may not have been right at this person's residence but it seems a little suspicious that there's a new hotline and the very first call is for this? The media also likes to throw around the word "hoarder" whenever a large number of animals is involved. That is simply not accurate all the time. Breeders frequently have large numbers of animals at one time.
As to the dead rabbits, not only did they not give a specific number but they neglected to say if they were adults or kits which makes a huge difference as rabbits are known to loose kits. There was mention at one point that she had culls in her freezer going to a zoo I believe and it is entirely possible those are the dead rabbits they were referring to.
There also seem to be a few people who are bothered by the lack of a breeder's license. While that is worrisome that she did not follow the rules, her website states that she has been breeding rabbits since 1982. That is a long enough time that it is entirely possible the laws changed after she had been breeding for a while. She may not have known the law changed or because her business started before the law was written, she may have been grandfathered in and wasn't required to have one. We simply do not know.
I believe what Redeyre was intending when she started this thread was to make people aware of situations like this. She is a responsible breeder of some amazing dogs and I can see how something like this would be very scary for her. People get confused about what it takes to develop a specific line of any kind of animal so having large numbers sometimes looks like a red flag.
For those of you that don't understand why anyone is defending this woman, please remain open-minded to the fact that the media excels at sensationalism and half-truth reporting. Also, a lot of people seem to be nit-picking her housing/watering setup. As with any animal, there are a lot of opinions as to how said animal should be kept. Many horse/barn owners have to post disclaimers like "my barn, my rules" because if they don't, they will hear about it from everywhere how they are doing such and such wrong and need to change. The same is true for any breeding situation. Without seeing detailed pictures of her setup, everyone is just speculating as to what is going on. Debiraymond knows her through a friend but that's the closest anyone is for getting any additional information - this woman is not able to defend herself here so please try to remain impartial until more information/facts are available.
