| Author | Post |
|---|
horselover
Member
| Joined: | Wed Oct 1st, 2008 |
| Location: | Okee, Florida USA |
| Posts: | 508 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sat May 23rd, 2009 06:11 am |
|
Officials' hands tied on hobby dog breeder By JENNIFER SORENTRUE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Monday, February 04, 2008
On a farm west of Boca Raton at the edge of the national wildlife refuge, the Centurion dogs are busy breeding.
Their puppies could be the next designer mixed-breed pet — like the popular Labradoodle, a cross between a Labrador retriever and a poodle, which fetches top dollar at pet stores.
Breeders such as James Marinakis add to Palm Beach County's pet overpopulation, animal control officers say, and would be targeted under regulations being weighed Tuesday.
In developing a hybrid, James Marinakis has kept dozens of dogs in poor conditions, animal control officials say.
The dogs' owner, James Marinakis, calls them hybrids. Palm Beach County officials say he's trying to get the mastiff–Shar-Pei mix recognized as its own breed by the American Kennel Club.
In the process, Animal Care and Control Director Dianne Sauve said, he's creating dogs with severe medical problems and not providing veterinary care, and he keeps them in makeshift cages that do not protect them from the Florida heat and rain.
Despite years of complaints, an animal cruelty charge and a stack of citations, rules have prevented Sauve from removing many of the animals from the property, she says.
Marinakis, 57, cannot be forced to get a commercial breeder license, which would require him to follow more stringent regulations, because he says he does not sell the pets. Under county rules, there are no regulations on hobby or backyard breeders.
He has told animal control officers that he gives away dogs from his Centurion breed. Animal control officials have no proof that he doesn't.
Animal control officials say breeders like Marinakis are adding to the county's pet overpopulation problem. They would be among the first people animal control officials focus if county commissioners approve new regulations on all dog and cat breeders Tuesday.
The rules would require all breeders to get a permit, regardless of whether they give away or sell the animals. Hobby breeders would be forced to hand over names, telephone numbers and addresses of the people who get their puppies and kittens.
"It's cases like this that we see every single day in the normal course of our calls," said Sauve, the animal control director. "We can go out and we can address the fact that you have too many dogs in cages. But we can't address the issue of are you a breeder or are you not."
When animal control officials visited Marinakis' farm in September, they found more than 80 dogs. Many were underweight, with severe skin conditions and painful eye problems, and were limping from previous injuries, officials said.
The dogs were kept in cages scattered across the 24-acre property in male and female pairs, officials said.
Some were housed in a rusted livestock trailer with no roof. Others were in round wire pens with plywood placed on top for a roof. Puppies were kept in pens that were too small, a case report said.
Several female dogs had inflamed mammaries from overbreeding, officials said.
Some of Marinakis' 40 horses were also in bad shape, the report said.
One pregnant mare was so emaciated that Sauve tried to seize it immediately. Another had a large wound on its leg that was covered by insects and had been there for several weeks.
Animal control officials seized three dogs — the ones most in need of medical attention. Marinakis would not let them take a 19-year-old horse.
Marinakis and his wife, Ann, referred questions about their ongoing fight with animal control to their attorney, Jeff Brown. Brown, whose firm also represents the Tri-County Humane Society, did not return several calls for comment.
After a legal battle, Marinakis agreed last month to give 29 dogs to animal control. The majority were given medical treatment and proved friendly enough to put up for adoption.
But some were too sick to save, Sauve said. Several tested positive for heartworms.
As part of the settlement agreement, Marinakis was allowed to keep up to 55 dogs. In return, he agreed to let animal control officials inspect his property with as little as five hours' notice. And all of his outstanding citations were dismissed.
"We felt that it was best" to reach a settlement, Sauve said. "We knew that if the ordinance passed, we would be able to deal with this problem in a better way for the animals."
Under the regulations being considered by commissioners Tuesday, all breeders would be forced to follow more-stringent requirements.
Backyard and hobby breeders would be required to obtain a permit from the county and would be prevented from breeding their animals more than twice a year.
Sauve said Marinakis would not qualify for the hobby permit because of the long list of complaints filed against him and the number of animals being kept and bred on his property.
To get a commercial breeder's license from the county, he would have to make significant changes to the property and "prove that he can follow all of the requirements," Sauve said.
If he did not get the permit, county officials could force him to spay and neuter his animals, or possibly could remove them from the property under new rules being weighed by the commission.
The proposed regulations, intended to reduce the number of unwanted pets killed at the county's animal shelter, also would require all pet owners to sterilize their animals unless they sign an affidavit agreeing not to breed them. They would be required to pay for a more expensive "unaltered" tag.
Dog breeder and fancier groups, including the American Kennel Club, oppose the regulations. They say the rules punish responsible pet owners and will only encourage residents not to license their pets. In newspaper advertisements, several groups are urging residents to call and write commissioners in opposition.
The commission will hold a second and final public hearing on the regulations at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the county governmental center, 301 N. Olive Ave. in West Palm Beach.
Since 2001, animal control officials have visited Marinakis' farm west of Boca Raton more than a dozen times. Their file of paperwork in the cases is roughly 6 inches thick. They have issued many citations, including several for failing to license his dogs.
"Every time you go there, you find dogs in rough shape," said Shannon Fox, an assistant county attorney who worked with the animal control cases filed against Marinakis.
The problem, Fox says, is that many times the animals are not in dire need of medical attention and cannot be seized on the spot.
In 2004, animal control officials found a horse and a dog that were so bad off that they removed them from the farm immediately.
The mare, Mystic, was extremely underweight. The dog, Roxy, had a cantaloupe-sized tumor on a rear leg.
Marinakis eventually pleaded guilty to charges of animal cruelty and animal abandonment as a result of the seizures of the dog and the horse. He was ordered to pay $243 in court costs and $684 in restitution to animal control, and to complete 30 hours of community service.
Most recently, a complaint was called in by officials at Boca Greens Animal Hospital on Sept. 27.
Claude Richards, who works for Marinakis, brought in a gray-and-tan dog that needed medical attention. The dog's entire right eye was protruding from its socket.
The male dog was thin, with a skin condition. He had lost all fur around his muzzle, chest and legs.
When the animal hospital's supervisor reached Marinakis by cellphone, he refused to pay for the medical treatment. According to an animal control report, he told Richards by phone to "throw the dog somewhere."
Richards said last week that he could not comment about the incident without speaking to his employer.
"I don't know what is going on with the case," he said. "It would be better for me to decline right now."
Sauve said the year-old dog was in such pain that it had to be euthanized.
"It shows us how, in some of these situations, with some breeders, these animals are not viewed as living beings worthy of care and respect," Sauve said. "They are simply viewed as a property or commodity.
"Who knows how many of these situations are out there in Palm Beach County? We are on enough of them every day."
  
RDOWS
View Public Profile
Send a private message to RDOWS
Find all posts by RDOWS
Add RDOWS to Your Contacts
View Gallery Uploads
View RDOWS's Picture Album
#2 
 02-19-2008, 04:20 PM
|
Current time is 10:20 am | |
|
|
|