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Morrison County Puppy Mill Legal Fight Update

June 28, 2006, 12:0AM MT

By Mike Fry

by Mike Fry, Executive Director of Animal Ark
Since the last update on the Morrison County Puppy Mill case, quite a lot has happened, most notably, the USDA has granted Gary McDuffee, (a.k.a "Waggin Tails Kennel" at 1805 Riverview Drive in Little Falls, Minnesota) a license to begin selling puppies at his facility.

At the same time, the legal fight has moved forward, with papers having been filed with two courts relating to this puppy mill.

In one case, the court is being asked to revoke the conditional land-use permit (CUP) granted to McDuffee on the following grounds:

* The county may have violated state law by waving the need for an environmental assessment before the permit was granted. McDuffee's property is adjacent to a wetland area that could be effected by urine and manure run-off into the wetland. Additionally, since McDuffee plans to spread manure from his facility on nearby tillable land, a potential exists to contaminate the area with organisms known to cause disease in wildlife and/or people.

* The County Commissioner's decision to grant the CUP was arbitrary and capricious. Attorneys working on the case point to the fact that a written condition of the CUP includes the mandatory debarking of dogs that may be housed outdoors. However, following an outcry from people from around Minnesota, the commissioner's sent McDuffee a letter asking him to NOT debark the dogs. Legal documents indicate that the letter sent to McDuffee by the Commissioners is not a legally enforceable document. However, the CUP is. Therefore, the existing CUP appears to be out of synch with the Commissioner's desires. There is also a great deal of controversy about whether or not it is even possible to maintain the permitted number of animals on the property, and still comply with state animal welfare laws.

* Commissioners have indicated that when applying for the permit, McDuffee indicated he had never had a complaint against his former breeding facility, an 800-dog puppy mill in the same area. USDA documents were then uncovered by the Star Tribune which outlined a 5-year history at McDuffee's facility for being out of compliance with minimum standards. Failure to disclose past violations, or possibly lying about them, provides sufficient justification for revoking the CUP, it is believed.

McDuffe and Morrison County have retained their own attorneys. So the battle is likely to brew for a while. Legal fees on behalf of those working to close the puppy mill have already exceeded $65,000. And more will be needed. We need your. Please support the efforts to close this puppy mill! You can do this by visiting http://www.animalarkshelter.org.

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