Now, businesses - big name pet stores - are under the microscope due to reports of adoption clinic involving a woman's unlicensed organization. That woman is Shirley Lafferty.
KCTV5 got a look Monday at the sad condition of the dogs seized from her "rescue group." The dogs don't show it, but Wayside Waifs said they all had skin conditions.
Many of them were still in quarantine, and one of them, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office said had to be put down due to what a spokeswoman called "untreated medical concerns."
Shirely Lafferty, 55, is now in jail on a $46,000 cash-only bond.
County charges, similar to a municipal charges, but in an unincorporated area, were filed Monday connected to health and nuisance violations as well as 16 counts of animal cruelty.
Jackson County Sheriff's deputies seized 17 dogs from Lafferty's home in Blue Summit, near Interstate 435 and Truman Road on Thursday, along with some cats and turtles and condemned the place.
Neighbors say she seemed to truly love the dogs, but just took in too many and got in over her head.
The sheriff's office says Lafferty ran Black Dog Rescue, sometimes called Last Chance Black Dog Rescue, and fraudulently claimed it was a licensed rescue.
A sheriff's spokeswoman says the office has received multiple complaints about adoptions run by her group at "several large chain businesses."
KCTV5 found her name on listings for Black Dog Rescue on two internet adoption sites.
One clearly claims the group is licensed and advertises adoptions every Saturday at the Belton PetSmart. KCTV5 called that PetSmart and were told they were not doing adoptions there anymore.
As for the dogs, they won't be available for adoption until the court case against Lafferty is resolved, or she surrenders them voluntarily.
KCTV5 has also received complaints from viewers about many more dogs associated with Lafferty's rescue efforts in at least two other, more rural, locations that have been reported to the appropriate authorities.
The licensing issue is why the Missouri Department of Agriculture's Animal Welfare Division was involved.
Rescues have to go through inspections dealing with health and sanitation before getting a license, and retail business locations have to check for and display those licenses when doing adoptions.
And there could be more enforcement to come on that end as well.
(KCTV - Mar 27, 2012)
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