Schnauzer Land breeder charged with animal cruelty

TENNESSEE -- The Washington County/Johnson City Animal Shelter is so full officers could not take custody of 35 dogs found living in filthy conditions at a local breeding business.

Barbara Perry Christian, 55, 166 Buttermilk Road, Gray, was issued 70 citations — 35 for animal cruelty and 35 for not having up to date rabies shots for her adult dogs — last week.  

In the video, Christian says: "They're not in the best
conditions... but they could be living in a lot worse"

The investigation began after Animal Control received an anonymous tip about the problems at Christian’s breeding business, Barbara’s Breeding Palace.

[You can find complaints about Barbara’s Breeding Palace online.]

Christian also operates under the business name Schnauzer Land.

Inside the kennel they found 35 adult dogs and 35 puppies, Animal Control Officer Andrew Barnett said.

According to Barnett, they cited the owner with 35 counts of cruelty to animals and 35 counts of failure to keep the dogs' rabies shots updated.

"It is the law and I'm guilty," Christian said. "I'm guilty of some neglect in cleanliness, yes I am."

The adorable puppies shown on for sale pages are
rarely representative of the the conditons that the
adults are forced to live in.

Schnauzer Land's owner says this is not something that happened overnight. In May, Christian says she suffered a traumatic injury and has remained sick ever since. She says the conditions of her kennel have suffered because of that.

"My dogs are not living in the best conditions they could be living in," Christian admitted. "They could be living in worse, but I've been sick all year since May. I've had a traumatic wound since May. I didn't have help. I did it by myself and God provided me help a month ago and it was worse a month ago than it is now. I love my dogs. That's my life. That's the only thing in my life I have left."

[Maybe God was telling her that He wanted her to stop what she was doing. Thirty-five puppies and thirty-five adult dogs... It is ridiculous to think that these dogs are being brushed, groomed, played with, taken on walks, having balls thrown for them to chase, being provided with needed medical care, that all of those kennels are cleaned, scrubbed and disinfected daily, that their water bowls are cleaned, that old food is picked up and disposed of, etc. The adults are breeding machines and the puppies are dollar signs.]

For now, she still has those dogs. Animal control officers did not take them away. Still, they did cite her into court. She is due to appear before a judge on December 13th.

"They are being fed, I give her that," Barnett said. "It is understandable there are things that can happen to people, but our first thought is to the animals. Regardless of how bad we feel, any injuries or anything like that, the animals still have to come first."

Christian is no stranger to Debbie Dobbs, director of the animal shelter.

“We’ve dealt with her in the past,” Dobbs said.

According to a court document filed by Animal Control Officer Andrew Barnett, he inspected Christian’s kennels on Saturday and discovered “there was no rabies shots for at least 35 of the animals 6 months and above. The premises was lacking general maintenance and upkeep of the kennels.”

Officers stated that the dogs were surrounded by a combination of feces and urine throughout the kennels.
 

Christian is scheduled for a court hearing Dec. 13 in Washington County Sessions Court.

Anyone with information about suspected animal abuse or animal cruelty can report it to the animal shelter at 926-8769.

(Johnson City Press - Dec 7, 2012)
(News Channel 11 - Dec 5, 2012)

After attack, city to look at rules for dogs

ILLINOIS -- Aldermen may revisit tougher rules for dangerous pit bulls and their owners after a recent attack on Bloomington’s west side.

Kelly Uszcienski says a still-unidentified pit bull attacked her Giant Schnauzer, Cameron, near Livingston and Graham streets while they were on a walk May 1. She says she feared for her own safety before a neighbor stopped the attack.

“I’ve never seen a dog come running so fast. There was nothing I could do. I was just paralyzed,” Uszcienski said. “I really feel like Cameron took the brunt of it for me. He protected me. Otherwise, it could’ve been me (that was injured).”

Cameron’s leg was injured, but he survived. Kelly’s husband, Bernie Uszcienski, reached out to aldermen in an email, and the Bloomington City Council on Monday night asked city staff to report back in the coming weeks on how common dog attacks are, and whether ordinance changes are needed.

The council looked at breed-specific ordinances – for pit bulls – back in 2006. Owners of pit bulls objected, arguing that such a law punishes the dog rather than the irresponsible owner. Instead, aldermen passed an ordinance requiring all dogs to be registered with the county, and giving Bloomington police the authority to seize any dog which did not display dog tags.

Police say the pit bull in the May 1 attack has never been found. That incident happened in Alderman Steven Purcell’s Ward 7.

Purcell was first to raise the issue Monday night. He said he wants the city to examine how many attacks there have been in recent years, in which neighborhoods are they occurring most often, and whether police have any leads on potential dog-fighting operations. But he stressed that a pit bull ban was not imminent.

“I don’t want to get people all worked up and saying, ‘Well, they’re gonna ban the dogs,’” Purcell said. “Well, let’s look at all the data. Let’s look at what we can do, and what we have. What we put in (place) in 2006 – is it working?”

Bernie Uszcienski said it’s time for the city to consider stiffer penalties for vicious dog owners. He said he’s observed more pit bulls – and more of them controlled by irresponsible owners – in his neighborhood and citywide.

“I feel bad for the ones that are certainly responsible owners,” Uszcienski said. “But in my opinion, they are certainly far in the minority.”

Ward 6 Karen Schmidt said she wants to know if the 2006 change has made a difference, and what the impact has been in other communities that have banned pit bulls, such as Denver. (That ban was upheld in court, city officials say.)

When it comes to dangerous dogs, “we do need to be responsible about this,” she said.

“Is there anything else we should be doing to prevent this in the future?” Schmidt said.

No police data was immediately available Monday on the number of animal bite reports in recent years, or the number of dogs seized or owners fined since 2006.

(WJBC - May 15, 2012)