Fwd: UPDATE: MN Puppy Miller Kathy Bauck facing charges - again!

August 8, 2008

Dear Companion Pet Lovers ~

Please read this important update regarding Kathy Jo Bauck.

A special "thanks" to the investigative team at Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) - http://www.caps-web.org/3_22CAPS1997.php - for helping to bring this case to justice...

Mary O'Connor-Shaver

Cell: 614-271-8248

Columbus Top Dogs (Shure Pets)

http://www.columbustopdogs.com/

http://www.banohiodogauctions.com/

LEGISLATIVE ALERTS: Please visit our Home page for pending legislation impacting the welfare of OH animals - http://www.columbustopdogs.com/

I donate ALL profits from the sale of our premium products and accessories to local animal protection groups!

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Minnesota Kennel Owner Again Facing Charges

In Forum News - http://tinyurl.com/6kmd8y

August 7, 2008

A New York Mills, Minn., kennel operator faces nine charges for events that allegedly took place in April and May.

Kathy Jo Bauck, 52, who operates Pick of the Litter Inc. at 51402 410th St., is charged with five counts of animal cruelty, two counts of torture and two counts of practicing veterinary medicine without a license, Otter Tail County District Court documents show.

The charges came after a kennel worker approached authorities and said he saw several instances of animal cruelty at the kennel, County Attorney David Hauser said Wednesday.

The kennel worker, identified in court papers as Jason Smith of the Companion Animal Protection Society, complained to the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Department on May 13 and gave investigators video and audio footage he captured with a recorder. He also took photos and video footage of two instances with a cell phone, court papers say.

According to court papers:

New York Mills kennel operator Facing charges, including five counts of animal cruelty

- On April 22, Smith said he saw an injured female white American bulldog limping with wounds to both cheeks, with the left side being the worst. Smith said he was directed by Bauck to treat the dog’s left cheek with “Clorox water”

Smith obeyed and said the dog kept pulling away as he dabbed the solution on the wound. Smith said that by April 26, the dog’s cheek appeared to be infected and was bleeding again.

- On May 10, a pregnant English springer spaniel gave birth to a litter of nine puppies; two died at birth. Bauck told Smith she later treated the puppies’ mother with a shot of penicillin/genocin.

- On May 5, Smith said he found a pregnant bichon giving birth to puppies. One was already dead and another was hanging from its umbilical cord. Smith reported the births to Bauck. Smith said Bauck treated the mother with a shot of calcium sulfate to “aid contractions,” then reached inside the mother to pull a puppy out – without washing her hands.

- Bauck and two female kennel workers worked to pull more puppies out. The three women used surgical clamps to remove the puppies, which resulted in one puppy’s tail being torn off. Bauck continued to pull tufts of puppy fur from the mother until she allegedly tore the rear leg off the dead puppy. On May 9, the mother dog was found dead in her pen. Her hindquarters were still covered in afterbirth.

This is not the first time Bauck has been accused of these charges.

Bauck pleaded guilty on May 19 to one charge of practicing veterinary medicine without a license. As part of a plea deal, four similar charges and one animal cruelty charge were dismissed.

She served 10 days in jail with 110 days stayed, and was fined $900 and given two years of probation.

The state Board of Veterinary Medicine also took action against Bauck in October 2006. The board ordered Bauck, who has never held a veterinary license, to stop performing surgeries and vaccinating dogs or puppies.

The action was taken after the board determined that Bauck performed neutering, hernia repairs and ear crops on dogs she owned, according to the order signed by Dr. John King, the board’s executive director. MARY O'C-SHAVER'S NOTES: Here is the link to the MN Board of Veterinary Medicine - > http://www.vetmed.state.mn.us/Default.aspx?tabid3

King could not be reached for comment Wednesday. It’s unknown how the latest charges will affect Bauck’s probation.

Hauser doesn’t know if other kennel workers will face similar charges.

Several calls to the kennel and Bauck’s residence were not answered on Wednesday.

Bauck made an initial court appearance on the latest charges Monday, Hauser said. She is slated for a probation hearing Monday.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Benny Polacca at (701) 241-5504

Minnesota puppy mill owner facing charges

by Minnesota News Network, MNN

August 7, 2008

St. Paul, Minn. — An Otter Tail County woman is facing several animal cruelty and torture charges.

Kathy Bauck, 54, operates "Pick of the Litter" kennels, near New York Mills.

Minnesota Humane Society Director, Jill Fritz, says Bauck has a lengthy history of violations.

"She has been cited for inadequate record-keeping, animals with swollen limbs, missing skin, animal fighting with each other inside her facility, unsafe and unsanitary housing. You name it, she's been cited many times by the USDA," Fritz said.

Fritz says during a 2006 USDA inspection, Bauck had more than 1,300 dogs in her kennels.

New York Mills Dog Breeder Must Not Perform Surgeries

http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/articles/2006/11/21/news/news08.txt

Fergus Falls Journal, Fergus Falls, Minnesota

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

By Susan M.A. Larson

A New York Mills dog breeder has agreed to stop performing surgery on animals without a veterinary license.

Kathy Bauck, who owns and operates Pick of the Litter, Inc., was recently presented with a cease and desist order and notice of right to a hearing signed by John King, executive director of the Board of Veterinary Medicine. Bauck, who said she is complying with the order and does not intend to seek a hearing, is not licensed to practice veterinary medicine in the state. Her training is limited to assisting a veterinarian in surgery on several occasions.

The Board of Veterinary Medicine received a complaint against Bauck alleging she had performed surgical procedures on puppies and dogs she owned, as well as dogs she sold to others. Minnesota Statute section 156.12, subd. 2(d) does not prohibit “the owner of an animal from caring for and administering to the animal belonging to the owner.” That exception from veterinary licensure requirements does not to authorize an animal’s owner to perform surgical procedures on it, the order states.

Bauck does not deny performing the surgeries but insists she owned the animals.

“It used to be that you could perform surgeries on dogs if they were your own,” she said. “The state doesn’t read it that way anymore so I won’t do it anymore. I’ve complied 100 percent and I don’t have a problem with that ... I never did anything to intentionally hurt any of the animals.”

The order states the dogs involved were not hers, which Bauck says is not true.

“They were not sold, they were given away,” she said. “Because I still had the papers, I assumed I still owned them. The state got (the case) because I spayed a dog I was giving away. It got an infection and I paid the veterinarian bill. That’s the end of it.”

According to the order:

In 2002, spayed a female Papillon puppy she sold in December 2001. It continued to go into heat the following four years. In June 2006, the owners presented the dog to a veterinarian, who performed surgery on the dog and found uterine horns.

In 2002, she spayed a rat terrier at approximately 6 months old. The surgery site never properly healed, according to the order, and it died at about age 2.

Spayed a golden retriever puppy in 2003. The dog continued to go into heat in 2006 owners brought the animal to a vet who determined the dog had a serious infection at the site.

Upon performing exploratory surgery, the vet determined the dog still had a uterus and an ovary.

In the case of the Papillon and retriever, Bauck admits the dogs both ended up with infections, “But I took responsibility for both of those and I paid the vet bills.”

She denies the dogs were left with reproductive organs after the surgeries.

“That’s just impossible,” she said.

As for the rat terrier, she claims the dog died of poison, “Either rat poison or antifreeze.”

The order also said Bauck performed ear crops, tail dockings, cesareans, hernia repairs and dew claw removal on dogs or puppies she owned. Under this order, she will no longer be allowed to perform any of these procedures on her dogs or anyone else’s.

While her dog breeding business has not been closed, Bauck said she is in the process of selling it to her daughter. While she had been thinking for some time of retiring, this has prompted the decision.

Kathy Bauck Cease & Desist Order

MN Vet Medical Association

http://www.vetmed.state.mn.us/Default.aspx?tabid3