Dog trains man

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill Meltdown: 40 Hovawarts In Harms Way

The notorious Danish Hovawart puppy mill  "Hof-Joy", otherwise known as "kennel Hovawart", is now in serious trouble. Due to financial problems and health issues with one of the owners, the kennel couldn't keep up their appearances when they were visited by the Danish police in October last year.

The police found up to 40 Hovawarts in horrible conditions inside the property, and some were completely emaciated and in very bad shape. Their license to breed Hovawarts was revoked by the police and  the Danish animal welfare protection agency ("Dyrens Beskyttelse") was put on the case. The property is being foreclosed and the family moved to a rental property close by. Still, the Hovawarts remained in the abandoned property. Even today the family is still trying to sell their current litters. A contact informs: "there is a litter of 10 puppies, they are 14 weeks old. One of them was sold to a person who never owned a dog before and is an alcoholic".

A recent visit by the police showed the dogs were being fed, but still the circumstances were horrendous, and the police mentions in particular that "the stench of ammonia due to urine and feces was unbearable". The kennel has until February 1 to bring the number of dogs down to 10.

I wonder how in earth police and animal welfare organizations have not removed the dogs already, and even gives the kennel yet another chance to survive. They have been doing this since at least 2006. What more facts do we need to make this stop?

Anyhow, I wanted to have this quick message out to all you Hovawart lovers. Contact each other, contact your clubs, contact the Danish Hovawart Club, as we might expect that very soon the future of 40 Hovawarts is decided upon. Let's discuss with each other what we can do as I am afraid their fate doesn't look good. It is best to be prepared. They are probably in very poor condition and poorly socialized. There is a real risk police and animal welfare officers will euthanize them.

Maybe you remember Bamira? She was recently acquired to breed  more generations in this puppy mill. We reported about Bamira in Victims Of A Hovawart Puppy Mill when we heard the story of her former owner, that wanted to stay anonymous at the time. In October last year however, her owner, Pia Skovmose, went public and was on Danish TV.  What will happen to the 40 Hovawarts. What will happen to Bamira? She is in there, trying to survive in that filth, with her 39 companions.

This is the time, where we as a Hovawart family have to reach out and help each other, and make ready to help our Hovawarts.

Please discuss with each other what we can do to help would it get that far the dogs are seized. Not only to help with possible adoptions or re-homing. But any other way we can think of. Like trying to help the Danish animal welfare organization understand the Hovawart better to prepare them, or build a network where people that adopt can refer to for advice, etc. Any ideas are welcome, and you can leave it in the comments area below, send me a mail to kenzohw (at) gmail (dot) com, or open a discussion in the Facebook group Stop Hovawart.dk.

Sadly, let us hope it comes that far. Because the alternative is that the kennel will continue to spread their horror, or that authorities will euthanize most, if not all, dogs.

Update January 13:
A contact informed me "that the animal welfare organization already had to euthanize 12 dogs, due to the poor condition they were in". We also started a petition you can sign and share:


***

For the latest and how you can help, visit the page Stop Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill.
Share:

12 comments

  1. I'm so sorry to hear about this terrible situation and surprised that the police hasn't contacted an animal welfare group to intervene immediately. They have more than 2 weeks to remain in those awful conditions. Just wanted to send good wishes; I hope things work out for the best. If I can think of any resources closer to you, I'll pass them along.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the good wishes Edie, we are going to need it!

      Delete
  2. This is a very sad story and we cry for the poor doggies there. Here in the USA, things are bad too and the laws too lax and so much suffering. But there are groups who help, so not all hope is lost...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In Denmark we aren't really equipped for these kind of situations. We also don't have like an SPCA, those tasks are performed by regular police, who have no clue about animal welfare.

      Delete
  3. Dreadful situation. Let us hope something is done as a matter of urgency. Please give us a pup-date when you can Have a super Sunday.
    Best wishes Molly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Molly, like you say, urgency is the key here.

      Delete
  4. This is so extremely horrible Leo. Augh! I hate this!

    I did pass on your petition and already 5 people signed it and passed it on for me. I am just so sick of these people breeding puppies for profit with no thought to their care. It makes me sad to know 12 dogs have already been euthanized. Don't the authorities know what to do with these dogs? They could have a chance if they would just seize them and work with animal welfare organizations. Why kill them? Why leave them there?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for signing and sharing Mel, you are always a big help in the fight against the puppy mills. It is complicated, see remark above about not having an SPCA. Also, the re-homing of 40 unsocialized dogs is a task, that has never been undertaken in Denmark. Neither do we have "specialized" puppy mill rescue groups. Apparently, we think we have no puppy mill ... covering up is always easiest.

      Delete
  5. We will pray that the remaining dogs are actually rescued soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ugh, what is wrong with people?! I hope that those dogs are rescued from their situation soon and given a chance at a decent life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It drives me crazy, when we know these people are around, and we are not equipped to deal with them. In the meantime, the dogs pay the prize.

      Delete

Blogger Template Created by pipdig