Breeder’s license revocation brings dogs to Humane Society

The Nebraska Humane Society rescues 50 dogs after the Nebraska Department of Agriculture revokes a breeder’s license.They drove four and a half hours to pick up the pups. According to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s online record search, Ponca Creek Kennels has only been rated fully acceptable one time in more than 26 inspections dating back to 2018. The National Humane Society rates them on the “Horrible Hundred” puppy mills list of worst breeders in America in both 2022 and 2023. The Nebraska Humane Society stepped in Thursday to help care for the dogs before they become available for adoption.“We were contacted by the Department of Agriculture earlier last week stating that they had revoked the license of a commercial pet breeder. And were asking if we have the capacity to take in any of the dogs from the property,” said Ronnie Schlabs, with the Nebraska Humane Society.That breeder is Ponca Creek Kennels, owned by Clem Disterhaupt Jr. The Nebraska Humane Society drove more than four hours to Spencer, Nebraska to get the dogs.”The property owner would not let us in the building. He preferred to bring the animals to us,” Schlabs said.Online records from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture show the kennel usually has close to 200 dogs. The humane society took fifty, surrendered by Disterhaput.“From a legal standpoint, there’s nothing we can do. It’s up to the local authorities and the Department of Agriculture to pursue anything further,” Schlabs said.In 26 Department of Agriculture inspection reports dating back to 2018 Ponca Creek Kennels has been “unacceptable or conditionally acceptable” 25 times. One report in August 2023 shows its license was suspended, citing issues with health records, cleanliness, and space issues. The report shows Ponca Creek Kennels “has not come to compliance with the compliance agreement” and said the owner is in contact with an auction company to sell the rest of his dogs, but no contract is signed. The Humane Society said if this breeder was in its jurisdiction, it would have been shut down sooner.”Honestly, there’s some anger and frustration. You know, the animals are looked at simply as a commodity for money; they’re not looked at as pets or something that’s cared for like we would our own dogs and cats. So, it’s frustrating to see,” Schlabs said.Staff said Nebraska rescues are already at capacity, so some of the dogs will go to out-of-state rescues.NHS is also nearing capacity, but still thankful to have gotten the call.“We don’t see commercial breeders get shut down very often, so this is kind of a rarity. We were happy to see it happen, and we were happy to be able to help,” Schlabs said.The dogs will now get vet care, something many state reports note Ponca Creek Kennels was lacking records on. They’ll eventually be up for adoption, headed for loving homes.”If you have the opportunity, do not use a commercial breeder; come to an animal shelter. We have hundreds of pets here in the market for homes. Don’t support this kind of industry,” Schlabs said.NHS said it took a week of planning to get the operation underway and the snowstorms didn’t help. There’s no timeline for when the dogs will be available for adoption, as NHS needs to check them all medically.KETV reached out to the Department of Agriculture to find out next steps for the breeder and has not yet heard back.Click here for the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7

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