Puppy Mill Shuttered After Dogs Kept Escaping Kennels and Landing on Nearby Airport Runway

An Iowa dog breeder has closed up shop after receiving multiple citations of his dogs escaping his property and running at large on the runway of the Sioux Gateway Airport, according to a report from the Muscatine Journal.

Troy Verdoorn, 60, of the Sergeant Bluff-based business Australian Shepherd Stock Dogs, was cited 14 times over June and July for issues with his escaped dogs, the outlet reported. 

In March, he was cited with the misdemeanor offense of letting his dogs run at large were found at the airport and charged $200, according to court records reviewed by the news outlet.

In April, he was allegedly spotted crawling under a fence along the airport's perimeter in an attempt to catch more loose dogs and was charged with trespassing and fined $260, the outlet reported.

By the end of July, he had racked up an additional 14 charges related to his loose dogs running free in the secured airport area.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship reportedly declined to charge the breeder with violations of the Animal Welfare Act. An inspector wrote in a July report that “dogs are now confined at home, but he has to move by the first of the month” and “animal control will have to get dogs if no homes available,” per the Muscatine Journal. 

In September, the same inspector noted Verdoorn had “a lot less dogs,” but was still in possession of 25 dogs and was told by the breeder he planned to shut down his business by early October. The inspector also said that Cindy Rarrat, the director of Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue, told him the breeder had allegedly handed out dogs to people who failed to confine their pets.

By Tuesday, Rarrat told the outlet Verdoorn had closed his business and relocated the animals.

“We had been concerned because some of the dogs were getting onto our local airfield,” Rarrat told the news outlet. “We got the situation resolved and with a good outcome. It could have been a lot worse, but everything worked out just fine.”

This was not Verdoorn’s first encounter with the law. According to court records, he was convicted of criminal mischief in 2018 for allegedly becoming combative in a dispute over the installation of an air conditioner he purchased for his dogs, the outlet reported. 

He told police he needed the air conditioner installed quickly “because he had a bunch of puppies that he is trying to sell, and the puppies are going to overheat and die,” according to a police report reviewed by the outlet.