Stop The Danish Puppy Farm Facebook Campaign

There is no news of the dogs I could share with you today. Like me I know you are crossing your fingers for news to break that the last dogs are seized before February 1. No news isn't always good news in our case, knowing they will spent another day and night in that hellhole.

Maybe today the papers are not writing, and the TV is not broadcasting, but social media is bobbling with activity. This is the second week, of what is starting to evolve into a grassroots campaign to save the thirty-three dogs left inside the puppy mill and to put the Danish puppy mill out of business once and for all.

With a hat tip to Jan Wolfe and Judith Broug, masterminds behind a social media effort launched today, in an attempt to try and track down who bought a Hovawart or Golden Retriever puppy from the puppy mill since August, 2012. As the puppy mills license was revoked  by that time, any selling of puppies after that date by the puppy mill can be prosecuted under criminal law in Denmark. A great opportunity to shut them done once and for all.

Jan and Judith created this "wanted" poster, which you can "share" on your Facebook wall to get the word out. Please use the "share" option of Facebook, as that will include the accompanying text who to contact as well. Before I could finish writing this, it has already been shared more than 90 times, so it looks very promising.

Another hat tip to bloggers Lana Fortuna and Agnieszka Bieńko, for blogging in Slovenian and Polish respectively, to spread the word about the Danish puppy mill. There is a lot of attention from Polish readers lately, no doubt because you are worried in Poland what happened with Bamira, not knowing if she is safe, or still inside the puppy mill. I am glad Agnieszka Bieńko - and Heban - are bringing you updates in Polish. We all hope and pray with you.

And then there is all of you that are helping in every other way you can. Your engagement in this, what now is turning into a grassroots campaign, is amazing. I am glad to be a part of such a great group of people, that have their heart in the right place, want to make a difference, and would do almost anything to save these dogs.

Join me in a prayer tonight for the dogs.

***

There is a Stop Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill page you can bookmark. It will have the latest news, how you can help and a chronological order of events, in the hope to make it easier for you to find the information you need, without that you have to sift through the blog pages.

A 1000 Hovawarts

How would you feel if you were a Police Chief of a small, peaceful and quiet town in Denmark, and the eyes of the world are suddenly upon you? When the press is lined up for your next statement? When management complains about all the mails and letters they get? Niels Denny Sørensen, from the local police in Næstved, Denmark, now knows exactly how that feels.

Niels knows every move he makes since the story came out, is under a magnifying glass, and today confirmed that once more. We met with Niels to handover the petition with a 1000 signatures and we talked for an hour in which we tried to voice our/your concerns as best we could. I do believe your voice has been heard, and Niels - the decision maker that can get the dogs out - has became very aware of his responsibility, if he was not already.


PROMISES MADE

The police will not get the dogs out before February 1, despite the pressure. But I am confident the next time the vet says to him the dogs can "survive" until February 1, Niels will ask the question "last time you said that, 6 dogs died". We got promised the 33 dogs that remain in the puppy mill are checked up with more regularly so it will not repeat itself that dogs have to be euthanized when seized on February 1.

Another promise was, that the owner is not allowed to keep the last 10 dogs, when the whole group of the 33 dogs that are still in harms way is not sound and healthy on February 1.

It was one of our major concerns, if the puppy mill owner would still be allowed to have 10 dogs after February 1. That is now of the table. The vet of the animal welfare organization of Dyrenes Beskyttelse will also be part of this evaluation, so it is very unlikely, listening to what she said in the press today, there will be a single dog left in the puppy mill after February 1.


HELP NEEDED FROM THE HOVAWART COMMUNITY

Remarkable was that Niels, very well aware of the attention from a 1000 "Hovawarts", made this request:

"if any one could can come forward that bought a dog from the puppy mill after august 2012, it would close them down once and for all, as their license is revoked and it is punishable by criminal law when they would still be selling.".

Let's shake our Hovie network for this one, it must be possible to find one of the many sells they made after august. It will not only secure all dogs, it will simply close them down forever. Did you buy a puppy at hovawart.dk, not knowing all of this? Please contact Niels at ssj@politi.dk or send it to me, if you would like me to mediate.


BACK TO THE DOGS

How are the ones rescued doing? It turned out one of them was expecting. So we can soon add between 6 or 10 to the ones rescued. Those pups will fly out of the adoption door for sure, the first generation of the puppy mill that will get the start in life they truly deserve, has already begun. Change is a fact already. How awesome is that.


IN THE NEWS TODAY

The vets of "Dyrenes Beskyttelse" were also in the news today, and made a huge shout out, that it is incomprehensible this has been going on in Denmark for 10 years.

So many people tried to focus the public eye on the puppy mill before. Their blogs were closed, their Facebook pages closed, people where threatened by mail and nasty laywers sewed left and right. The power of money does ugly things. They tried to silence Pia Skovmose, tried to put yours truly's blog out of service. But they cannot escape the top guns and your loud voice. A big leap was made today, as finally an "official" and powerful organization dared to say what many in Denmark have said before but were silenced by the puppy mill.

We chose the right time to stop this puppy mill once and for all. We are a 1000 "Hovawarts", and we are not alone.

***

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

Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill Meltdown: A Future Ahead

Another day, and again progress. As I write this, the counter shows we reached our target of a 1,000 signatures. In just 4 days. How can I possibly even start to thank you for this? I am deeply grateful and in awe over your involvement in this case.

Pia, Merete and me will jump in the car tomorrow and deliver your signatures to the Chief of Police, Niels Danny Sørensen. Niels is the actual nr.1 person in Denmark that can push T.H.E. button for the final 33 dogs to get out now. Will Niels be my next best friend? We'll find out soon.

Thanks to the growing media attention we can show you this video of the first group of dogs - press play above - that were rescued yesterday. And please do press play, there is no scary footage, just dogs that celebrate their first day on the way towards a new future. The clip about the dogs is from about 30 seconds in, and around 2½ minutes long.

The video, shown on the network TV2 Øst, is in Danish. In short, you will hear Rikke Christenen-Lee, the veterinarian of the animal welfare organization "Dyrenes Beskyttelse", say: "Their fur hides a lot, but when you look closer you will first see the bad shape they really are in." Rikke continuous: "This is a very disturbing case of severe neglect, it is incomprehensible the police have not acted in this case and seized the dogs earlier". The dogs were not abused: "We cannot find any evidence somebody actually did try to harm them physically, they are in a bad shape caused by pure neglect".

Police Chief Niels Danny Sørensen was also interviewed, and on the question "Do you think you have responded to this case in good time?" his answer says it all "That's always something you can discuss, but we responded based on those standards we use and the statements of professionals we received." Stop. Did Niels just answered "No"?. It sounded a lot like "No, because our standards were not equipped for this, and our veterinarians were wrong".

Back to the dogs. There were rumors that they also still bred Golden Retrievers - originally they had two kennels, one for Hovawarts and one for Golden Retrievers - and the footage confirms this. There where a couple of Goldens among them, I have no numbers yet. But boy, I couldn't do anything else then smile when I saw this Golden on the right keeping his dog bowl in this mouth with an expression on his face like he landed in heaven.

And they did land in heaven. The staff of "Dyrenes Beskyttelse" are professionals. Vet's, behavioral experts, facilities. They are exactly in the place they need to be right now to have their "mental timeout".

Earlier today i talked with "Dyrenes Beskyttelse" about all of you that mailed me you would like to adopt one of the dogs or volunteer in the shelter.

They were so happy to hear that, especially because you all were experienced Hovawart owners and some of you had a dog with issues from the puppy mill before. It also warmed my heart, when you, some of you heartbroken about the issues you had with your pets from that place, directly opened that same heart once more to adopt, very well knowing what you are possibly getting into.

Dyrenes Beskyttelse asks for your patience:

"It will take time before the dogs are fully recovered. They each will get their own health plan, and have to be re-socialized, before we can go to the next step. Only our professional staff is working with them now. First when they are healthy and can function as family dogs, we will set them up for adoption."

When that goal is reached, and I am sure they will, all dogs will be set up for adoption over here, where you can apply.

***

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

Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill Meltdown: First Dogs Saved

The first dogs are saved. They were handed over by the owner into the care of the animal welfare organization "Dyrenes Beskyttelse". They are as we speak in the shelter of  "Dyrenes Beskyttelse" in Roskilde.

The staff in the shelter are first and foremost giving the dogs a "mental time-out", considering that the dogs have never been outside before and only have seen the inside of a cage their entire life.

They are all in poor shape. They are underweight, have bad teeth and open wounds. Their fur is matted and dirty. But they are safe, rescued from a life of torture and are now making their first steps into a new future. They will be fed, their wounds healed and their fur cleaned. All dogs will go up for adoption, but first when they are ready, received the proper care and are re-socialized. Something we can all rejoice.

Remarkable is that this first group of dogs are given up by the owner of the puppy mill voluntarily. "Dyrens Beskyttelse" is in a continuous dialog with the man, and yesterday he agreed to hand over some of the dogs. When they finally went into the stables to get the dogs, the sight they met was different from what was told by be the police though.

What "Dyrenes Beskyttelse" told me, was:

"we could retrieve 23 dogs in agreement with the owner. After seizing the dogs and moving them to our shelter in Roskilde, 2 unfortunately had to be euthanized immediately, as they were in very bad shape. After their first medical examination of the others, 4 more dogs had to be euthanized. Unfortunately we found 33 more dogs on the property. Vi hope to convince the owner to hand over the remaining dogs as well, so they can receive the necessary care and medical treatment as soon as possible."

The "official" number so far of dogs inside the property has thereby gone up, as there are not 40, but as much as 55 dogs found inside the property. It is not only unfortunate that the number is higher than first was given, it also makes me doubt about how thorough the investigation of the police and their vet's has been, when you miss no less than 15 dogs.

Looking past the numbers, the bigger picture is that "Dyrenes Beskyttelse" is actively coming into the case now and they have established a dialog with the owner. The first dogs are saved. Most of them are still alive and looking at a new future, for others their suffering has at least ended. All in all positive turn of events and hopefully the developments keep going as fast as they have been going the last couple of days. Then we achieve the goal of having the dogs out as soon as possible, instead of February 1, which is still the plan the police would like to follow.

We have to try to get them all out. Keep up the pressure in support of "Dyrenes Beskyttelse". Please keep sharing and signing for the dogs that are left behind. It would be great if Pia and me could handover your 1000 signatures to the Mayor soon. We only need 160 more signatures:

Danish Police: Shut Down Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill
and Rescue 40 Hovawart Dogs

And a final message to all the fellow campaigners that read this. There is more focus on the case now. The Danish Kennel Club reported about it today and "will ensure authorities are aware of the events". Politicians are now starting to answer the mails we send "because they see there is a lot of concern and they have received multiple inquiries about the issue". One journalist, Allan Grassberger of the paper "Dagbladet", is now reporting daily about the puppy mill, and he will include our petition in the next article. Thank you all for your writing efforts, it is a huge job, but it also is bearing fruit.

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

Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill Meltdown: Help Is On The Way

Anja's boarding facility (photo from "Hundefristedet")

Wonderful news today. Anja Maindal, owner of a dog holiday boarding facility, offered to house all forty dogs from the puppy mill. Heroes do exist. Or is she a saint? She is probably both.

Anja's dog holiday boarding facility is in the slow part of the season right now, and she has plenty of room to house the dogs so they can be taken care of. Even better, Anja is also an educated behavioral specialist, so she could work with the dogs that have socialization issues. And we can make a best guess, after what these dogs have been through, deprived of human contact and living in cages, they probably will need it.

With good news there always follows some sour too, unfortunately. The police still doesn't act and didn't accept Anja's offer. They send Anja over to the Animal Welfare organization "Dyrenes Beskyttelse" and those two together now have the plan to try to talk sense into the owner and see if they can get the dogs. The police could have ended it today once and for all, and they have the possibility to do so based on Art.21/22 of the Animal Cruelty Act. The next I write is purely guessing, but as animal welfare has such a low priority (read: budget) the police probably doesn't want to pick up the bill, which they should when they seize the dogs and house them.

Let's cross our fingers for Anja, and that the talks with the puppy mill owner have a good outcome.

Other positive news is that the national media starts to show interest for the story, which would give a lot of exposure. Nothing published yet, but they are informing themselves with yours truly. Undoubtedly created by the petition you all signed and shared so vigorously together with those of you that participated in writing personal emails to authorities and the press. In less than two days, you already collected more than 500 signatures. If we can double that in the next two days I am going - together with any of you that want to join - over to the the Mayor of Faxe, and handover the petition. Please drop me a mail or a Facebook message if you would like to join.

We havn't achieved our goal yet, but I really want to thank you all already now for your amazing support and what you are doing for our Hovawarts. Some of you have also invested a lot of your time into this already, just because you thought this was a cause worth fighting for. You are all my heroes. And if you haven't signed yet:

Danish Police: Shut Down Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill
and Rescue 40 Hovawart Dogs

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

Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill Meltdown: Police Is Failing

Kenzo is barking his longs out to get his fourty friends removed from the puppy mill in the town of Haslev, Denmark. And yes, this is a shameless plee if you will not bark with us, by signing this petition:

Danish Police: Shut Down Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill
and Rescue 40 Hovawart Dogs

If you have not read sunday's post, the short version of what happened is that a long-time Hovawart puppy mill in Denmark is melting down due to economic and health issues with the owners. Fourty Hovawart dogs inside the puppy mill are caught in the middle. They live in an abandoned property, severly underweight and are being neglected. Police has given the owners until February 1, to bring things in order. The Danish Animal Welfare organization, "Dyrenes Beskyttelse", fears for the dogs survival and is afraid they won't make it that long.

Today we learned that the health and economic conditions of the owners are very severe. The property - with the dogs still in it - is foreclosed, and the new place the owners moved to, soon has to be abandoned as well. It is very likely the owners will not be able to recover their business.

We also learned the police fails in handling the situation. They revoked the puppy mill's license based on the the Danish Regulation For Commercial Breeding. A good step although long overdue. More important, they neglected to address the state of health of the dogs. The dogs are in such a bad shape, that this is not about a breeding license, this is a downright animal cruelty case, and falls under the Animal Protection Act which obliges the police to either seize or euthanize the animals when the owner apparantly is not able to take care of them (Art. 21 and 22).

The police won't move unless asked questions by politicians. Politicians won't move if we don't tell them loud and clear: There is only one priority at this moment. The dogs must get out of there. Now.

The petition targets the local Chief of Police, the Mayor, local Town Hall members, and the Danish Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare. If you would like to send them your own letter or e-mail, that would even be better. 

We can give you more information from inside the puppy mill soon, as one of their former employees has come forward with her story.

But first we have to get the dogs out. Please sign and share with your friends. I know you will, you love dogs as much as I do when you read this blog. Thank you.

***

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

Hovawarts On A Raw Diet

Today I turn the blog over to Jan Wolfe - raw feeding advocate and Hovawart enthusiast - to learn more about feeding raw. 

Something I have struggled with for a long time, and kibble is so convenient. I also noticed more and more Hovawarts are on a raw diet. Jan gave us the last push to go raw.

***

Reading Kenzo’s blog, and in particular, about Viva’s health problems, led me to contact Leo to ask him if he had ever considered feeding a raw diet.  It turns out that he has, but had found it hard to find enough information about it to be able to do so with confidence.  He invited me to do a guest blog, and I am delighted to do so.


PIONEERING

I started raw feeding my dogs some 14 years ago.  We had a young Labrador with food aggression problems and a speed-eating “disorder”.  He was also a generally difficult dog – we had adopted him from the local rescue kennel at around six months of age and we had no idea of what his early months had been like.  We were advised by the kennel to feed him a certain dry food as it was a complete diet specially designed for a growing dog.  I felt very sorry for him as this dish of brown cardboard pieces would last him about 30 seconds at the very most.  I don’t think it touched the sides.

Tussock as a pup with her first raw snack

Some months later, we were still tearing our hair out with him and to add to the existing issues, he now had very itchy and smelly skin.  It was whilst seeking advice on how to deal with the food aggression that my path crossed the subject of raw feeding.  Raw feeding?  What did that involve?  Bones?  Chicken bones?  Surely dogs cannot eat chicken bones?  How do you make sure the dog gets everything he needs?  So many questions.

But then I bought  a book by Dr Ian Billinghurst and my mind was blown wide open.  The light bulb went on and has never gone out.

It was rather daunting at first – I remember giving Sisko his first bones and wondering if I was going to be rushing to the vet later in the day or week.  I remember his face on finishing that first meal – if he were human, he would have said “Wow!”  I also remember inspecting his poo every day and marvelling at the transformation from monstrously smelly and sloppy heaps to small firm nuggets.


OUR DIET

I currently have two hovawarts and one flat coated retriever and all have been raw fed since about eight weeks old.  The eldest is six and a half and the youngest is eighteen months.  Sadly, Sisko the Labrador died just a few months ago at the age of 14 – his teeth were still clean!

Chicken, minced tripe with veggies

The mainstay of their diet is chicken – I buy carcasses from a local butcher, and he also keeps a “goodie box” for me of any bones, scraps, stuff that is past its date for human consumption, or that has been damaged in any way.  I allow them to catch the odd rabbit, and I pick up fresh road kill.  I feed them fruit and vegetables, yoghurt, eggs, fish, cheese, and they are able to graze on grasses and eat horse poo.  I can imagine you screwing up your nose at the last item, but horse poo is actually very nutritious for dogs!  There are also several companies here in the UK that cater for the raw feeding market making it much easier for many people to feed raw.  I do buy a few minces to give my dogs variety.

Should you be interested in feeding raw, or want to research it a bit more, then you are more than welcome to join our raw feeding group on Facebook.  It is a non-judgemental, helpful and often hilarious group where no question is silly and nobody is absolutely right or absolutely wrong – we all feed slightly differently the same way as we ourselves eat differently.  [Note Kenzo: the group has great resources too, like a Raw Feeding Starter Guide and more]

There are also many books to read by Ian Billinghurst, Lew Olson, Kymythy Schultz, Tom Lonsdale, to name a few.


SO WHY DO IT?

Why give yourself extra work of sourcing food and providing a balanced diet?  Is it not easier to buy “complete” food and be assured your dog is getting everything he or she needs?  Is it not an expensive way to feed a dog?  Still more questions.

When pet food was introduced it seemed a brilliant idea.  Years of advertising has “convinced” us that it is the only way to feed our dogs and cats.  Images of cute puppies and kittens have pulled at our heart strings and we have believed that the people who make these foods have the interests of our animals at heart.  Our conscience was led to believe that we would do our dogs and cats a disservice if we didn’t feed this specially prepared food.

In the early days it was tinned food, and to be fair, it was probably okay stuff!  I remember my first dog ate Chappie and Winalot for much of his life and he lived to almost 17.  Then kibble was introduced.  Complete food.  All you have to give to make your dog healthy and hearty.  But is it?  Are there not now more health issues with dogs?  More cancers, more dental problems, more obesity, diabetes, thyroid problems, skeletal issues, skin problems, allergies, arthritis, compromised immune systems, and so much more.  Dogs seem to be living shorter lives, despite all this researched nutrition.

Do I need to say more?

Granted, there are many other factors involved with the things listed above, but human nutritionists tells us that “we are what we eat”.  They encourage us to eat fresh meat and fish, lots of fruit and vegetables, to avoid processed food, too much salt and sugar, preservatives, colourings, flavourings……. So what do we feed our dogs?  Meat and fish by products that have been rendered beyond all recognition, devoid of colour, flavour, texture, and nutrients.  Add to this mush several colourings to make it look nice, salt and sugar to make it tasty, artificial nutrients to make it complete, then bake it to give it texture.  Finally it is sprayed with a solution containing vitamins and minerals.   Oh, and when your dog has teeth covered in tartare, here’s another product to help clean them, or a special toothbrush to clean them.  Oh and doggy toothpaste, too!

And come to think of it – I haven’t seen many dogs able to bake, use cooking utensils, open tins, or use a toothbrush……  But I have seen dogs catch a rabbit!

***

Thanks Jan, you have convinced us! Normally I would add a little biography of the author, but Jan is participating in the Hovawart School of Witchcraft & Wizardry as well. So stay tuned, to get to know Jan and her Hovies a little better.

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:

Danish Police: Shut Down Danish Hovawart Puppy Mill
and Rescue 40 Hovawart Dogs

***

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

Ear Nibble Prohibition

Viva is almost done with the cone-of-shame after her eyelid surgery. The stitches will be removed in a couple of days. But impatient Viva feels healthy already, and she can't understand what this new and evil ear nibble condom is doing on her head.

I can't feel anything ?!?

Oh yeah, this is so good, so, so good. Purrr.

We'll soon be back in the good old days.

Kenzo did smuggle in some ear nibbles through, he is actually getting the hang of how to beat this cone-of-shame. Maybe he misses giving ear nibbles more than Viva does receiving them. Soon we'll celebrate the end of prohibition with some old-fashioned and full-fledged ear nibbles.

Hovawart TV: Hovie Zoomies

Heban gives an excellent display of the Hovie Zoomies. Ready? Set. Go!



Heban is a Hovawart with a blog, and although he writes mostly in Polish, you'll find a lot more fun video's of him. Have a look.