Last month, I blogged about an alleged puppy mill in the Florida Keys that was raided by police and an animal welfare group. They found dozens of dogs, with five to seven of them pregnant, shut in a windowless warehouse near the Marathon airport that stank of urine. Six adult dogs were locked in a room the size of a closet.
“The rooms were awful,” said Katie Bentley, of Stand Up For Animals, the organization that took in the dogs. One of the pregnant females had her litter that night.
Marni and Tom Jones, who had come to Marathon when Tom was hired there as a firefighter, agreed to turn over 42 dogs to Stand Up For Animals. The nonprofit rescue group works with Marathon’s animal control officials.
And then yesterday, I get an e-mail from Mollie, of Tampa. What has happened, she asked, over the last month to the Joneses and their dogs?
It turns out Mollie had bought a goldendoodle puppy from the couple, who called their breeding operation the Sixth Day Ranch, over the Internet. And her experience shows why shopping for dogs online is just a bad idea.
Mollie, who is 22, says “I’ve definitely learned my lesson.” I am going to post her full note below because her description of the process lays out exactly how eager prospective pet parents get sucked in by unscrupulous breeders.
Fortunately, Mollie’s dog, Rugby, is almost 4 months old and so far seems OK. But puppy mill dogs often are born sick or with congenital deformities, or are not socialized as pups so they have behavioral problems. Jeffrey Wellinger, who started a Web site to expose Sixth Day Ranch, posts photos of his dog Ernie, purchased from the Joneses. Click here and you can see video of poor Ernie limping painfully across the floor; Jeff says its due to hip problems caused by poor breeding.
The Jones family
Jeff and others also posted some scathing comments on a Webshots site, where the Joneses posted this photo of themselves and their dogs, promoting their business. Click here to read ‘em.
Bentley said Stand Up For Animals also has received calls from other Sixth Day Ranch customers who say their dogs are sick or crippled as well.
And the Joneses? The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office did not file neglect charges against the couple, as they surrendered their animals in exchange for not going to court. Animal neglect also is often tough for law enforcement to document to the point that it can be prosecuted.
“I don’t know if malice was involved (on the Jones’s part),” said Marcy LaHart, a West Palm Beach attorney who filed Stand Up’s petition for custody. “Just stupidity and greed.” LaHart fostered eight of the rescued puppies.
The Joneses, who previously lived in the Florida Panhandle and Colorado, quickly left the Keys. LaHart, looking at a FaceBook page maintained by their son, believes they are back in Woodland, CO.
Mollie says she found what she thinks was a link to them this week on Next Day Pets, a Web portal for online breeders, and reported it to the Web master. Apparently, the link has been removed.
So here is Mollie’s story. You’ll see all the red flags that she sees now:
* The Joneses wouldn’t let Mollie see the puppies in their home.
* She had to pay in advance.
* They wanted to “drop the puppy off” on their way to the Keys and met her in a parking lot to give her the health certificate – signed by a vet Mollie didn’t know.
There is a simple way to avoid all this:
Don’t buy puppies online or from strip-center puppy stores claiming to specialize in "celebrity" dogs. Reputable breeders do not sell their animals this way.
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This from Mollie:
I have allergies and really wanted a goldendoodle because they are better for people with allergies. I was looking online and found (Sixth Day Ranch), and I thought it was great they came from a "religious" background. At the time they were still in Destin, FL and had pictures up of apparently where the puppies played, etc.
I did some research on the breeder and really couldn't find anything bad so I went with them. I've never bought from a breeder, especially an online one before.
Now that I look back on it, there were definitely suspicious signs.
Because I live in Florida, I wanted to go to the breeder and pick out the puppy I wanted, but they said I couldn't because the pups were still young and they didn't want any of them getting sick and "that's just not how they did things." They said they would send pictures and video of the pups.
After I picked a pup I put down a deposit and then paid the rest not when I got the dog but three weeks before (I'm sure you're shaking your head. I'm 22 and I've definitely learned my lesson.)
By the way. even though Marni and Tom Jones are a part of this, so is their oldest daughter Destini, who Marni told me was in charge of the puppies. Anyway, I was suppose to drive up to Destin when the pup was old enough, but then the situation changed when Tom said he got transferred to the Keys for the fire department and they had to move.
He said since they were moving the same week I was to get the puppy, they could drop the pup off on their way down. Then the story changed again...they had to move immediately and I would have to meet them in Miami to get my pup.
Weeks past and I scheduled to get the dog the weekend he turned 8 weeks. I got a random phone call during that week saying Marni and the kids were driving back up to Destin and she could drop off the pup that night. I was in a movie and didn't answer my phone until an hour later which was too late.
By the way, there is also a vet involved.. apparently a "traveling vet" that makes his way around the Keys for check ups, etc. My health certificate is from that vet. Marni said that she had his health certificate in the car and she could give it to me on the way to Destin that night. At 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, I met her at a service station to pick up the health certificate because I had to pick up my puppy in Miami later that day or else I couldn't get him until the following week.
Every time I called I asked how the pup was doing. When they moved to the Keys, Tom said that they had bought a warehouse that was air-conditioned and perfect for the dogs to play in. He said since they were in the warehouse, when they were let outside they didn't want to stay long because they loved the air-conditioning. The kids still played with them and everything and he made it sound like a great place for the dogs. I pictured pretty much a giant play room...not what the authorities found.
When I got my puppy, he was really skinny, you wouldn't know with all the fur, but you could definitely feel his ribs and spine. A few weeks ago I wanted to see how the other pups were doing but couldn't find the website anymore, so I started doing research and found out they had been busted. I cried and felt terrible.
Some people believe I saved my pup, Rugby, and I guess I did, but I also contributed to an epidemic that's getting bigger. Now, I want to help and do something about it. Unfortunately, they wouldn't give me the rest of his papers until he is neutered, so the health certificate is all I have. They were busted a week or two after I got Rugby.
I know you asked a simple question, but I had to tell you the whole story. I want to be on the look out for them on other websites. I really hope they are arrested, no one should get away with that.
-Mollie
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ANGIE BRENNAN, a Sun-Sentinel page designer,
lives with four dogs and one boyfriend. And has a lifetime of animal stories to share.
DIANE LADE, a reporter on the Sun-Sentinel's Help Team, has lived with cats, dogs, reptiles, fish, an iguana, and an armadillo.
CYNDI METZGER, editor of the Sun-Sentinel's Outlook section, is smitten with Bella, her poodle who regularly ignores requests to sit, stay and get off the ivory-colored sofa. 
JOHN TANASYCHUK, a Sun-Sentinel lifestyle writer, has lived with cats as long as he can remember. He and his partner currently share their home with three.
