Cafitachiqui Kennels

Puppy Mills are a problem across the entire continental span of the United States.  Even Breeders who claim to be reputable representatives of AKC stock have been found to be no more than Puppy Mill entrepreneurs.  Puppy Mills are nothing more than large scale dog breeding facilities.  The animals are kept confined in cages, usually permanently.  Females are bred practically every heat cycle.  Pet retail giants like Petland are now facing increasingly more lawsuits as a result of selling unhealthy Puppy Mill dogs to the public. An early morning raid in Wayne County, NC resulted in the rescue of approximately 300 dogs existing in horrific conditions.  The morning raid came after a year long investigation into Thornton’s Kennels. Puppy Mill dogs, like Thornton’s, usually suffer from many serious medical problems and frequently exist in filthy conditions. Wayne County Animal Control and The Humane Society of the United States were involved in the joint effort aimed at policing the Puppy Mill facility and continue to fight to establish laws regulating Puppy Mill enterprises.

Puppy Mills mass produce offspring in a factory-like manner to sell in abundance to pet stores and to have pets readily available for internet transactions. Although not all breeders who advertise their animals online or otherwise are involved in the Puppy Mill trade, the public needs to take great care when considering or making online pet purchases.  Beware of someone who advertises consistently and always has a new litter available.  Beware of someone who does not want to provide you with information about the origins of your pet, who does not want to permit you to see the sire and/or dam of your pet or who does not want to provide you the proper paperwork for your pet.  If your pet is advertised as AKC but the breeder will only provide you paperwork to register your pet with CKC registration, then that is also a red flag to be wary of.

Would you want to know that the sire and dam of your pet lives in a crate constantly with no exercise and in the confines of filth and excrement and with no proper healthcare?

In South Carolina I believe that we may have a Puppy Mill in Orangeburg where an individual is constantly advertising Siberian Huskies and other breeds for sale.  This is presently just a personal conjecture but too many flags have drawn my attention with the individual or individuals that have fostered my suspicions. The individual has stated to me personally that it is their practice to remove pups from the dam immediately after whelping and hand raise them.  To not permit the newborn to benefit from the antibodies in the dams milk is an unwise decision and would not be practiced by a reputable breeder - unless there were valid complications with the dam. (Complications with the dam could be a result of excessive breeding so be wary of this also).  The individual is always advertising puppies for sale in online classifieds, refuses to provide AKC registration for canines, boasts the canines are descended from Champion AKC stock but stating in multiple ads placed in multiple online sources and in multiple cities that CKC registration papers will be provided for anyone who wants to register their pet.  This practice definitely does not comply with AKC record keeping guidlines.  Why would this individual not provide AKC paperwork instead with breeding restrictions as AKC permits on their registration forms? AKC keeps up with how many litters your AKC registered animals have per year.  This would likely be one reason an individual might not want to provide AKC registration if they are mass-producing puppies for sale. 

But can we trust the AKC backing?  That too is controversial.  An article from the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday, December 31, 1995 points out reasons why we likely can not.  AKC permits breeders with membership in their registry to maintain their membersips even in the light of reality of Puppy Mill breeders.  Shirley Meyers was the topic of the 1995 article (http://www.bogartsdaddy.com/bouvier/Bouv_Pages/article-inquire-puppymills-AKC.htm) written after her kennel was the subject of much controversy surrounding both the environment in which her canines suffered and the questionable circumstances surrounding the purebred status of hers and other canines with the supposed prestigious backing of the AKC registry.  In the Philadelphia article, Melanie Volk was quoted as saying,Those puppy mills wouldn't make a dime on their puppy if they couldn't put the "AKC" on their dogs.  Even the heralded AKC quality standard of purebred status has this registry of so-called purebred dogs looking more like a money pit, a profitable business for both the AKC and Puppy Mills who are taking advantage of the naive consumer.

Whatever your decision as a consumer, make sure you become informed, do your research, ask questions and make every effort to investigate the background of any pet you may choose to purchase from a prospective breeder. Puppy Mills are an inhumane industry.  Help make Puppy Mills a thing of the past.

At Huskies Extraordinaire of Cafitachiqui we can assure you that you are getting a healthy, happy, beloved purebred Siberian Husky that entered the world to reside in an environment conducive to social interaction, their overall wellbeing, health and happiness.

"Washington Cracks Down on Puppy Mills" is the headline of one recent NEWS article from Washington regarding a new bill designed to regulate growth and minimize the horrific conditions created by Puppy Mill breeders.  The article can be read at the following link: http://dogblog.dogster.com/2009/04/23/washington-cracks-down-on-puppy-mills/

For more about Puppy Mills check out these links:

http://stoppuppymills.org/
http://www.puppymills.com/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26859969382
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pets_related_news_and_events/puppy_buyers_petland_lawsuit_032309.html
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pets_related_news_and_events/nc_puppy_mill_020609.html

*The above photo showing a female Siberian Husky is actually our girl Ember with her litter.  She has an open crate inside our home in front of the fireplace.  In the evenings if the temperature is cool we are keeping a low fire going to supply the pups with warmth.  Ember has plenty of fresh food and water at her disposal.  The photo was taken only as an illustration.

Sixty-Eight dogs were seized by Orangeburg Animal Control as reported by Jody Barr of WISTV-10 on 9 July 2009. The animals were taken on 29 June 2009.  An Orangeburg woman who resides at Deer Crossing Road in Orangeburg, SC faced numerous charges in a court hearing held in Orangeburg, South Carolina.  My Stomp Out Puppy Mills write up posted here was the first to announce this Puppy Mill existence in Orangeburg.  The woman charged had claimed that her pets were under Vet care but WIS TV NEWS reported that no definitive evidence to that claimed Vet care could be found.  I was personally informed by individuals who had purchased or looked at puppies for sale by this particular woman that she claimed to use a local Orangeburg Vet who cared for her canines. 

In a private telephone call to the named Vet it was disclosed that the woman had not taken any of her canines in for Vet care in a few years and that the woman had only been to the Vet's office to pick up some supplies for claimed home care of her canines.  The Vet also informed the caller that the medical items the woman requested were used generally to treat infections in breeding dams which might suggest over breeding.  The animals taken were found residing in deplorable conditions, chained to trees, housed in cramped Kennels, some carrying disease and others with sores. The canines were underfed and suffering in confined quarters and in their own excrement. The owner of the canines faced sixty-eight countes of animal cruelty charges.

This same woman charged in Orangeburg is the one I referred to above in my original write-up and is the individual also responsible for attacking our own advertising for Cofitachiqui with her claims to certain webmasters of advertsing websites that we copied her ads when in fact this individual was copying ours.  She is responsible for some of our advertisments being blocked from websites where she would post her ads.    At Cofitachiqui we pride ourselves on being a reputable kennel breeding beautiful, healthy, purebred Siberian Huskies.  We are thankfull for the legal system that has taken and protected these beautiful animals from the Orangeburg kennel at Deer Crossing, many of which were Siberian Huskies.  If it were possible, we would love to adopt some of the Siberian Huskies found at the Orangeburg kennel,; however, we have in our pack at this time eighteen Siberian Huskies and that is a lot to care for. 

At Cofitachiqui we DO care for our animals and provide them Vet care through Dr. Faulkner at Faulkner's Animal Hospital located on the Bypass in Lancaster, South Carolina.  Our animals are fed so well that some are getting fat; we worm them regularly and treat for fleas constantly.  Unfortunately, fleas and sandflies are a problem here in Camden.  We reside in the sandhills of South Carolina where both fleas and sandflies can wreak havoc on humans and animals alike.  In the summer it is a daily battle to treat canines for skin problems that can be caused by fleas or sandlies or both. In addition, fleas can transmit tapeworm which is transmittable to humans and canines.  Siberian Huskies are a Northern breed with usually dense coats.  Extra care is needed when you bring Siberian Huskies south because they are more readily subjected to conditions and infestations in the Southern climate. At Cofitachiqui we understand this and strive to provide for the needs and well-bing of our beautiful breed.  For our readers, if you ever suspect someone of failing to care for breeeding animals or for expanding into Puppy Mill practices, be a voice for the suffering canines who can not speak for themselves. STOMP OUT PUPPY MILLS!