SPECIAL REPORT: Backyard Breeder Crackdown
The number of animals euthanized by the city of El Paso is on the decline.
According to reports obtained by ABC-7 from the Animal Services Department, 14,009 dogs and cats were put down in 2015. Compare that to 2010, when 21,242 were euthanized, and the recent peak in 2012 with 25,335.
Since 2012, the number of euthanasias has dropped steadily. City officials attribute the decline to the 2011 revisions made to Title 7, the city’s pet ordinance.
Currently, city leaders are working to once again revise Title 7 and enforce the provisions within the ordinance itself.
“The basis of this is public health,” Kurt Fenstermacher told ABC-7. Fenstermacher is the interim director for Animal Services. “That’s our first role, making sure these animals are protected. And that protects not only that animal, but wherever they’re going in the community.”
According to Title 7, no one may sell a puppy or kitten that is under the age of eight weeks. Sellers must also have a breeder permit or a litter permit for ‘accidental’ births.
ABC-7 worked with the city and the nonprofit shelter, Humane Society of El Paso, to spotlight unlawful pet sales. The city and the Humane Society hope that showing the dark side hiding behind the inviting cute puppy ads online will alarm El Pasoans and prompt action by those looking for a pet, as well as educate potential and current pet owners about Title 7.
Humane Society employee Ryan Coulehan took on an alias to reach out to sellers online. She scrolled through ads on the El Paso Craigslist site. There were plenty to choose from, and were all posted in the last week, she said. None of them specified whether they had a permit from the city to sell animals, either.
“One of the first ones that pops up is for six pitbull puppies that are eating on their own and looking for good homes,” Coulehan said. “Based on the images, these guys are not eight weeks; they’re maybe six weeks.”
Under Title 7, it is also unlawful to advertise the sale of puppies that are younger than eight weeks, even if the seller does not intend to transfer the animal to the new owner until they are of age.
Coulehan decided to reach out to a man who was advertising four miniature Schnauzer puppies at two weeks of age. He told her the puppies would not be ready to be sold until they were six weeks old, but she was welcome to stop by his home in the Lower Valley and pick one to put on hold.
ABC-7 had Coulehan wear a microphone to record the conversation with the advertiser inside the house.
“That’s a lot of dogs,” she said. A relative of the advertiser replied, saying, “The two Dachshunds, two Bassetts, two Schnauzers and two Yorkies.” Coulehan responded, “Oh, goodness, you have a full house. Lots of babies.”
She walked out empty-handed, but full of information for the Animal Services officers standing by a few blocks away.
“Didn’t look like they were in the best of shape, all of them,” Coulehan told officers. “They had one of the industrial yellow mops outside. It was to clean up after the puppies. Dead flies inside. It reeked.”
The officers headed over to the house with the intention of checking out the animals’ quality of life and whether the advertiser had proper permits to sell the dogs.
But when the officers knocked on the door less than 10 minutes after Coulehan’s visit, no one answered.
“This happens all the time,” Hugo Navarro said. Navarro is the Animal Services supervisor. “We’ve got to just keep on coming until we make contact.”
Officers can’t enter property without police or a judge’s order. They did get permission to use a neighbor’s backyard to see into the home’s yard.
“We can’t see the entire backyard. I couldn’t even see if the dogs had any water back there. That’s a concern because as you can see, it’s hot out here,” Navarro said as sweat glistened on his forehead. “They’re using a camper shell as shelter, and that’s not adequate shelter. We’re going to have to address that.
“The dogs appear to be healthy and alert,” Navarro said. “They don’t look like they’re in distress — but the quality of life back there, it’s not ideal in my eyes.”
ABC-7 asked Fenstermacher if Title 7 revisions include giving Animal Services officers power to access animals without the consent of property owners.
Fenstermacher said that wasn’t part of the current discussion because the department has a close relationship with police that allows them quick access to imperiled dogs on private property. He also urged everyone to report anything suspicious to police or Animal Services.
In the meantime, Coulehan contacted someone behind another Craigslist ad. A woman selling 4-week-old Huskies told Coulehan to meet her with $250 in the parking lot of Cielo Vista Mall in East El Paso the following day. In order to keep the puppy from ending up in the arms of a buyer unprepared to bottle-feed a puppy, the Humane Society decided to buy the dog.
ABC-7 recorded the interaction between Coulehan and the seller, a woman who told Coulehan she brought two puppies so Coulehan could choose which one she wanted.
“I wish I could take them both,” Coulehan said as she picked one of the puppies from the seller’s arms.
Animal Services officers were also in the parking lot and witnessed the exchange, following the seller to a home in Northeast El Paso.
The seller was cooperative when the officers knocked on the door until she spotted an ABC-7 cameraman recording the interaction from the sidewalk. She closed the door on them, telling them she was going to call the police.
But the seller ended up talking to officers once the camera turned away, admitting to the parking lot transaction and more.
“She’s alleging that she brought the (puppies) from Mexico … to rehome them here,” Navarro told ABC-7. “We’re going to notify the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and usually what they do is flag them when they’re crossing the border.
“This is very common,” Navarro said. “People breed (dogs) in Mexico and they bring them into the states to sell because they can get more money in the states than they can in Mexico.”
The two sellers who interacted with Coulehan were each issued 10 citations by Animal Services officers. The citations were for lack of permits for sale, breeding and litter, selling underage animals, and lack of vaccinations, microchipping and registration.
Humane Society director Betty Hoover has advocated for a tougher animal regulation ordinance since before the revisions were made in 2010.
“We have a law on the books that is very hard to enforce,” she told ABC-7. “We have a law on the books that most people are not aware of and it’s the animals that are suffering as a result of that.”
Hoover’s main issue is the sale of underage animals. She pointed out that sellers and buyers alike may not realize that puppies younger than 8 weeks are dependent on their mothers for milk, help with urination and defecation, and to learn how to socialize with other dogs and people.
“If you’re not a pet owner and you don’t intend to be a pet owner, you probably don’t care (about what’s in Title 7),” Hoover said. “But what we see are the ramifications of animals with socialization problems here at the Humane Society everyday. The majority of the animals that come here that are owner-relinquished. The great majority are probably related to behavioral issues, and it all goes back to socialization.
“Almost like teaching a child how to be a good kid, dogs and kittens need to be taught how to be good members of the household,” Hoover said.
Fenstermacher told ABC-7 that when everyone abides by Title 7, it aids in public health.
“We want to make sure we’re protecting the consumer that may be unaware of what some of those issues are,” Fenstermacher said, explaining how other pets or people in the household may be at risk if the new pet was unknowingly not vaccinated against communicable diseases such as rabies or parvo.
Fenstermacher acknowledged that litter permits are difficult to enforce and that many sales of illegally bred animals have migrated from flea markets and parking lots to the Internet. But when asked if more officers will be hired to help find backyard breeders, he said the city needs help from the community to enforce the ordinance.
“Our field officers do scour websites (for puppy sales),” Fenstermacher said. “Obviously, there are 50 sets of eyes looking at it, versus an entire community. So, that’s where we ask for the community’s help — if they’re seeing something that doesn’t look right, bring it to our attention so we can address it.”
The city hopes to revise Title 7 by December.
Learn more about permits that are required to breed and sell pet here.
El Paso Animal Services is holding a week-long adoption event in conjunction with this ABC-7 special report. Get details here.
