Damned Zombies

I sit leisurely with my right boot neatly crossed over its’ partner, the pair resting atop the seat opposite to mine. It is the 7:52 evening train to Southeast from Grand Central. Thirty-one minutes ago, these same pads were flying at (self-proclaimed) breakneck speeds from the 6 Uptown subway through peak-hour foot traffic to Track 29, where they would come to a blatant halt at the verbal proclamation, “FUCK!” This obscenity screeched at an admittedly un-lady-like volume, perhaps compensating for the temporary deafness caused by One Headlight blasting through my headphones. It was 7:21:34, and the 7:21 train slowly, but damned hell surely was already in motion, leaving me to rot on the platform wallowing in the mortification of the totally obnoxious F-bomb I had just dropped in front of two wide-eyed elderly women and a MTA employee.

For the next thirty-one minutes, I would sit in the last car of the next departing train, sighing heavily out of frustration and shamelessly people watching.

Do you ever see someone creeping on you, and when you look at him or her, they don’t look away or pretend that didn’t just happen? They just stare straight through your flesh, into the depths of your soul with zero remorse. Then to amplify the awkward, the rest of the time spent in their presence you uncontrollably indulge in a tug-of-war of staring contests with them?

In this scene here, I was the creep. And while they all boarded at different times, clad in a prism of jeans to dresses to suits, they all had the same thing in common.

Washed out complexion. Dreary-eyed. Seemingly absent-minded. Most mouths lazed into position of awe, some near-foaming. No personal connections or interactions took place between or amongst any of them.

I was sitting on a train of Zombies.

“Is that what I want to look like, five, fifteen, fifty years down the road?” I asked my still-creepily entranced self. By the way, for sake of self-dignity, I will now blame such rude fixation on some Zombie spell they must have cast on me.

They all seem so miserable. Most of them had probably just sat in an office for the previous eight hours staring at a lucid screen thinking about all of the things they would rather be doing. This, of course, is a generalization, as well as a presumption. But seriously, judging by every drab countenance I held in eyesight… these were not the faces of self-fulfilled happy people.

As if staring at machines, crunching numbers and sending e-mails all day wasn’t draining enough, here they sit, staring blankly into their computers. Their smartphones. Their tablets. Crunching numbers. Checking e-mails. Responding to e-mails.

Honestly, the oversized Italian gentleman saturated in Acqua di Gioia playing Candy Crush seemed the most human.

I don’t even feel bad for them. At this point, they are all sick masochistic monsters.

And as if one phone wasn’t enough, some have TWO.

One for business, one for pleasure?

Gross.

...I suppose when I start to write one-lined adjectives of my repulsion, I should stop writing before this turns into a rant.

I will end in saying that realistically speaking, I will float along side of you for now, Society, just to make ends meet. However, I hope to never sacrifice my own sane content human soul to satisfy the opinions of those flesh-hungry Zombies.  

Roots: a poem for an amazing woman

Lost seeds she found then

picked up from the ground 

nurturing nature 

with kindest of grace

Once lay as dud 

blossom the loveliest bud 

here the sadness erased

The common trunk unfurls

happiest girls 

together 

year after year

They grow back in spirits 

to return the same lyrics 

of advice and peace 

she brings still

The beautiful life 

she has given to them 

will forever live 

in these roots

Study & Mastership

I am so grateful that a close friend shared this with me today. The words Ms. Lauryn Hill shares in these 23 minutes are "heavy as bricks." This is knowledge. This is growth. You are spot on, "Ms. Johnson," this is where we want to be in a few years, and so we will.

"It's more important to be righteous than to be right." 

 

"It's definitely an exciting time for me because I'm at the foot-- of another hill, this hill is different, it's totally different, you have to navigate it different, but I get to learn, and then once you learn and you go through that, you on the top of another one. Never be afraid of not knowing, find out. That's how you get to mastership."

"Let's not be mediocre in our greatness."

"I pray more now to understand than to be understood. I pray now to learn how to love than to be loved."

"The bread was encouragement, and love. And the meat was the correction. And then there was another piece of bread with more encouragement and love... that worked."

Pure Bred Puppy Website Sells Puppy Mill Puppies: Can Nothing Be Done?

“Meet Kingston! He is a super bouncy and playful little guy who is ready to meet his new family! He has been hand raised around children, as well as other pets. He will greet you with his tail wagging and ready for you to spoil him! He has a nice full, thick coat that is fluffy and soft. His tail curls right over his back, making him a showstopper! He is just a gorgeous boy! Don't miss out on this guy!” –purebredbreeders.com

Kingston, an eleven-week-old male Bichon Frise, is one puppy of the 100+ breeds currently listed on www.purebredbreeders.com. White, even-tempered and weighing 2.5 pounds as of his post-date on Wednesday the 24th. Kingston’s mom has a listed weight of 7-8 pounds, while his dad weighs a similarly vague 9-10 pounds. A friendly phone sales associate named Camella can even send a picture via e-mail of Kingston’s “mommy” to guarantee his upbringing.

With “lifetime guarantee pet insurance” and a triple health check, Camella will repeat that Pure Bred Breeders do not deal with pet stores or puppy mills; they only deal nationwide with top breeders that can supply healthy puppies. Pure Bred Breeders turn away about 90% of the 1,000 breeder applicants every year, to ensure only the finest of “designer breeds.” If something goes wrong within the first year of purchase, the breeder will refund the buyer 100% of the original sale. Between 2-10 years after purchase, Pure Bred Breeders will refund the buyer 50% of the original sale.

Kingston can be delivered within the week from his “loving family of breeders” in Arkansas. Pure Bred Breeders uses the same delivery used by the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, PetSafe. He can be picked up at John F. Kennedy International or LaGuardia Airport, “pre-spoiled” for his buyer because he has been so well loved in his Arkansas home. With all of the details laid out, this handsome fellow should be worth every penny of his listed price, $1,575. But what if he isn’t?

“We cannot guarantee the disposition or temperament, conformation, size, weight, color, markings or breeding ability of your new puppy,” says an exception listed under the Lifetime Guarantee.

This exception may seem a bit contradictory for such a previously detailed account of little Kingston’s perfectly balanced personality and physical features, something Joyce L. Nieweg learned the hard way in 2009 when she thought she had found her dream Bichon Frise, Shane, on a similar website, www.newyorkbichonfrisebreeders.com.

Nieweg explained it was on this website where she saw Shane, “the cutest little Bichon I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” Much like Kingston, the website listed the parents’ weight and all of the other information. “They described him as a handsome little guy, great personality, loves everybody, has all his vaccinations… this cutie loves to run around and play with toys. Shane would be a great addition to any family.” The website listed Shane’s registry as APRI (America’s Pet Registry, Inc.) Living with her family and a number of pets in their home in Jamaica, Queens, Nieweg believed Shane would be perfect.

After requesting to see Shane in person, a Buy Puppies Direct associate, Pam, wrote back in an e-mail on January 1st, “I can reassure you that all these puppies are being home raised with their breeders and families and are being well socialized… to see the true personality with one visit is very difficult.”

Nieweg requested more information about Shane’s father in early January of 2009. She was in contact with Jackie of www.buypuppiesdirect.com on January 6th, stating she never received the responses Jackie had promised her, and she was therefore worried. The following day, Jackie responded with one photo attachment of Shane’s supposed father. Jackie writes about Shane’s father, “he’s very handsome very fluffy coat! I know how excited you are about today, and I know how happy you will be with your new little one around the house!”

After $1,439 was charged to her VISA account however, Shane was not the dog she would pick up from JFK later that week.

Nieweg’s tone during a phone conversation with this writer dropped as she remembered picking up the dog at the airport, “They fly this thing into me, and I look in the cage, and there is this poor, little thing, shaking in the back of the cage, covered in urine, I cannot tell you, it was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen in my life… now starts my complaining.”

Nieweg then began her own research and discovered a link to Julie’s Jewels, Precious Puppies in Jewell, Iowa on Shane’s papers. It was on the website for Julie’s Jewels where photos of Shane, the dog supposedly laying in her living room, was still for sale, listed at nearly one-third of her purchase price. Nieweg would also soon find that Julie’s Jewels was in fact not listed as registered on the APRI website. Looking through Nieweg’s file on this case, a screenshot of the Julie’s Jewels website description reads, “Shane is a handsome little guy who loves to be held and cuddled. He should be around 8-9lbs full grown.” Nieweg’s first visit to the veterinary office the day after receiving the dog proved he was already eleven pounds.

Contacting www.buypuppiesdirect.com, the site associated with both www.newyorkbichonfrisebreeders.com and purebredbreeders.com, Nieweg wrote that upon picking up the dog at the airport, she notified the breeders that the dog was not Shane. The breeders then avoided all return contact with Nieweg. Nieweg contacted them at 1:15 PM on January 12th regarding Shane’s listing, and by 1:40 PM the “Puppies for Sale” page on Julie’s Jewels website listed five completely different puppies.

On January 8th, the day after receiving the dog at JFK, Nieweg was charged a vet bill of $262.90 for the treatment of kennel cough, a “large amount of earmites” and parasite Giardia. Dr. Odette O, an Associate Veterinarian at the Animal Hospital of Roslyn, also noted in an invoice, “On physical examination, he had reasonable body condition, and all of his deciduous dentition. There was fecal/urine staining and a poor (thin, dull) haircoat noted.” The puppy also had an upper respiratory infection and skin scabs.

Nieweg spoke with the Mayor of Jewell, Iowa, who expressed his greatest empathy, saying, “the conditions that these animals are living in is so despicable, when they do get notified that there will be an inspection, of course they clean it up to look beautiful… it was the most horrendous heartbreaking thing [I’ve] ever seen in [my] life.”

On January 21st, Nieweg wrote to the Better Business Bureau explaining the dog she ordered was not the dog she received.

On February 2nd, Buy Puppies Direct responded in saying, “Ms. Nieweg’s confusion is because she found the breeder’s website which was not updated. That’s why her puppy was still listed as available on the breeder’s website. Our website, however, was instantly updated… Ms. Nieweg is upset because she discovered that our organization charges more than the breeder charges for her puppies.” The company then explained several reasons for up charging the breeder’s list price, including their 10 year health guarantee, the breeder screening service that, “only accepts the very best breeders,” and the simple difference between paying wholesale and retail.

Nieweg’s printed rebuttal from the following day reads that on January 12th, she contacted Paul Whitmore, the sheriff of Jewell County, Iowa, who informed her, “that he is very familiar with these breeders and that they run a puppy mill where these animals are treated terribly and live under deplorable conditions. He has been trying to shut them down for years.”

In response to proving she had in fact received a puppy other than Shane, Nieweg explained that days after she had received the dog, Carolyn Arenob, one of the breeders at Julie’s Jewels was willing to sell her Shane. Nieweg also notes here that the other breeder, Julie Peterson, “actually signed the USDA form that came with the puppy as the USDA veterinarian.” The entire noted USDA form appears to have been filled out by the breeder, Julie Peterson. Peterson signs her own name on the appropriate line, as well as the USDA veterinarian. The same penmanship also appears under the animal identification section and the vaccination history section. Across both of these sections is written sloppily in Peterson’s hand writing over scribbled lines, “This pup has passed a general examination and can be shipped in temps are between 20-85°F.” In the boxes below, the name and address of a Dr. Michael W. Yanda is written in the same handwriting, with a signature that appears to be the only thing written differently than the rest of the form. Yanda is a vet at Webster City Veterinary Clinic in Iowa. Though this is a legitimate clinic still in business today, it does not add up for the entire form to be filled out by the breeder, only to include one signature, possibly signed by one veterinarian.

Nieweg also spoke with representative of PETA, who she remembers said to her, “Ma’am, I hate to be disrespectful, but if it wasn’t for people like you, these puppy mills wouldn’t exist.”

 “You know something? You’re absolutely right,” Nieweg regretfully responded.

Nieweg’s tone of voice sounded defeated when she explained she had written to and contacted several officials in Iowa, New York State, and Florida, home to Buy Puppies Direct. “I did everything possible to shut this place down, and all they did was change names, get off the web for a while… They are disgusting places that exist all over the Midwest, and they use places like buypuppiesdirect.com. They’ll show you pictures of a beautiful little whatever you want, and then they tell you it’s $1500, and they go to these puppy mills like the one I finally tracked down in Iowa, and they get the puppies for $500. They make sure they’re in a state where no one is allowed on their land. They make it look like these animals are treated like gold when they are notified of an inspection.”

On June 30th, 2008, Julie’s Jewels, located at 3434 Little Wall Lake Road in Jewell Iowa underwent a routine USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Animal and Plant Health Inspection. The one page inspection, carried out by USDA Animal Care Inspector Ronald Beard reads simply, “No non-compliances identified this inspection.”

Just over one year after Beard’s inspection, on July 17th, 2009, David Kaminsky, a USDA Veterinary Medical Officer Inspector, prepared a far different report of Julie’s Jewels. Citing eight different violations, some to be corrected within three days, others by the start of August, were violations in records, housing facilities, primary enclosures, feeding, cleaning, sanitization, housekeeping and pest control.

“…The drainage system removing the solid waste from the upper tier of enclosures—housing Siberian Huskies—was not constructed… to effectively… remove waste from the area….” To be corrected by 9-1-09.

“On the inside... of one of the enclosures… housing an adult female and her five puppies—There were multiple points and edges present with this defect that could harm the dogs contained within.” To be corrected by 8-1-09

“…The metal self-feeders… were rusted to the point where they cannot be properly cleaned and sanitized by methods described in Sec. 3.11(b)… In addition… some hair and dirt could also be seen on the inside top edges of some of the receptacles as well, for, in most instances, there are no covers present protecting the food.” To be corrected by 8-1-09.

“There was more than a days’ worth of fecal material built up inside the enclosures. This excessive fecal material was being mashed into the concrete and was observed being tracked throughout the enclosure. All fecal material must be removed... on a daily basis to prevent soiling of the dogs and reduce disease hazards, insects, pests, and odors.” To be corrected by 7-20-09.

“There was moderate/severe buildup of algae on the bottoms and sides of the water receptacles.” To be corrected by 7-20-09.

To believe that a handful of such violations would have spontaneously come about within a year after a previous inspection that had no non-compliances under the same ownership of Carolyn and Julie Arends would be asinine.

In May 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General (IG) created a sixty-nine page Audit Report 33002-4-SF, confirming, “the USDA had not been doing its job of enforcing the bare minimum standards of care as outlined in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).” (Iowa Voters for Companion Animals)

In the executive summary, the IG writes,

“In the last 2 years, there has been significant media coverage concerning large-scale dog dealers… that failed to provide humane treatment for the animals under their care. The breeders, negatively referred to as “puppy mills,” have stirred the interest of the public, Congress, animal rights groups, and others. Accordingly, we conducted an audit of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) Animal Care (AC) unit, which is responsible for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The audit focused on AC’s inspections of problematic dealers.”

The report explains that the Animal Care Unit “believed that compliance achieved through education and cooperation would result in long-term dealer compliance and, accordingly, it chose to take little or no enforcement action against most violators.” Inspectors did not cite/document violations properly, nor did they correctly report all repeat or direct violations (those more immediate to the health of the animals.) Because of this, problematic dealers were inspected far less frequently, even though the realities of conditions were, indeed, by moral and physical standards, direct.

Inspectors misused guidelines to lower penalties in about one-third of observed violators. Inspectors inconsistently counted violations, applied “good faith” reductions to penalties without merit, allowed a “no history of violations” reduction when the violators had a prior history, and arbitrarily changed the gravity of some violations and the business size.

The Animal Care Unit claimed, “it assessed lower penalties as an incentive to encourage violators to pay a stipulated amount rather than exercise their right to a hearing.”

With a high materialistic demand for “designer breeds,” thousands of dogs are left without homes while websites such as what Nieweg used and subsequent “licensed commercial breeders,” aka puppy mills, thrive.

As listed in the 2010 report, “some large breeders circumvented AWA (Animal Welfare Act) by selling animals over the Internet,” explaining that those selling animals over the Internet are exempt from the Animal Care’s inspection and licensing requirements due to a loophole in the AWA. “As a result, an increasing number of these unlicensed breeders are not monitored for their animals’ overall health and humane treatment.”

Nieweg requested a refund, understandably so, for the dog she ordered was clearly not what she received, and she was therefore obviously totally unsatisfied with her purchase. In a letter addressed to Mrs. Nieweg, Khevna Kamdar, Financial Service Advisor at Chase bank writes, “…our assistance may be limited as long as the puppy remains in your possession… We want to assist you in resolving this with the merchant; however, there is a limited time period that we have to present your information to the merchant’s bank… If you delay in responding, we will have very few options assisting you.”

Nieweg avidly refused the return of the puppy she received, now four-year-old Jake, to the breeder. “I wish I could take every one out of there, so I kept Jake, we changed his name because he wasn’t Shane and Shane just brought back bad memories. He is a wonderful, loving dog but if you move your leg near him, he’ll yelp, so you can tell he was kicked.”

A close friend to the Niewegs, Allie Palma, explains despite Jake living in a loving home for the past four years, he still almost always appears to be on edge, particularly around males. Palma says, “How he acts to this day shows how horribly he must have been treated in the mill.”

Nieweg concluded, “Bottom line was that in Iowa, that is private property, and unless they are notified that they are going to be visited, you are not allowed to step on their property, even if you are the FBI.”

When investigating Kingston’s case, this writer was surprised when the Buy Puppies Direct bubbly phone representative Camella offered direct contact with Jessica, Kingston’s breeder. Even Camella explained this was a great opportunity, as usually buyers are not able to connect directly with the breeders.

Coming from rural Arkansas, Jessica’s warm southern voice sounded to match the animal-loving family the website describes.

Jessica illustrated Kingston’s life in his 10-acre home as very socialized, living with two children, two female Yorkshire Terriers, (one who breeds, the other does not because Jessica thought she was too small at 3.5 full grown lbs.) Jessica’s thirteen-year-old son’s toy Australian Shepherd, along with the Shepherd’s five-week-old litter of puppies, and the respective male partners. “He is very playful, I know most puppies are, but he loves to play,” Jessica laughed. Kingston is one in five of his mother’s fourth litter of puppies.

While Kingston’s breeder sounded totally legitimate, the harsh reality shown through Mrs. Nieweg’s story is that there is no true way to tell who or what you are dealing with by any means of communication other than face-to-face.

The websites that purebreds like Jake and Kingston can be found on feature hundreds of photos of perfectly groomed dogs, literally wrapped in bows and jewels to visualize how well loved and spoiled rotten they have been at the homes of their exclusive breeders.

Websites such as The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) however feature only the national locations one can find their adoption centers. When an individual calls the ASPCA or North Shore Animal League adoption centers, the organization explains that the puppies/dogs on their website may not represent the exact puppies/dogs they have in-house. Neither adoption center will guarantee what breeds they have in-house either, encouraging callers to come in and fall in love for themselves, despite the breed. The ASPCA also urges all members of the family to attend adoption, including any pets already living in the household, so that their experts may properly assess how the adoptee will acclimate to their new environment. These types of thorough actions taken by the ASPCA in ensuring a happy “forever home” for the animal clearly exemplify the true love and concern the organization has for each animal.

American Dog Club, a pet store located on 957 Willis Ave in Albertson, New York has about fifteen to twenty dogs on display in their facility. There is a nine-week-old multi Shih Tzu male puppy, for sale at the price of $1,500. The sales associate, Hope, explained that the puppy is from a private breeder in Illinois. Hope avidly explained this facility is “constantly USDA inspected,” like the other list of ten-or-so breeders the American Dog Club has been dealing with since 1995.

Hope mentioned several times, without being asked, that they do not deal with puppy mills or faulty breeders, ensuring their puppies are happy and healthy from birth. The dog’s papers that Hope displayed listed no other information about his breeder aside from the arbitrary information of their location being in the state of Illinois.

Contact with this breeder was not permitted, as Hope explained the breeders deal with the store exclusively because they do not wish to be involved with the customer.

Urging his sale, Hope harped on the puppy’s handsome features, saying that because of his “adorable little face,” he would most likely sell within the week. Good news then followed, when Hope explained that if he were to sell in the next couple of days, the store will still have his sister downstairs in the nursery.

An employee of the store, Christina, confirmed over the phone that the American Dog Club is currently in possession of between thirty and forty puppies. This number implies that at least half of the puppies in this location are kept in the “downstairs nursery.” 

In early 2011, this writer had planned to adopt from The North Shore Animal League after losing her eleven-year-old Golden Retriever to cancer.

It was a muggy day in August 2011 when this writer took a trip in a moment of spontaneity to the town’s new pet store, Puppies, Puppies, Puppies in Bedford Hills, New York. It was less than two hours later that she had fallen in love with and spent her entire savings account on an 8lb foxy Shiba Inu she would later call Sadie.

Although she had heard about puppy mills, she never considered that she might be supporting such a horrendous business in buying this seemingly friendly, happy and healthy puppy.

On August 26th, two days after her purchase date Sadie had her first visit to the vet at Yorktown Animal Hospital. This visit was free of charge with her purchase from Puppies, Puppies, Puppies. She was diagnosed with Kennel Cough and two intestinal parasites, Giardia and Coccidia. During follow-up visit, Sadie was diagnosed with ear mites and an Upper Respiratory Infection. All of these symptoms and diagnoses match almost exactly with the issues that Nieweg found in her Bichon Frise, Jake after receiving him from the mill.

For months, Sadie struggled with severe stomach indigestion issues. Sadie’s vet, Dr. Raclyn of Yorktown Animal Hospital said these issues seemed like a result of a poultry allergy. Months later, Sadie is now on a stable dry food diet of Purina One Chicken & Rice Formula.

Now over a year after her purchase, this writer looked back at Sadie’s papers, where she found the breeders who sold Sadie were Donald and Judith Rhoads. The Rhoads facility is located at 21035 Hollow Place, Atlanta, MO. The sale was made to Puppies, Puppies, Puppies in Yonkers, NY, most recently known to the public as having been fined $20,000 for keeping its pets in unsafe and inhumane conditions.

As listed by the USDA, Rhoads is a licensed commercial breeder in Macon County, Missouri.

As of January 25th, 2011, Rhoads had an inventory of eighty-four adult dogs, and thirty-eight puppies, well over the number to qualify for a “large” commercial breeding facility, which is only three breeding adults.

Four USDA Inspections are recorded on petshoppuppies.com, however only two of the files are available for viewing. June 2009 and February 2010 do not show any violations in the documented reports, while routine inspections are not at all available for January 2011 or February 2012.

It is a bit nonsensical that a USDA Inspector would take the time to count out eighty-four adults and thirty-eight puppies, and not then upload the inspection file for that same date.

It is this inconsistency in the USDA system that so many advocacy groups have shamed over the years. The USDA’s ignorance to keep updated files, especially available for public viewing often results in a fatal end for many puppy mill animals.

According to The New York Times, the recent exposure of Yonkers’ Puppies, Puppies, Puppies is a primary result of actions being taken by Eric T. Schneiderman, attorney general of New York in his initiative to protect New York’s pets.

The Puppies, Puppies, Puppies Bedford Hills location where this writer purchased Sadie has since been closed for a number of months. Aside from the $20,000 fine, the Puppies, Puppies, Puppies Yonkers location was forced to promise a hault in the sale of sick puppies. The recent issues with the Yonkers location reported by The New York Times indicate further proof that Sadie, now a seemingly healthy young adult was purchased by the Yonkers store by a puppy mill run by Donald and Judith Rhoads, a USDA licensed commercial breeding facility still in business.