Undercover journalist films Ohio dog auction

Dog auctions are yet another byproduct of commercial dog breeding.  They’re just another way that puppy millers can make money.  In an investigation, a news team secretly filmed a dog auction.  The film footage is telling, however we would like to have seen more.  Watch the two videos and take note of the buyers at the auction.

Part 1 of the investigation shows the actual auction; part 2 follows what happens to several dogs that the  news team was able to rescue.  Below, the text of the two stories is displayed.

I-Team Investigation: Inside the multi-million dollar business of dog auctions (Part 1)

Posted on May 25, 2010 at 6:53 PM 

(WHAS11) – It’s a multi-million dollar national business; the sale of dogs at auction. Many of the dogs end up in pet stores and some in puppy mills. 

WHAS11’s Melanie Kahn went undercover to get a story many breeders and pet store owners don’t want you to see. 

It is legal in many states, including Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. But animal rights activists are working to outlaw the auctions. 

WHAS11 went inside one of the biggest auctions in the Midwest last weekend in Ohio, for you to see what goes on. 

It’s a world few could ever imagine… And a world even fewer have ever seen.
           
With hidden cameras, WHAS11 takes you inside a world where thousands of dogs a year are sold. It happens at the Buckeye Dog Auction House, a dilapidated barn that sits off State Road 557 in Farmerstown, Ohio.  For most of the year this place is vacant but on auction days it’s packed, full of people, of all ages eager to buy and sell dogs. 

Upstairs are hundreds of dogs and puppies, stacked up in wire cages, waiting to be put on the auction block. Some look excited, some confused and many seem scared. They don’t have names, only numbers, their order on the auction block. 

Each dog is brought into the room in numerical order and brought to a veterinarian table, where the dog is given, at most, a 20 second exam.  After that, it’s off to the auction block where the bidding begins. 

The price of the dog depends on the breed, age, gender and the most important quality for commercial breeders: the past breeding history of the dog. 

Those commercial breeders, known as puppy mill operators, may be hoping to expand their stock and their fortune. 

Selling puppies is one of the largest industries in the united states, grossing hundreds of millions a dollars a year, perpetuated primarily by consumers who purchase dogs from the thousands of pet stores across the country, that buy their dogs from auctions like these. 

The Buckeye Dog Auction is one of the largest auctions in the Midwest, regularly serving breeders and pet stores from states east of the Mississippi River.  At this auction, breeders have brought dogs to sell from Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, West Virginia and Georgia.  This auction house is owned by Harold Neuhart, who also breeds puppies for profit. 

USDA inspection reports show that he had been cited multiple times by inspectors for poor building maintenance, dirty food and water bowls and for assaulting a USDA inspector.  For years he has ignored a barrage of phone calls from members of the media.
           
But when WHAS11 showed up with our cameras he did not avoid us, but Neuhart was not happy to see WHAS11. He did not want to talk to us with the camera and grabbed it at one point.For several minutes, WHAS11 Photographer Steven Richard tried to convince Neuhart to let go of the camera while a Holmes County Sheriff’s Deputy stood by. She only intervened when specifically asked.  When asked by the officer, Neuhart let go and Melanie gave Neuhart one more chance to talk to WHAS11. He refused.

With that, WHAS11’s visit to the Buckeye Dog Auction House was over, without knowing the fate of the hundreds of dogs we left behind.  WHAS11 brought home 9 dogs, as many as we could fit in the car.  The Humane Society reports many of the dogs that don’t sell are killed.  While there, WHAS11 saw no evidence of this and we want to stress again this is a legal practice, supplying many pet stores.

 

I-Team Investigation:  Inside the multi-million dollar business of dog auctions (Part 2)

Posted on May 26, 2010 at 6:04 PM

Louisville, KY (WHAS11)  – Puppy auctions are something many puppy mill operators and pet store owners don’t want you to see.

WHAS11’s Melanie Kahn went undercover to one of the auctions last weekend, where hundreds of dogs were sold. She and the crew did not leave empty-handed.  They were working with a rescue group called Luv 4 K9s, a group based out of Dayton, Ohio.  Together, they brought nine dogs home, which is all they could fit in the car.

On the way, they stopped at a veterinarian just outside Holmes County.

This is the conclusion of this WHAS11 Investigation.

Hundreds of dogs stacked up in wire crates, all waiting to be put on the auction block and sold to the highest bidder.  WHAS11’s hidden camera went inside the Buckeye Dog Auction in Farmerstown, Ohio.

Dog auctioning is a multi-million dollar national industry and it is legal in almost every state, including Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. But animal rights groups say it’s an inhumane practice that should be stopped.

The auction house WHAS11 visited is owned by Harold Neuhart. When WHAS11 confronted him and asked to speak to him, he refused and at one point, grabbed the camera.  After Neuhart refused an interview, WHAS11 News left the auction house, but not empty handed.  The volunteer who brought us into the auction bought nine dogs.

After leaving the auction house, WHAS11 and the volunteer went to Dr. Jeff Baranack, a veterinarian at the Oak Pointe Veterinary Care Clinic, in Dover, just outside of Holmes County.  For years, Dr. Baranack has worked with the Humane Society of America, helping dogs like the ones at auction.
   
When WHAS11 brought in the dogs, he agreed to examine and treat all of them for free.  One by one, he carefully examined each dog, many were still afraid to come out of their carriers and a few shook in the doctor’s hands.  Some of the dogs WHAS11 brought in had minor problems; slight eye problems, ear infections and tooth problems.  Then others, like one little dachshund, known as #244, had bigger issues. She had a large bump on her back, requiring immediate treatment.

“Something that she hit her back against caused some bleeding and it clotted and what’s left is a pocket of serum… We call it a seroma. That’s such a large one on her back, that, to be honest when I feel it from the outside, it’s probably been there a while.  There’s some scaring around it, so in my opinion, it’s been there a while,” explained Dr. Baranack.

Others were living in such poor conditions, that they had ears infested with ear mites.

According to state law it is legal to breed puppies for commercial purposes, but it is illegal to treat them inhumanely or to keep them in unsanitary conditions.  “There’s a demand for puppies and where there’s a demand, people will find a way to make a buck off of it,” added Dr. Baranack.  According to Dr. Baranack, the people who make the most money are pet stores.

“You go into these pet stores and you see these cute little puppies you have to realize, great you want the puppy, but you’re supporting a lifestyle,” added Dr. Baranack.  This lifestyle and the industry continues to be one of the largest in the United States.  All nine of the dogs are well now.  Eight are living with either foster families or at the Luv 4 K9’s Animal Rescue in Dayton, Ohio.
 
One dog did come back with WHAS11 and we have some photos of her. The dachshund who suffered from the seroma on her back, the dog once known as #244, is now named Annabelle.

She was adopted by one of our photographers, Aron Pryor, who says she is doing well, and started wagging her tail for the first time Tuesday.

You can see photos of Annabelle and all the dogs from the auction in our photo gallery.   If you’d like more information on dog auctions and the effort to ban them, visit the Coalition to Ban Dog Auctions Website.