A Little Falls, Minn., dog breeder, whose kennel application spawned a lawsuit and protests over his plan to debark some dogs, says he's closing the operation he opened in 2007. But Humane Society officials and neighbors are skeptical. Animal-welfare activists are concerned.
Gary McDuffee is registered to sell 135 dogs today at an auction in Missouri and plans to sell more dogs at auctions in December and February. An Internet posting by the Southwest Auction Service states: "Gary McDuffee is going out of business."
Wade Hanson, the Humane Society agent who oversees central and northern Minnesota, said he questions whether McDuffee is retiring because of the money he recently invested in one of Minnesota's largest kennel operations. Hanson speculated McDuffee might be using the auction to rid himself of older dogs. Thirty-six of the dogs listed for auction are at least 4 years old, but 52 are puppies. Most are small, designer breeds.
McDuffee, 56, a retired special education teacher, declined this week to be interviewed by the Star Tribune. But Caryl Freeman, a Seneca, Mo., breeder who served as his contact person for the auction, said she is "assuming he is retiring." The auction website posting says simply: "Gary has been in business for many years, but he feels it is time to sellout."
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Nancy Minion -- an activist from Woodbury who has lobbied for legislation that would license, inspect and regulate commercial dog and cat breeders in Minnesota -- said animal rescue teams, some from Minnesota, hope to be at today's auction to buy as many of McDuffee's dogs as possible. "We don't want them going from one puppy mill to another," she said. "We've already failed these dogs once."
Barking into the night
Morrison County Administrator Deb Gruber says little has been heard from McDuffee since the county board approved his application in February 2007 to operate Waggin Tail Kennels in Belle Prairie Township. But neighbors Sara Dickmann and Roger Nelson, who went to court in an attempt to keep him from opening the kennel, say they are haunted by what they hear: the sounds of dogs barking well after midnight and the roar of vans hauling them away.
"This week, there were the usual vans that drive away with crates full of dogs every Wednesday morning, usually between midnight and 2," Dickmann said. "But he also had vans or trucks at his place in the middle of the night on Monday."