Public discontent over alleged puppy mill Top Dog Kennel has registered on the Tulare County Board of Supervisor’s (TCBOS) radar.
Supervisor Amy Shuklian said she has read the complaints concerning Ron Abbott’s Top Dog Kennel and hopes to address the residents’ concerns through the Tulare County Animal Services (TCAS) Advisory Committee.
Shuklian is the county representative on the committee that formed over two years ago to improve how the county treats its strays and to improve the lives of animals enclosed in kennels.
Critics of Top Dog Kennel have given firsthand testimonies of abuse, over breeding, unsanitary conditions and animal cruelty. They say the dogs are relegated to a life of outdoor small enclosures, enduring the heat in the summer and mud in the winter.
Abbott has contested these accusations, saying he only breeds his dogs once a year starting when they are 18 months and ending around five to six years, old depending on the breed. He also contends they get daily exercise.
TCAS has conducted several inspections of Abbott’s kennel and have found the facility is within code and is not breaking any laws.
In response to complaints that started five years ago, TCAS advisory committee is currently revising county ordinances to reduce the number of animals allowed in kennels, limit the number of times a dog can be bred and increase the amount of exercise allowed.
Patrick Hamblin, Director of TCAS, says that the new ordinances might affect Abbott’s ability to comply in the future.
Shuklian said that it is her hope that the new ordinances can be finished within six months.
The community is invited to participate in updating kennel ordinances by attending the TCAS advisory Committee meeting. The next meeting is August 9 at 1pm in the Resource Management Agency Conference room located at Government Plaza right across the street from Mooney Grove Park, 5961 S Mooney Blvd, Visalia.
The Advisory Committee is comprised of 19 members from the community with different backgrounds in animal welfare. Their responsibilities include, besides rewriting the Kennel ordinance, developing and recommending methods to promote adoption of shelter animals.
Kennels are not against the law
The fact that Abbott’s kennels are within the law has not appeased the community.
Dan wrote in response to a Valley Voice article in the July 19 issue concerning Top Dog Kennel, “It is sad that we need regulations to tell us that abusing dogs is wrong. It’s too bad that a minister (Ron Abbott) sees these animals as “cash cows” and over breeds and abuses them. It’s too bad that he doesn’t just do the right thing and instead skates the line and does the minimum. Just because something isn’t illegal doesn’t make it right.”
According to breedingbusiness.com, “Dog breeders get a bad reputation, mainly due to a minority using low standards and bad practices in their kennels. The first mission of responsible dog breeding is to breed few individual dogs in order to improve the breed as a whole. In other words, a breeder’s litter should always be a well thought out improvement on its previous generation.”
Lucky Lab Rescue founder wrote in one of her testimonies concerning the Top Dog Kennel, “Reputable dog breeders perpetuate the breed of dogs they are passionate about for the betterment and longevity of that breed. These breeders know the history of a dog’s lineage and health issues of that lineage……. They only breed a certain amount of times during the lifetime of a female. The health of the mama dog and pups are of the utmost importance. They care about the mental aspects of the dogs’ well being as well as the physical. Which means they are raised, from the time they are born, as if they were a part of their own family including teaching them potty training and socialization.”
California Passes Historic Puppy Mill Law
Starting January 1, 2019, California pet stores will no longer be able to sell puppies from kennels. The Pet Rescue and Adoption Act makes California the first state in the nation to ban the sale of commercially raised dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet stores across the state.
The SPCA says the federal government has continuously failed to protect dogs in puppy mills and that the puppy mill ban means that dogs will be treated like pets rather than a commodity.
“Pets aren’t appliances. They are living, breathing, loving animals who deserve as much loyalty and compassion as they give. This is why we fight so hard to stop the cruel puppy-making factories that create “inventory” for pet stores at an incredibly inhumane cost,” said the SPCA.
Shuklian agrees with the new puppy mill ban. While on the Visalia City Council she said she looked into implementing a similar ban but found that Pet Smart and Petco already abided by it and only offer rescue dogs and cats for sale. The only pet store that sold puppies was in the Visalia mall and closed years ago after a fire gutted the business.
Referring to Top Dog Kennel, Shuklian doesn’t think it serves the public good to have a kennel with so many dogs and offer so many breeds. “With all the homeless dogs we have it’s not necessary to buy from a breeder.
“I currently have two shelter dogs and they are perfect.”
Better to educate public against buying from this puppy mill if he has no business he will look elsewhere to make money since that seems to be all he cares about like selling cars outside his property as well. How much is he making under his tax exempt status with his church front operation.
I hope someone does the same to you.
KC I happen to very conservative why that matters is beyond me. Any decent human being with a heart should find any puppy mill unacceptable, it’s obvious he is all about money with all his various money making endeavors. He will be judged at some point to what his true intentions are. Hope he likes hot places.
Since when did the public have a right to demand to look to everyone’s shirt. If the public wants to control his their dogs are living fine… But those animals being to them and it is not anyone’s right to control others unless they are harming them. Conservative used to mean.. We mind our own business.
I hope every one of these Libtard busy bodies find themselves under a microscope. Most of the finger pointers are the worst hypocrits on the planet.
Leave that man alone to live his life and go save a child.
I swear these animal rights idiots would let ten foster children starve before a dog.
Get a new cause.
When did animal welfare become a conservative or liberal issue? What does caring about the abuse of animals have to do with foster children? Are you incapable of caring about the lives of animals and children?
You must be friends, what is wrong with you? As nothing to do with children, has to do with having a heart and being a decent human.
Ms. Cooper, if it were not for the public defending the rights of defenseless animals abusers would go entirely unnoticed. Abuse is most certainly the time for “the public to look at everyone’s shirt”. Abuse comes in many forms and if you do not consider keeping dogs caged and overbred for profit abuse then what do you consider abuse? And yes, breeding a dog every year for up to 6 years is overbreeding and clear and present lack of care for the animal. Consider being pregnant every year of the prime of your life and kept inside your bedroom only being let out for a short walk if you are lucky. Sound like fun? The world is full of existing animals readily available for adoption and overbreeding for profit is neither necessary nor is it morally right. I have pound puppy that is the best dog ever and I would never consider getting a dog from any other facility other than a shelter. Please do not judge others for their morals and standards in protecting those who cannot protect themselves. That goes for children also.
Well said, Robin.
I answered one of Abbot’s ads because I was interested in getting a new puppy. What I saw was traumatizing. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I realized right away that I was experiencing a puppy mill.
I tried to discreetly take some pics but only got a couple pics of the male enclosures. I will be sending those pics to Valley Voice. I saw moms with pups in filthy, tiny places with feces in their space. None of the dogs were socialized. I tried to interact with a adult male and a young puppy that had been returned to Abbott, both of which he tried to sell to me. Neither had any idea what to do. They were just spastic and out of control. There were well over 100 dogs there in unbelievably horrible conditions. This place should be shut down. Thanks to the Valley Voice for publishing this much needed article.
When was this Marcella?
I took in a dog who had outlived her usefulness to this place . The vet estimated her age at 8-10 years. She was afraid of people, afraid of being touched, scarred on her face,and had been pregnant many, many times, according to the vet. She was flea infested, had infected ears, and had two tumors which needed to be biopsied. She cowered and shied away from people. My heart ached for her. I wanted her to know no-one at my home would hurt her. I wanted her to know that she was finally safe, and people actually wanted to give her comfort, happiness and love. Only time could convince her that she was in fact safe..and slowly a sweet, more trusting dog began to emerge. The flinching, cowering dog began to recede. I haven’t seen Top Dog Kennels with my own eyes. I have seen the dog who lived there; frightened and skittish, in need of medical care, love and rehabilitation. Please support efforts to shut down puppy mills.
I would be interested to k ow which dog you are referring to? Because while an older dog may have delivered numerous liters, I am sure you knew this when you got her… Fleas & a skiddiah dog raised outdoors in kennels, may be a realistic possibilities, however I find the rest of your statements a bit more of a stretch! I don’t doubt a ilder dog also could develop issues but sounds to me like you are trying to attribute all of the issues to “abuse or neglect”… anyone knows a tumor doesn’t come from either of those either… 🤔
Bethany, Her name is Winnie. Of course I knew of her health and other issues when I got her. Getting her out of that awful place was the point. She had basically spent her whole life i caged, producing puppies her sole reason for existance. What a sad life for a sweet, gentle dog. Winnie was afraid of people, afraid to be petted, afraid to even eat from her food bowl if someone was nearby. She crouched and ran if a person walked directly toward her or extended a hand quickly, especially near or above her head. Does this sound to you like a dog who has been well treated? There is no excuse for not attending to the health of a dog of any age. She had infected ears and was covered in fleas. Both conditions cause suffering, itching and pain, for the dog, but nobody at Top Dog Kennels cared about that. Neither of those conditions prevented her from having more puppies, which appears to have been all she was valued for. Tumors do not arise out of neglect or abuse, but failure to appropriately treat an animal who has them shows a callous disregard for that animal’s wellbeing. When an animal is a comodity however, I guess you don’t worry too much about whether it is suffering as long as that suffering doesn’t get in the way of your profit, right? I get that these dogs are not beloved pets, but that is no excuse for treating them cruelly. Make no mistake; to leave a social animal like a dog to live it’s entire life alone in a cage is the height of cruelty.
I’m glad to say Winnie has been adopted into a very kind and loving adoptive home. In the time she has left they are dedicated to making sure she has the kind of life she deserves; a clean, soft bed every night and love from those caring for her. She survived Top Dog Kennels; no thanks to Ron Abbott.
Adopting a pet is great! But most of these stories are out of people pursuing their own agenda. Clearly the county states they have made numerous site visits for which he always passes inspections. For every person complaining, there are many many more who clearly are happy with their animals. The complainers are activist with a different agenda, usually local people jealous of him having this as a “business” & making constant personal jabs at him, his religious background & family. I don’t have time to address each of your admonishments which are taking things to extreme…
For all of you I ask you this; are your animals more important than a human life!?
I give you this example!
A word to all of you whi are adoption fanatics, I respect your right to choose to adopt, but you’re out of line to try to shove your choices & opinions about your band wagon,displaying passions for pets in shelters, are your opinions… your choice. But many people appreciate a pure bred papered animal they can trace back to its origins.
So before you decide your choice is the only choice & want to go off on me & Top Dog Kennels & it’s supporters, let’s make a real life comparison to the different of opinion & choice!
SOLUTION FOR YOU & THE REST OF THE WORLD:
STOP HAVING CHILDREN – STOP HAVING GRAND CHILDREN!!!! Until there are ZERO homeless/orphans in Tulare, the county, the state, America & the world, it is absurd for you to even think you have the right to be breeding for your own offspring!??
If you are so concerned with “life” before procreating, why allow IVF, when we have a world of starving children waiting for a home? Adopt!!! I mean if you are this adamant about dogs shouldn’t you be more concerned with human life!?? Go adopt a homeless person, invite them to live with you in your home, no matter what their state of health, or background!!!! Go adopt a child as there are so many who have parents not able to keep or care for them! BOTTOM LINE: Don’t have any more children or grandchildren, if you think all breeders should be shut down & no more dogs should be bred as pure bred.
If you can say you haven’t had children of your own by choice & are adopting a human then you are part of a real solution… if not, you are a hypocrite! Don’t preach to my about my pet procreating as remotely equivalent to contributing to homeless animals! All the while you & your children are procreating while there are endless homeless people & orphaned children!! This is a real life perspective & exactly in line with you thinking you have the solution to animal over population! Our world is overpopulated.
Too bad these very same people aren’t as adamant about human lives!!! A bunch of procreating hypocrites who talk the talk but can’t walk the walk!!!
Now… are we on the same page yet? Your ideas are yours, do what you can, but who do you think you are to take away MY CHOICE to buy from a breeder, a papered pet, for which I have a pedigree!.
Sad world we live when you think your choice is the only respectable one!
O, Bethany, I chose not to procreate and happy I made that decision. And there are other people I would like to see not procreate and you fall into that list. Ron Abbot isn’t breeding for the love of the dog which is obvious by the pictures. Deduction: he is doing it for the money. So go protest in front of welfare offices or where ever you think those who are procreate are being assisted in procreating to get their assistance stop. And we will continue our protests about Ron’s abusive money making tactics.
Bethany, I understand that you are Abbott’s daughter. I also understand that Abbott has many many grandchildren. Your family fails in line with those that you criticize. Unfortunately you are misrepresenting yourself.
My husband and myself have chosen not to have children, and my family has chosen to adopt a child from a third world country. But, that is a different issue than animal abuse.
We also believe that ONLY responsible breeders should be allowed to breed. Your father does not care about anything but his pocket book. I have observed him sell a 5 week old puppy to a couple, and send it home with dry kibble (which a 5 week old puppy cannot even digest). Then he commented to me that he knew it was against the law, but did it anyway. He then boasted about how much money he’d made that day.
I observed all the adult dogs with scars on their faces and worn down teeth from trying to chew their way out of their wire cages. I saw feces all over the animals and animals that had no outlet, therefore had become aggressive toward each other. I saw nursing females with massive tumors. Those tumors had to have been growing for months and were untreated (obviously). The dogs were not socialized, and I could assume that the females were beaten until the they submitted to mating. This I was confirmed by the previous employee of Abbott’s in the first article.
Abbott’s prized poodles “as he referred to them” also were dirty and undersocialized and ran around with twine ropes around their necks. I would assume because he probably had a hard time catching them.
Abbott also has starving horses that he’s breeding, around a 100 pheasants, and chickens. From my experience, it equates to “hell on earth.”
Any human that uses another animal, specifically his females that are locked in cages, in their own feces, and beaten until they mate, are bred over and over until they get too sick, or too old, then is discarded, should be held responsible! The community wants this. They want this hell on earth shut down!
Dear Bethany – its hard to know where to start with regard to your litany of BS that is completely irrelevant to what is obviously going on here or what this is about. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree does it? I guess when you’ve spent most of your life on the dole you begin to think things like this are… normal, everyday things and why would anyone think any different? right?
People who have actually done their homework know that anyone can breed and get a “papered” dog from a place like this and that it has nothing whatsoever to do with good breeding practices OR good genetics, because its known already that that is not what happens at the Abbott mill.
Someone who breeds purely for profit and without any respect for a living thing is not what we need in Tulare county or anywhere else in our country. Contrary to what you and yours say, for every “happy customer” there are 10 who have been horribly jilted and hurt by what they have purchased from this mill and the dogs who have died or have had horrible genetic defects not to mention the lack of any socialization whatsoever. Many of them end up being dumped at shelters, euthanized or dumped with rescues who try to help them.
So, Bethany, since a good portion of your life has profited from the backs of these dogs maybe its best to stay in the background because you’re not doing daddy any favors with your ignorance.
Bethany if someone where hording foster children for the government paycheck and keeping them in horrible conditions… I’d want it stopped. If Some human trafficker was breeding babies and keeping the mothers in cages I don’t think I’d support that either… maybe you would that way you can get “pick of the litter”. Comparing children to puppies is kinda ridiculous. Just because someone sees abusing animals is wrong doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have kids. Either you agree and think over breeding and having animals live in their own feces (along with all the other complaints people have made here) for your profit is wrong or you don’t. Either way its your choice… personally I think its wrong.
there is proof… um just in case you’re wondering people coming forward as witnesses of these allegations is considered proof… also pictures that have been shown is proof. Now the absence of evidence is not considered proof… so the fact that when they checked his kennel he skated by at the minimum standards is not evidence that the people who are making allegations are lying… it could be that the standards are really low. Which the county has stated. Does Abbotts kennel have low standards… my opinion yes. And if Abbotts being harassed then he should follow your advice and talk to a lawyer.
Dave, regulations only need to be enforced if people are breaking them… are you saying Mr. Abbott is someone who wont follow regulations? Dog fighting used to be legal and even promoted by the United Kennel Club… until the “voice of the people” changed and saw it as abuse. Well the “voice of the people” see what Mr. Abbott does as abuse and apparently he needs regulations to tell him that.
The voice of what people? Two or three malcontents?
Guess what? If this business meets the legal specifications, that’s the end of the story.
Dave did you read the article? It isn’t two or three people… and this article isn’t about Abbott breaking current laws its about the regulations needing to be changed so that people like Abbott don’t abuse animals for profit by over breeding, unsanitary conditions, keeping them in small enclosures out in the hot sun and wet mud. Abbott claims he doesn’t do this so why are you guys fighting changing the regulations to prevent what Abbott claims doesn’t happen anyway? If Top Dog Kennel is so animal friendly changing the regulations wont affect him. So the simple question is do you feel dogs should be bred every heat, in small enclosures with lots of other dogs, in 110+ degree heat in the summer and/or freezing wet mud in the winter? If you do then you don’t want the regulations changed… if you don’t then you would be appalled that the current regulations apparently allow this type of behavior… so which are you?
You didn’t answer my question.
And he won’t.
Dan – I wouldn’t waste your time on Dave M. He is a known troll and doesn’t make sense.
Dave I’m going to answer your question although you don’t answer mine. I’m going to guess what you’re referring to is the post where they call you a troll and say you don’t make sense… a troll is someone who “makes a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.” calling people stupid I’d say qualifies… along with some of your other posts. The not making sense part probably stems from the fact that you tell people to do something instead of just sitting at a computer complaining… but then when they do by contacting their representatives to get the ordinance changed that they feel allows the abuse of animals you complain about that… thus not making sense… you’re complaining about people getting off their keyboard and trying to invoke change that they believe in. Now I could be wrong and you could be referring to something else… or maybe that’s not what PMTHATER means. Just my interpretation.
I’m beyond curious does anyone know any one who has ever bought a male dog older than 1 year old from him?
I’ve read all the comments on all the pages and websites and I see a couple people who have bought one of his10 year old bred to death females and their testimonies of puppies. But I’ve never seen an ad for a ‘stud’ what happens to all those boys? I’ve heard but not seen or seen pictures of these dogs I’ve heard there are as many as 15 or so breeding males all pinned together and they’re all scarred up probably from being in a pen with 15 other intact males I assume?
So I’m curious can his family and friends on here tell us what happens to the male dogs and how long are they bred for? Then where do they go?