Animal control seizes 21 Dogs from home in Loxahatchee

Reported by: Eric Glasser
Photographer: Tom Special

 
It is the type of situation Palm Beach County hopes to see less of with its new mandatory spay and neuter ordinance.
 
Monday, in Loxahatchee, 21 dogs were found living in what investigators call substandard conditions. Dirty water. Make-shift shelters. Puppies covered in their own feces.

“If anyone's going to be caring for an animal in that manner then we're going to remove all the animals for their own safety and we can sort it out at a later time,” said Capt. Dave Walesky as they seized the animals.
 
The dogs owners say the animals are working dogs, not house pets. They show us plenty of food and medicine, and the dogs did not appear to be undernourished.
 
“I come out here every day and squirt then off. Every day I feed them. Every day I water them. Do you see my dog in there skinny? No,” said one of the animals owners Kenny Balzer.
 
Responsible breeders say the requirement to have dogs and cats sterilized infringes on their rights and saddles them with a huge expense.
 
But the county, forced to euthanize 18,000 animals just last year says change is needed.
 
“Perhaps it's time to shift the burden of responsibility, financial and otherwise, onto those individuals who choose not to spay and neuter their animals,” says Animal Care and Control Director Diane Sauve.
 
With fewer animals eventually out there, Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control hopes to see fewer such cases.
 
The ordinance, they say, will make exceptions for responsible so-called “hobby” breeders.
But it could also make  life uncomfortably expensive for those who operate puppy mills,  or perpetuate sub-standard care.
 
“What this ordinance will do is help us to stop the cycle of people that are constantly breeding animals and allowing their puppies not to be properly maintained and ultimately ending up at our facility,” said Walesky.
 
The Palm Beach County Commission takes up the issue Tuesday at 2:30pm and will  hear public comment.
 
A vote on the proposed ordinance is expected to take place directly afterward.