THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK (AP) — An animal protection agency that gave its officers badges and guns, but never investigated a single incident of pet abuse has agreed to dissolve under pressure from state officials.

On paper, the Yonkers Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals looked like one of New York’s most formidable anti-abuse agencies.

Last year it had 16 officers authorized by the state to conduct searches and make arrests — a roster of lawmen almost as large as the one at the better-known American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in neighboring New York City. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ARLINGTON, Texas — A judge has granted custody of more than 27,000 animals to the city of Arlington after they were seized last month from an exotic animal dealer.

Municipal Judge Michael Smith ruled Tuesday that U.S. Global Exotics owners Jasen and Vanessa Shaw cruelly treated hundreds of species of exotic animals at their Internet-based wholesale business. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VALLEJO, Calif. — A couple charged with animal cruelty and other crimes after more than 90 purebred puppies were confiscated from their home and business face a hearing in Solano County Superior Court on Monday.

Christopher John Derek Ellis and Leanna Rachelle Kamp, both 29, of Dixon, were arrested Dec. 17 after the Solano County District Attorney’s Office received numerous complaints that the couple had been selling sick and sometimes dying puppies. The breeds included Yorkshire terriers, Shiba Inus, Maltese and Shih Tzus. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Animal welfare groups want voters to adopt new rules for Missouri dog breeders that include rest periods between breeding and a cap of 50 breeding dogs per facility.

The groups are proposing an initiative petition for 2010 that sets minimum standards for how dogs must be treated. The standards would include rules on feedings, room to roam and checks by veterinarians. Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $300. (more…)

DAVE HUGHES
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

CLARKSVILLE — Two Johnson County women have been charged with felony cruelty to animals after a large dog-breeding operation was discovered earlier this month, authorities said.

Christine Yarrington, 60, and Lynn Elise Burkett, 51, both of rural Lamar, were each charged in Johnson County Circuit Court on Thursday with eight counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. Authorities previously had not identified the women. (more…)

JULIE STEWART
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

MOUNTAIN HOME — An old-fashioned law enforcement tool helped authorities catch William and Tammy Hanson, who officials said were on the run for more than three years in a notorious animal cruelty case in Baxter County.

Tipsters turned them in, officials said Wednesday. (more…)

JULIE STEWART
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

MOUNTAIN HOME — Tammy Christine Hanson was returned to Baxter County late Friday after nearly four years on the run in an animal-cruelty case that gained national notoriety.

Authorities were also seeking the return of her husband, William Hanson, 44, from a jail in Johnson County, Mo. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOUNTAIN HOME — A woman who failed to show up in February 2006 for sentencing on 20 counts of animal cruelty has been arrested in Vermont, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said Sunday.

Tammy Christine Hanson, 42, was arrested Saturday in Sutton, in northeastern Vermont, by Caledonia County Sheriff Michael Bergeron, according to Montgomery. (more…)

DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF
AND WIRE REPORTS

Federal authorities have arrested about 30 people and seized about 350 dogs in dogfighting raids Wednesday across six states including Arkansas, the Justice Department said.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which cooperated in the investigation, said the target of the raids was believed to be the largest dogfighting operation in U.S. history. (more…)

CONCORD, Calif. — On Monday morning, Debby Brown was ecstatic, having been reunited with her tiny dog Lexi 2 1/2 days after the pet was taken from her Cadillac Escalade parked behind a Concord, Calif., restaurant.

But it was a tough weekend for the Concord woman, who offered — and paid — a $10,000 reward to get back Lexi. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SENECA, Mo. — When authorities raided J.B.’s Precious Puppies, they discovered more than 200 dogs standing in their own excrement, crammed three and four to a cage. Some were so sickly they were missing clumps of hair. The skeletal remains of puppies and adult dogs were found inside pet-food bags.

The ghastly scene deep in the Ozarks has become far too common in Missouri. (more…)

McClatchy Newspapers

The ploy is an old one: You get an unsolicited e-mail or letter from someone offering you cash or prizes. But some schemers now are dangling an enticement aimed straight at the heart: the chance to buy or adopt an adorable puppy.

The American Veterinary Medical Association issued an advisory this month, warning would-be pet owners about Internet ploys that offer popular purebred puppies and exotic pets at discount prices. The scheme operators first ask customers to wire several hundred dollars, usually to Africa or somewhere else overseas, for the animals, then later request more money for insurance or transportation costs. (more…)