Date
December 27, 2002
Contact
Pat Haight
IDA
(480) 394-0578
In Defense of Animals
131 Camino Alto
Mill Valley
CA 94941
IDA is an international, California-based animal advocacy organization dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by defending their rights, welfare and habitats.
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IDA Spearheads Special Donation and Adoption Fund to Help with Veterinary and Temporary Costs
Phoenix, AZ - In Defense of Animals (IDA), a national animal protection organization, successfully organized an effort that shut down a puppy mill that was known to animal advocates, the media, and the community for severely neglecting dogs.
On Thursday, December 12, 2002, Officer Larry Ellis arrested Catherine Whipple on two warrants for letting her dogs run at large and for not licensing her dogs. This allowed Arizona Humane Society (AHS) to pick up the remaining dogs, give them well-dog checkups, and transport them to safety for IDA.
Catherine Whipple of Buckeye held more than 40 Malamute and Siberian Husky mix dogs and puppies in kennels that she used for breeding purposes. Some of the dogs who died were left to decay in the kennels where live dogs were kept. Whipple also abandoned the surviving dogs, leaving them with no food or water, and had two young dogs and many cats living in squalor in a house with no water or electricity. The media reported earlier this year on the situation.
In late November, members of the Arizona rescue community contacted the Tempe office of IDA to assist David and Tina Pemberton, a young couple who had been feeding, caring for, and adopting out the remaining dogs. Rescuers asked that IDA provide shots and spay and neuter surgeries for the dogs, place the dogs, get law enforcement involved, and permanently close the facility. Citizens for North Phoenix Strays had compassionately agreed to provide assistance for all of the cats.
On Monday, December 9th, the Arizona Humane Society picked up five more of Whipple's dogs for IDA, spayed or neutered the dogs and gave them all of their shots. These five dogs, all Malamute mixes, currently are being boarded at Tempe Veterinary Hospital until the best possible foster homes can be found for them. However, Catherine Whipple refused to allow the Humane Society to transport the remaining dogs to safety.
IDA’s Dr. Pat Haight contacted the Sheriff’s Animal Cruelty Enforcement Unit, providing them pictures of the inside of the Whipple house and of a freezer containing decomposing bodies of dead cats. Today all of the surviving dogs are safe. Because she has not been able to post bail, Catherine Whipple is being held in Estrella jail until a hearing in Buckeye Justice Court on December 19, 2002.
IDA has set up a fund to provide financial assistance for the veterinary care and housing for the remaining dogs. All donations can be made payable to the Whipple Rescue Fund, care of In Defense of Animals. Contact: Patricia Haight, Ph.D. at 510.548.7382 for more information.