Breeders beware - Puppymill in Iceland

[estherp]

I would like to let it be known there is a puppy mill that you should be aware of in Iceland with 13 different breeds with 165 dogs.

There is a report by officials from January 24. 2004 in a open forum in Iceland, hvuttar.net. Unfortunately it is only in Icelandic but there are facts there, numbers you can see, such as at the time of the official visit there were 165 dogs there. None of them are let out into runs, not even the bigger dogs like Boxers or Great Danes. They live in crates that are too small, according to Icelandic regulations (built on Swedish regulations), and there are too many small dogs being kept together in crates that are too small.
This place has failed inspection for 3 years now but for some strange reason it keeps operating on extencions to alow time to correct the violations. The number of dogs have been up to 250 and as low as 109, in September 2003 when they were counted.
The result of the latest count has 37 dogs living in cages big enough for the regulation. The remaining 81 dogs were in cages to small, or too many per crate, and all 47 puppies were cramped together in cages that are too small.

The report can be seen at: http://www.hvuttar.net/?nid=249

If you scroll down the page you can count for your selves. Skáli means shack, so they have a number of them and útigerði means outside run. They have a run but it is not used. There was a layer of snow over everything on the day on and before the inspection and no footprints from dogs to be seen outside the houses or in the runs.

At the time of the inspection the owner told authorities that she is not breeding Papillon and Chinese Crested any more. However authorities noted in their report that this can not be true as they know she just imported a Papillon and she has been selling Papillon puppies.

Number of dogs present at Dalsmynni puppymill on January 24. 2004:
46 Chihuahua
21 Pomeranian
3 Japanese Chin
15 Silky terriers
5 Dachshund
3 Cavalier
2 Boston terriers
5 Bulldogs
5 Beagle
1 Am. cocker spaniel
9 Boxer
1 Rottweiler
2 Great Dane

We know of 4 Papillons there, plus their latest import from Australia. So to this list we can add 5 Papillons, 170 dogs. I don't know about the Chinese Crested mentioned in the report. Ásta also said her husband who was not home and had one doberman with him at the time they were inspecting. No one really knows how many other dogs were hidden for the inspection.

The only person that was working there, and was present when the inspection was, is the owner Ásta Sigurðardóttir. I'm sure she gets help from her husband Tómas and from her two daughters Margrét (calls her self Madda) and Sesselía (Sessa). Madda has been the most active in buying dogs from abroad and sending e-mails to breeders (I have seen some).

Dalsmynni formed their own kennel club in 2000 so they could sell puppies with "papers" and they picked Union Cynologie International e.V to host them. This is not the same UCI that a lot of you know of. This club has no webpage or e-mail address and is located in Germany. The logo is similar to the UCI but slightly different. Dhl in Denmark is a member of this UCI "club".

The reasons for this being allowed to continue for so long are so many, for instance:
The import of dogs into Iceland was not allowed until 1990 at which time authorities built a quarantine station in Iceland. Regulations covering facilities used for dog breeding and kenneling were not necessary until after that. It was not until this family started collecting dogs in 1998 that it was decided Iceland needed a regulation covering that aspect of kenneling.
Then who wants to be responsible... It seems like the main issue today is who is responsible for letting this go on for so long... Umhverfisstofnun (UST) are the ones that performed this latest report and they are threatening to make this a police matter... will Ásta/Dalsmynni be charged with animal cruelty? No one knows at this time but we can help by sending mail to UST and to the Ministry for the Environment.

Icelandic Ministry for the Environment http://eng.umhverfisraduneyti.is/
e-mail to the Icelandic Ministry postur@umh.stj.is
e-mail to Umhverfisstofnun, Department under the Ministry of Enviroment responsible for enforcement of existing regulations, they are the ones that wrote the report on their visit to Dalsmynni on 26 Jan. 2004, ust@ust.is

Please crosspost to other lists with breeds that match the list abow, I have built this on information from the report and I have no personal interest in this other than the sadnes I feel knowing the dogs do not get to leave their crate from the day they are born or imported to the day they die.

If you get an enquiry from Iceland you can e-mail the Icelandic Kennel Club (FCI) hrfi@hrfi.is and ask for guidance's.