The Bad Breeder Strikes Again

Over the past 18 months, I’ve known of an ongoing rescue issue involving Alice and Rolo’s breeder. I was first alerted to the situation by someone involved in Foxhound rescue in the UK. I then alerted Hamiltonstovare breeders and owners that I trusted in the UK. They confirmed my worst fears that Rolo’s brother, Roland (Kilcavan Mr Jemmerley), and 2 older female Hamiltonstovare were dumped in a rescue shelter by their breeder/owner. The original rescue was also a boarding kennel and the three dogs were left there for boarding but the fees for boarding were never paid, nor was any update given for how long they would be staying there. After a year, the boarding kennel/rescue listed Roland as available on a public listing site. As soon as that listing was made public, the breed community got angry. Then magically, the past due boarding fees were paid and all three dogs were removed from that facility.

During that time, it was brought to my attention that this breeder was getting rid of all of her other dogs as fast as possible but refusing help of other breeders. Alice’s brother, Harry, was one of the first to go to his new home and it looks like he is in a great home. Shockingly, Rolo’s elderly mother, Betty was rehomed at around 10 years of age, very quickly and quietly. There are a few dogs that we have no clue what their status is namely, Mabel (Alice’s mother), William (Rolo’s father), Laura (young female), and possibly another young female. Alice’s father, Joshua is known to be still with the breeder and he is pushing 15 years old.

While all of this was going on, I was dealing with a re-homing situation here that the breeder didn’t want to deal with. Two dogs from the same breeder but desperately needed to be re-homed but the breeder hadn’t been heard from in years. These two dogs were from what I call “justifiable re-homing” in that the family circumstances suddenly changed leaving the new family dynamic unable to cope with the needs of the dogs. Thankfully, both dogs have amazing homes that will hopefully become more active in the breed community.

About a month ago, I searched for a social media hashtag search for Hamiltonstovare. I do this regularly to see what is going on via social media about the breed that I may not know about. When I did this, I noticed that Roland was back in another rescue, this time a rescue, not a boarding kennel/rescue. This place is nothing but a rescue and deal primarily in long-term owner surrenders, cruelty rehab cases, or dump cases. I alerted a breeder that I trust that he was there and they contacted the rescue. The rescue and the Kennel Club worked together closely and Roland was pulled into the breeder’s hands with transferring of KC registration. Roland will NEVER end up in that situation again. The down side is that the very same rescue also has two older girls from the same breeder, Annie and Katie still need new homes to live out the rest of their days. I know that they are both still very active and playful for 11 year olds. One girl recently went through surgery to have a large mass that needed to be removed.

The breeder that now has Roland has gone public and that is the only reason why I am saying anything now. The breeder of the Kilcavan line is the worst possible breeder imaginable, they pose as responsible but they dump their older dogs in rescues, on no level is that appropriate. It is classified as common practice for a breeder to place adult dogs that are no longer being used for breeding or showing in permanent homes, however in the majority of cases it is done before the dog is 8 years old. For a breeder to do that to a dog older than10, it is heartless and cruel. An elderly dog is going to be highly stressed by leaving the environment that they have lived in most of their lives and it takes a special kind of person to take in a highly stressed dog for only 2-3 years as the stress can shorten their lifespan. I am writing this post also because this breeder is now planning on co-breeding another litter, this should never happen. This breeder should never own or breed another dog if they cannot do what is responsible and ensure the health, safety and most importantly their welfare throughout each and every dog that they own or breed throughout the dog’s lifetime.