Lockport Township Breeder Among Humane Society's 'Horrible 100'

LOCKPORT, IL — An unincorporated Lockport Township facility has been named in the Humane Society of the United States' "Horrible Hundred" puppy mill list. Kabeara Kennels, also known as Kabeara Samoyeds, in Lockport was one of two Illinois facilities on the list.

The "Horrible Hundred" report is released by the Humane Society every May and details citations against breeders across the United States.

According to the report from the Humane Society, the Lockport Township facility is on the list due to a consumer complaint about a puppy with parvovirus. The complaint also claimed puppies were crowded into small, metal cages with no bedding or adequate space.

The report states state inspectors visited Kabeara Kennels in December 2019 after someone bought a puppy that tested positive for parvovirus, a highly contagious virus that can be fatal in dogs, especially puppies.

"The buyer's puppy had required hospitalization and had accumulated more than $2,600 in veterinary bills," the report states.

According to the report, the breeder Teresa Heaver admitted that some other puppies had also tested positive for the virus, but she rejected claims of mistreatment.

"I have never been a puppy mill. My dogs are well taken care of," Heaver told Patch. "I am licensed through the Illinois Department of Agriculture. People have come back to my place for the second, third, fourth and fifth dogs through the years. I would not be in business if I was a puppy mill. The Humane Society has a vendetta for no real reason."

At the December inspection, the state noted no specific violations, but mentioned that a cage was overcrowded. A state inspector visited again in January 2020 and noted there were only two dogs in a cage previously occupied by three, indicating that any overcrowding seemed to have been addressed. But, according to the Humane Society, which said it disagreed with the state's conclusions, inspectors' photographs showed puppies in "barren metal cages," in some cases stacked three high and lacking bedding or even solid flooring.

"Many did not appear to have enough room to turn around or lie down without walking over other dogs in the cage," the Humane Society said.

"Despite the satisfactory report, it is clear from photographs taken that day that the dogs were still in very small cases on gridded flooring, with barely enough room to turn around — which may be legal in Illinois, but is far from what many people would consider humane," the group continued.

Patch has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Illinois Department of Agriculture for more information but has not received a response.

In its review of inspection reports for puppy mills nationwide, the Humane Society said its researchers uncovered citations for injured and emaciated dogs, dogs and puppies exposed to extreme cold or heat without adequate housing, and dogs living in such filthy conditions their fur was matted with their own waste.

Some breeders admitted to shooting dogs and puppies they no longer wanted, the report said.

The coronavirus pandemic increases the peril for dogs in problem puppy mills because many inspection programs have been put on hold, and "dogs rely more than ever on the public to vote with their dollar," John Goodwin, who heads the Humane Society's Stop Puppy Mills campaign, said in a news release.

Missouri had the highest number of problem puppy mills for the eighth consecutive year, with 30 noted on the list, followed by Ohio with nine, Kansas and Wisconsin with eight each, Georgia with seven and Pennsylvania with six.