Hundreds of ailing dogs should go to Humane Society, judge rules

By ALEX BRANCH

abranch@star-telegram.com

MONTAGUE -- Almost 500 dogs seized from a Montague County breeding ranch were kept in cruel confinement and should be forfeited to the custody of the Humane Society of North Texas, a justice of the peace ruled Friday evening.

Carol and Cloyce Heddins, owners of Maggic Pets/Heddins Kennel, must also pay the Humane Society $40,000 for the cost of caring for the animals, which were seized July 7 from the ranch near Bowie, Justice of the Peace Karen Reynolds said.

Several “family dogs” seized in the raid should be returned to the owners, Reynolds said.

Carol Heddins, 76, the long-time operator of the ranch, did not react visibly to the decision, a contrast to her emotional and combative earlier testimony in which she accused Humane Society officials of conspiring to plant evidence at her ranch, including dog feces.

“They want to shut me down,” she said. “They want to make me look bad.”

Attorney Don Feare, representing the county, described an operation where healthy-looking dogs were kept in kennels near the front of the ranch where customers could see them but sick dogs suffered without proper care in the back.

Feare, of Arlington, was acting as a special prosecutor appointed by Montague County district attorney to handle the case because he has experience in animal-welfare cases.

Feare showed the judge pictures of dogs in dirty cages and with eye infections and skin conditions.

“This is a puppy mill,” he said. “It is something the state should not tolerate.”

Dogs found living in wire cages

Carol Heddins, wearing a light blue dress and using a walker, was escorted slowly into the courtroom by her husband, Cloyce Heddins, 81. She shook her head and rubbed her temples as witnesses described what they saw at her ranch.

Michelle Gomulak, a Gainesville veterinarian, said she visited the ranch in mid-June to look at dogs and found many living in stacked wire cages. Some were missing hair or had oozing sores on their skin, she said. She recalled one “emaciated” mother dog in particular.

“When I touched her through the cage, she wouldn’t even raise her head,” she said.

Cynthia Jones, a veterinarian who examined all the dogs for the Humane Society after they were seized, said she found something wrong with every single dog. She rattled off a long list of ailments, including staph infections, intestinal parasites, dental disease, ear mites and ring worm.

Some medications for dogs were found at the ranch, but many were out of date, including one dosage from 2005, she said.

“They all needed to see a veterinarian,” she said.

Accusations of planted evidence

The Heddins’ lawyer, Tracy Jennings, called two ranch employees who insisted that they fed, watered and bathed the dogs. Heddins then took the stand and said she had been in the dog-breeding business for more than 30 years, had sold thousands of dogs and was so well-trained to care for them that she often didn’t need a veterinarian’s help.

“I consider myself a vet tech, self-taught,” she said.

Heddins said she had eight to 10 employees who helped her care for the dogs and estimated she spent $500,0000 a year on heating, cooling, food and veterinarian care for the animals.

One reason some dogs might not have been in good shape, she said, was that people drop off between 10 to 15 dogs a week, often in poor health, and that she tries to “doctor them” and then sell them.

The hearing grew contentious during Feare’s cross-examination. Feare complained repeatedly to the judge about Heddins’ tendency to give long, wide-ranging answers, or what he called “her life story.”

“You just don’t want to hear the truth,” Heddins said.

“No, I’d just like to finish this questioning in my lifetime,” Feare responded.

“You think you’re a comic?” Hiddens shot back.

As for the pictures of ailing dogs, Hiddens said she had never seen many of them before at her ranch. Shown a picture of a cage caked with feces, Hiddens suggested that Humane Society officials planted evidence because they didn’t like what she was doing.

“I do the best I can,” she said. “I try hard to see that every dog is taken care of.”

The seized dogs are being cared for at a north Fort Worth warehouse. Humane Society officials have said they eventually intend to hold an adoption event.

Alex Branch, 817-390-7689

Looking for comments?