indefinitely, until the case was resolved in court. That could take months. The cost of caring for them for that long a period could easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars, and all of it might be for naught; if Wolf won the case, he would get his dogs back. Absent a breeder’s license, he would still need to find homes for most of the animals. But he would be free to sell them to other disreputable kennels. The dogs would probably be just as bad off as before.
• • •
Back in west chester, SPCA shelter staff sorted through the dogs, determining which of them could be sent elsewhere. Each animal needed to be examined physically. The shelter put out a call for veterinarians who were willing to help.
Dogs known to be pregnant were taken to Applebrook Inn, a pet resort for dogs, cats, and other small animals. Applebrook had a fireplace where the mothers-to-be could curl up and keep warm, and it offered the added assurance that all of the animals on the premises were vaccinated. At the SPCA shelter it was anybody’s guess whether Wolf’s animals had all their shots.
The organization’s immediate task was to parcel out a third of the dogs to other shelters. By midday Saturday, a dozen regional animal organizations responded, sending vans to pick up 135 of the dogs. The Pennsylvania SPCA in Philadelphia took 63. Others went to the Delaware Humane Association, the Delaware SPCA, the Delaware County SPCA, the Bucks County SPCA, the Humane Society of Berks County, the Animal Rescue League of Berks County, the Humane League of Lancaster County, Hickory Springs Farm Boarding Kennels, and the Montgomery County SPCA.
Twenty-five of the dogs, mostly Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, went to the Humane Society of Berks County. An officer from that organization drove to West Chester and loaded the dogs—among them the tricolor Cavalier with the swoosh on her front leg—into a van and transported them thirty-nine miles north to Reading. After six years in a cage, Dog 132 was experiencing her second road trip in twenty-four hours. Her worst days were behind her, but the little dog had no way of knowing that. She was experiencing something new, different, and scary.
Meanwhile, Wolf wasted no time launching a public relations counterassault. He told the Philadelphia Daily News that his dogs were living in crowded circumstances because their kennel was being renovated. He denied claims that the dogs had been living in filth and blamed the cooped-up confines of winter for the smell. “If you have a lot of dogs under one roof, you’re going to have an odor,” he claimed.
In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer , Wolf protested that the SPCA “took my little friends.” His dogs had been well cared for, he insisted. He said he fed them strained baby food, hamburger, and cottage cheese.
“We love them. We played with them all the time,” he said.
Wolf was showing no remorse. If anything, he portrayed himself as the victim. The overwhelming number of dogs on his property was evidence of his compassion, he said. If he couldn’t sell a dog or find a home for it, he would simply keep it. “I kept dogs alive after I should,” he told the Inquirer . “They wagged their tails, they ate. I’m old; are you going to put me to sleep?”
He also vowed to get his dogs back even if he had to sell his house to do it.
“All my years of devotion and love—it’s horrible.” Wolf told one newspaper. “It makes me sad at this point in my life I have to be in this position.”
The SPCA fielded calls from several breeders who claimed to own some of the dogs taken from Mike-Mar Kennel. Wendy Trottier said she had been keeping two male dogs and a mother with four puppies at the kennel while she was out of state caring for a friend. She defended the conditions at Mike-Mar Kennel: “Any time I’ve been in there they were clean,” she said. “I know my son cleans the cages twice a day.”
Word of the raid raced
• • •
Back in west chester, SPCA shelter staff sorted through the dogs, determining which of them could be sent elsewhere. Each animal needed to be examined physically. The shelter put out a call for veterinarians who were willing to help.
Dogs known to be pregnant were taken to Applebrook Inn, a pet resort for dogs, cats, and other small animals. Applebrook had a fireplace where the mothers-to-be could curl up and keep warm, and it offered the added assurance that all of the animals on the premises were vaccinated. At the SPCA shelter it was anybody’s guess whether Wolf’s animals had all their shots.
The organization’s immediate task was to parcel out a third of the dogs to other shelters. By midday Saturday, a dozen regional animal organizations responded, sending vans to pick up 135 of the dogs. The Pennsylvania SPCA in Philadelphia took 63. Others went to the Delaware Humane Association, the Delaware SPCA, the Delaware County SPCA, the Bucks County SPCA, the Humane Society of Berks County, the Animal Rescue League of Berks County, the Humane League of Lancaster County, Hickory Springs Farm Boarding Kennels, and the Montgomery County SPCA.
Twenty-five of the dogs, mostly Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, went to the Humane Society of Berks County. An officer from that organization drove to West Chester and loaded the dogs—among them the tricolor Cavalier with the swoosh on her front leg—into a van and transported them thirty-nine miles north to Reading. After six years in a cage, Dog 132 was experiencing her second road trip in twenty-four hours. Her worst days were behind her, but the little dog had no way of knowing that. She was experiencing something new, different, and scary.
Meanwhile, Wolf wasted no time launching a public relations counterassault. He told the Philadelphia Daily News that his dogs were living in crowded circumstances because their kennel was being renovated. He denied claims that the dogs had been living in filth and blamed the cooped-up confines of winter for the smell. “If you have a lot of dogs under one roof, you’re going to have an odor,” he claimed.
In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer , Wolf protested that the SPCA “took my little friends.” His dogs had been well cared for, he insisted. He said he fed them strained baby food, hamburger, and cottage cheese.
“We love them. We played with them all the time,” he said.
Wolf was showing no remorse. If anything, he portrayed himself as the victim. The overwhelming number of dogs on his property was evidence of his compassion, he said. If he couldn’t sell a dog or find a home for it, he would simply keep it. “I kept dogs alive after I should,” he told the Inquirer . “They wagged their tails, they ate. I’m old; are you going to put me to sleep?”
He also vowed to get his dogs back even if he had to sell his house to do it.
“All my years of devotion and love—it’s horrible.” Wolf told one newspaper. “It makes me sad at this point in my life I have to be in this position.”
The SPCA fielded calls from several breeders who claimed to own some of the dogs taken from Mike-Mar Kennel. Wendy Trottier said she had been keeping two male dogs and a mother with four puppies at the kennel while she was out of state caring for a friend. She defended the conditions at Mike-Mar Kennel: “Any time I’ve been in there they were clean,” she said. “I know my son cleans the cages twice a day.”
Word of the raid raced
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