On Thursday night, dog lovers who camped out in front of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s downtown MASH shelter to get first choice of bulldog puppies seized from a Wittmann Arizona puppy mill earlier this year. According to the Sheriff, lovers of the unique breed started lining up as early as 9pm….10 hours before the doors to the shelter and the adoption event opened.
By 10:00 a.m., Friday, September 11, 2015, every bulldog and several labradoodles, Chihuahuas and Maltese were spoken for. Those not adopted on Friday are available for open adoption by calling 602.876.1212.
These designer dogs were seized from an animal cruelty/neglect case in Wittmann back in May. Nearly 100 dogs were removed from a property at 21804 West Laura Street where 61 year old Colleen Jolley resided. She was later taken into custody and charged with 99 counts of animal neglect.
Jolley had been running a puppy mill described by the Sheriff’s Animal Crimes Unit detectives as having extremely poor conditions for animals.
Puppies were found enclosed in wooden boxes with small air holes – containers that had rarely been opened or cleaned.
After the seizure, staff and inmates nursed most of the puppies back to good health, and today they were put up for adoption through a lottery.
All the dogs chosen on Friday will be handed over to their new owners by Sheriff Arpaio in a celebration next Sunday, September 20th after all shots and neutering of the animals has been completed.