A Stolen Dog in Every Rescue - Welcome to Retail Rescue - America's Pet Stores

I've been saying for 20+ years that the source of most of the 'rescue' dogs in America are from: 1.) Foreign Imports, 2.) Stolen Dogs and 3.) Rescues breeding their own.   

When caught doing something illegal or unethical these dirty rescues block, ban, change their story and threaten legal action.   It's the same story every time. 

Shocker!!!

Guess which one that "A Paw And A Prayer Animal Rescue" of Chattanooga, Tennessee falls under? A recent media story highlighted that several people in northern Georgia believe that their stolen dogs have surfaced with "A Paw And A Prayer" and have been fraudulently resold to new families as 'adopted' from a 'rescue.'

A Paw And A Prayer is run by this woman, Judy Butterfield.

Trafficking in stolen dogs is common among America's Retail Rescues. Let's see if this situation matches common red flags.

1.) Dog quickly transported across a county or state line? CHECK.

2.) Dog quickly renamed. CHECK.

3.) Rescue making insane amounts of money.  CHECK.  

4.) Rescue run by someone(s) living in expensive nice houses.  CHECK.  

After the media finally covered the situation instead of running their usual halo polishing fluff pieces about Butterfield, families started coming forward.  Already in just days there have been two success stories.  

Mandy Jones's dog Remmy, a Yorkie mix, was stolen from a neighbors yard has been returned after she was extorted into paying a $450 fee to get him back.   She reports he was returned to her, neutered, covered in fleas and severely traumatized. 

 

Chris Hughes's dog, Parker, a Golden Retriever, was stolen out of his yard while he was at his daughter's softball game.  A neighbor witnessed the theft.  He surfaced at A Paw And A Prayer now named Jack.  

Meanwhile Butterfield is now saying that Parker was never in her 'rescue' and it was all just a courtesy post on behalf of someone else who 'found' him.   Do you really believe that?  Hughes says the dog was stolen out of his yard.  A neighbor witnessed it.  Now suddenly he was simply 'found' and was 'lost.'   This is a common lie.   Americans everywhere believe their dogs accidentally got 'lost' or somehow 'got out of our yards' because they just don't understand how rampant pet theft is. Then there's this comment.

A Golden Retriever to rescues like this is nothing more than a Golden Ticket. 

Folks, your dogs are STOLEN by pet flippers. 

Remmy and Parker are finally home but a dozen others have come forward looking for their stolen dogs.  Like Piper the German Shepherd.  Also stolen out of her Georgia yard and resurfaced for sale in Tennessee.

 

Like Daisy.

Meanwhile let's take a look at Judy Butterfield's finances.   Like this woman did.

$100,000 cash in Butterfield's pocket?  Say it isn't so.   I mean, its not like she lives in a house that is over 4,000 square feet.  Oh wait, she does.  It's not like that house has more bathrooms than the average American has bedrooms.  Oh wait, it does.  

Actually these numbers aren't correct.  According to her IRS 990's, Butterfield ended 2018 with $251,399 left in her pocket. You know, after she finished that sales year.  She also lists 254,709 parked in investments.  So which is it?  And what's earning her $843 a year in interest?? After all, these very interesting tax records claim that only 0310% of her assets are Investment Income....

Even more interesting is the claimed $16,944 in 'repairs.'  What exactly did she repair on that mega-mansion?  You can't expect me to believe that she's actually housing dozens of dogs there.  Or is she?  After all, she wrote off $2,357 worth of her utilities.  She also wrote off $1,181 of her cell phone bill.   A very reasonable $796 in meals...  Reading rescue's tax returns is always a fun time.  

I mean its only fair of Butterfield to have this much money... something's got to pay that mortgage.  After all, she's claiming she spends 60 hours a week working at this rescue so she obviously doesn't have another job outside the home.  Of course her tax returns claim she's not making a salary.  Most of these rescues say the same.  We are all supposed to believe that these people are independently wealthy and just giving their time away for the 'greater good.'

Yeah, right.   Or does Butterfield have a sugar daddy?  

Speaking of the McMansion, an adopter posted to the news story that Butterfield had told her she had parvo infected puppies at her home and was housing dogs in her garage.   Parvo lives in the environment for several years.  Still others commented on the media story that Butterfield has been kicked out of selling dogs at both Petco and Petsmart and is now selling dogs at a Tractor Supply Company store.  (the same store Remmy was sold at)

That $350 per dog is an 'average.'  This adopter stated that she was told the sales price depends on how cute the dog is.  The cuter the dog, the higher the sales price.  

This adopter commented that Butterfield is flipping vicious biters  and collecting multiple adoption 'fees' on the same dogs. 

She's not the only one.  This person also commented that they bought a vicious biter from Butterfield, returned the dog and did not get a refund.

At least three others also posted their stories of vicious or completely misrepresented dogs that they returned to Butterfield, did not get a refund and she resold them again.

This adopter claims Butterfield commits extortion.

If you thought all of this is bad.... you haven't seen anything yet.  A veterinarian surfaced to give his testimony on Butterfield.  When you read the following comments.. ask yourself this, is Butterfield also breeding dogs to resell as 'rescues?'

It's not just these comments.  Remember Butterfield's garage?  Check this out.

Of course Butterfield's gullible followers are now demanding an apology for this mess.  That should never happen.  There are no laws anywhere that allow a private company or non-profit to simply collect up stray or 'lost' animals and resell them.  Localities have reporting laws and legally mandated stray holds.   Every 'lost' or supposedly stray animal is supposed to be reported to whatever entity handles animal control in that area.   Many localities mandate that these animals must be turned in and/or you have a waiting period in which you are not allowed to resell that animal.

Animals are property.  You have custody of property that is not yours.  Whether you have it two days or two years, it has an owner that is not you.   You don't have the right to keep what you have found, nor do you have the right to resell it. 

Never buy a dog from a rescue without first doing your homework.  Investigate them thoroughly.  Read their IRS 990's and look at their money flow.  They are free to the public to view.  Look for red flags like the ones shown above.  Don't add to the heart ache the owners and comments in this article have testified too.  

YOU can act in these situations.  Here's some steps to take.  "A Paw And A Prayer Animal Rescue" is run out of 738 Sunset Mountain Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37421.  If she is indeed breeding puppies as some claim she is, then at her sales volume level she is required to be USDA licensed and inspected.  IS SHE?  Every single dog she has transported over state lines between Georgia and Tennessee (and any other state) is required to have a health certificate for shipping.  Did they have them?  Report Judy Butterfield to the USDA via their online complaint form.  

Report her to the State of Tennessee and demand action.  If your dog has been 'lost' and you believe it was resold through A Paw And A Prayer, file a police report with your local police department.  Two states and several counties are involved in this situation.  Get them all investigating her.  Not everyone will sweep this under the rug if you demand action!

 

Is Young-Williams Committing Extortion or Is There an Even Darker Motive Behind Poodle Raid?

It is common practice by animal rights groups who run high-profitably retail rescue outfits to not only fraudulently steal animals from innocent animal owners but then they hold them hostage and demand insane daily charges as compensation. They will say, "Oh we'll give your animals back if you pay us $10 a day times X,Y, and Z" as a method of extortion. Think of it this way. This is a scenario I used in my recent book, The Art of Terror: Inside the Animal Rights Movement:

You own a beautiful red sports car, limited edition, mint condition, low mileage. You baby that thing. The cops come along one day and they steal it from you. Jethro Cop says, "I don't think you changed that oil enough in that car so I'm taking it and giving it to my buddy." Is that legal? Hell no! Now Jethro Cop's buddy says, "Well I've been storing your car in my garage for the past 2 weeks so I want you to pay me $10 a day in storage fees, plus, I changed the oil, gave it a tune up, and detailed it so I need an extra $56,000 in fees. Give me the money and I’ll give you the car back."

That’s extortion.

The seizure of Sara Jane Tinker's poodles by the Knoxville Sheriff's Department in collusion with Young-Williams which I covered recently in this story, was 100% illegal. They violated the law. They are the criminals, not Sara Jane. You don't get to charge extortion when you have committed a crime. That’s another crime.  You are now a repeat offender.

I have written about law enforcement and their ties to animal rights terrorism for years. I have yet to find a single animal control division anywhere in America that receives training on animal care from animal experts. As I wrote about, here and here, law enforcement receives all their training on humane care of animals, from terrorists.   Today, law enforcement officers around this country receive training on 'animals' and their proper care, from convicted criminals, exposed quacks, and sex perverts.  Most law enforcement officers have no proven knowledge of what constitutes proper care of animals. Zero.  Zippo.  Nada. Nothing.

In the case of Sara Jane Tinker, these innocent dogs were forcibly removed from a good home, traumatized, handled incorrectly, and then stuffed in concrete cells at an animal shelter. They were exposed to disease, mis-handled by ignorant zealots who know nothing about poodles and the proper raising of puppies and who pays for that? Young-Williams should! They should be forced to pay Sara Jane Tinker for the abuse of her dogs. That's right, the animal abusers in this case are Young-Williams and the Knoxville Sheriff's Department. You screwed up Knoxville. You listened to people who don’t know jack about animals and you violated your own laws. Why should Sara Jane Tinker pay one thin dime for what YOU DID?

Here’s another question, is Young-Williams delaying returning the stolen property so that they can covertly and illegally spay/neuter everything? It's typical of animal rights terrorists to believe that no one in American has the right to own a puppy, unless of course, you bought it from them. 

Then again, Young-Williams has to protect their bottom line.  After all, they are multi-millionaires.  Did you get that?  The Young-Williams Animal Shelter is a multi-millionaire.  According to the IRS, two separate entities operate out of the same address with very similar names.  You have Young-Williams Animal Center and Friends of Young-Williams Animal Center.  Both entities are millionaires.  Between the both of them they have about 5 million in the bank.  

Bet you didn't know that the animal shelter business in America today is so lucrative.  Did you! 

It gets better.   Surprising no one who is an expert on terrorism, these same animal rights junkies are also trying to pass new legislation in Tennessee to outlaw dog breeders.  Its called control the market.  Young-Williams wants to protect their millions and they can't have the public buying puppies from dog breeders instead of them.   At the exact same time as the splashy raid of Sara Jane's house occurred, animal rights extremists are trying to get two bills passed in Tennessee, HB 1142 and SB 1020.  As part of this legislation, it would authorize private vigilantes to raid private homes without a warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.  These private vigilante's would also gain the power to cite you for violations of up to $1000 per violation per day.   There is no requirement that these private vigilantes have any training in law enforcement or animal care.   It gets better, by law under this legislation, you are required to open your home to any private vigilante at any time between 7am and 7pm.   At. Any. Time.    If PETA operatives want to show up, steal and kill your dogs, like they did in Virginia last year, you have no choice but to let them in.  Failure to allow these private vigilantes who hate animal owners into your house is a Misdemeanor crime.  And that's just the highlights of these two horrific un-Constitutional pieces of legislation.  

These are typical tactics from the animal rights front.  They love to destroy someone's life to create headlines, buzz, and momentum to get legislation passed to destroy all other animal owners before they know what hit them.  Many stories are going on around America mirroring what is happening to Sara Jane, right here, right now. 

It is long past time that the FBI got involved in this cases. Sara Jane Tinker's case is a perfect example of the type of cases that the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) was passed for. The FBI needs to open up a case file to investigate the collusion between the Knoxville Sheriff’s Department and Young-Williams.  Let alone the links between this anti-dog breeder legislation and the sponsors behind it.  The Tennessee attorney general needs to investigate this violation of Sara Jane Tinker's rights and she needs to file a 1983 civil rights lawsuit against Knoxville.  What I can guarantee though, is if Young-Williams is forced to actually return the stolen dogs to Sara Jane, they will force her to sign a "no sue" statement.

It is long past time that law enforcement is held to the standard they are supposed to be enforcing. Their job is to serve and protect, not seize and destroy. There is a reason why groups like the Oath-keepers are forming all over America, we can no longer trust law enforcement to do their jobs.

Tennessee Shelter Gains New Sales Stock, A Fence Never Had It So Good

In February 2015, the Young-Williams Animal Center, Knoxville, Tennessee posted a picture to show that their shelter was empty. No dogs available. No pet overpopulation. Nothing to see here folks. But in a #RetailRescue #Animalrights world, shelters no longer close and go out of business if they have no animals. Today, they just steal more to restock their tax-free shelves. Any time you see a shelter posting like this, and they do it all the time, be very careful… a raid is coming of someone somewhere. Some poor American doesn't know that their life is about to end just so someone else can get a corner on the market and make a profit. 

When raiding for fresh sales stock there is one criteria above all that they look for: Small, cute, and fluffy. Puppies! Each resale, big bucks. Thousand will answer the media stories and compete to be the one to buy the stolen merchandise. A fence never had it so good. In the Top Ten off all dog breeds stolen are poodles. When you got poodles and poodle puppies, ka-ching, ka-ching starts going off in an #Animalrights terrorist's eyes. #Retailrescue outfits get a hard on when they find a poodle breeder in their area, fresh meat to be slaughtered. Who cares about the human at the end of their rage. All they are focused on is the fight for resources. Their shelter is empty and they need product to sell.

Surprising no one, less than month after Young-Williams Animal Center posted that their kennels were empty, the Knox County Sheriff’s Department stole themselves a whole bunch of poodles and gave custody to Young-Williams. In other legal circles this is known as civil asset forfeiture. The government beast is hungry and they want your stuff. 

Now the Sheriff says, Sara Jane Tinker was breeding dogs and selling them through a website.  Well Shiver-me-Timbers.   Just how the hell else is she supposed to sell them Jethro?   Show me a dog breeder who doesn't have a website.  

Now they claim that the dogs were 'barking' and there was a 'smell.' That's justification for raiding a breeder, destroying their lives, and getting yourself some valuable product for resale. Now as an expert in animal rights terrorism I know that part of their raid playbook is to claim barking, smells, and that old chestnut "deplorable conditions." Been there, have the T-shirt.

But barking is not illegal. All dogs bark. If the barking is such that a noise ordinance or something is violated then that's usually a civil fine. Not forfeiture of tens of thousands of dollars worth of assets that someone else gets to pocket. But what about the smell? You know what? Dogs smell. It happens. It happens to all of us. Don’t tell me your dog doesn't smell, I won't believe you. What defines an excessive smell? Excessive to whom? Who gets to make that judgment call? Not the Knox County Sheriff's Office that’s for sure. I'd like to see that equipment they used to evaluate and prove that there was a smell and that it violated some sort of officially set legal odor level. Come on! I'm Missouri, Show Me. Ever been in a farmer's barn? Yeah, it smells. Get over it, cupcake.

The breeder in question had a brand new litter of newborn puppies. Can you smell the drool at the Young-Williams Animal Center? Puppies they want for easy resale to the public. Puppies they are now exposing to shelter diseases and parasites. But don't worry, if the puppies get sick because of their shoddy and inexperienced care, they will simply blame it all on the dog breeder.

After all, we all know all dog breeders are evil scum, right?

Turns out in this case, yes. Because the media screams to high heaven that the dog breeder has a criminal record! Gasp, horrors! You know, just because 1 out of 3 Americans now have a criminal record, we are all supposed to just faint when the media tells us too. What’s her record? Well she's got a resisting arrest. That's supposed to scare me?   Or just what the hell was the charge of "implied consent notice?"  What kind of scary crime is that?

Here in Virginia, our "ABC" cops are so out of control, they beat the hell out of an innocent college kid for fun and kicks.   Resisting arrest my rear end.  Try that one again media sheep. 

As with every story of the destruction of American lives, there is a complaining neighbor at the heart.  A neighbor who objected to the dogs jumping up on the fence as she walked by.   You know, cuz dogs do that.   Because she is afraid of poodles, she called animal control and dime'd out this breeder to the animal rights terrorism front.

Get that?  This neighbor from hell is afraid of poodles.

These poodles.   Really look abused don't they?  

Now in order to justify the theft of these dogs, the Sheriff's Department has charged Sara Jane Tinker with animal cruelty.   Because we all know that a dog that barks is somehow being treated cruelly.  Right?   Do the Jethro's in the Knox County Sheriff's Department even have a clue what cruel treatment of an animal is?

I mean, there is no allegation that Tinker beat her dogs.   There is no allegation that she tortured them.   There are no allegations that she caused them grievous injury or maimed them.   No the allegation was, they smelled and some times they barked.

Give me a break.  

Where the hell is the FBI when all these violations of the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) are occurring?  Why aren't they investigating the Knox County Sheriff's Department for their abuse of power? 

A Streetcar Named Desire or Much Ado About Nothing?

When you think of Tennessee lots of things come to mind. Like playwright Tennessee Williams, though he wasn't actually from Tennessee. For me, I think of Tennessee Tea, a personal favorite of mine. Ever have it? It’s a brilliant story. Back in the 80's, Jack Daniel’s Distillery released a series of bottled cocktails called Tennessee Tea, Lynchburg Lemonade, and others that all use Jack as one of the ingredients. As is natural these days, a whiner came out of the woodwork and said, “Hey that’s my top secret recipe” and sued. Jack Daniel’s said, Fine. We withdraw our product, AND here’s the recipe. That’s right, Jack Daniel’s published the "top secret" recipe to both cocktails so everyone can make their own drinks and back into the woodwork crawled the whiner.  (The first Court awarded him One Dollar for his suit).  Now the recipe for making Tennessee Tea is available on dozens of websites on the Internet including the Jack Daniel's site.  Now that's a classy move. 

The last thing probably on anyone’s mind when they think of Tennessee is animal rights. They’d be wrong.  There's more animal rights activism in Tennessee than bottles of Jack Daniels. Tennessee is literally a hot bed of animal rights terrorism. 

Some of the major offenders include McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center in Chattanooga, run by animal rights zealots with a 50% kill rate, a high "accidental" kill rate (oops' sorry we killed your dog....), and who love to illegally raid dog breeders and pet stores.  Then there's Memphis, regularly blogged by YesBiscuit over the brutality and animal cruelty that happens regularly in the Animal Shelter.  Yes, the Memphis Animal Shelter is a hell hole.  Memphis Animal Services (MAS) is also notorious for running SWAT Team raids on animal owners and seizing their pets away from them, which only adds to their high kill rate. Both human and animal.  The deaths of Donald Moore and Tommie Morgan can also be placed at the doorstep of MAS.  Which is highly ironic given the fact that MAS has itself been raided over the horrific cruelty that exists in their shelter.  To date at least a dozen MAS employees have been charged with animal cruelty yet conditions never seem to improve and they continue to illegally raid animal owners.  Then you have Tennessee State Representative William Lamberth, an animal rights lawyer, member of the radical vegan Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) out of California, and who rose to power by prosecuting elderly animal owners and destroying their lives.  What a nice guy.  You'd never know about his ALDF history from his campaign website which talks about God, Country, Limited Government, Low Taxes, Farmers, and Family.  Is there any other buttons he forgot to push?  You know what they say about politicians... if their lips are moving.   With the blazing trails of dead animals following in the wake animal rights activists in Tennessee you'd think they'd learn to be more circumspect.  Nah!  Their arrogance knows no bounds. 

It should then surprise no one that they took on and raided the Wheelon Stables, owned by Larry Wheelon a long time respected trainer and AAA rated Judge who was an active director of the Tennessee Walking Horse Trainer’s Association and served on their ethics committee. This raid was part of HSUS's larger effort to destroy the Tennessee Walking Horse industry and their National Celebration show which the HSUS has campaigned against calling it the "Cruelest Show on Earth."  They thought they had another Jackie McConnell situation to exploit for all it was worth.  They were wrong.

In April of 2013, the HSUS and local activists from Horse Haven of Tennessee raided the Wheelon Stables "with the Blount County Sheriff's Office assisting in serving the warrant" and accused trainer Larry Wheelon of animal cruelty claiming he had been illegally “soring” the horses. Something tells me that the Blount County Sheriff's Office needs a course in the United States Constitution. Animal rights activists such as the HSUS have no legal authority to serve a search warrant. Zippo, nada, none. Additionally, the raid was headed by USDA Special Agent Julie McMillan of Nashville another person with no legal authority to lead a raid. HSUS of course immediately released one of their highly scripted press releases claiming massive horse abuse with horses in "extreme pain" on the part of Mr. Wheelon. The search warrant, like so many other animal cases, authorized a search of Mr. Wheelon's stables but did not authorize the seizure of any animals. They were taken anyway. Not only were 19 horses seized, but a dog, cash, and property were also stolen as well.

As you can expect, the activists knowing nothing of true and correct animal care, placed 3 stallions together during the transport run. Surprising no one, one stallion attacked another causing a serious body injury. The activists were warned repeatedly to get the horse emergency veterinary help but they ignored the instructions. When the seized horses were finally examined by multiple veterinarians, all of them were found to be in excellent condition except the injured stallion that was injured due to the ignorant handling by the activists not Mr. Wheelon.

The Case Fell Apart:

When it came time to prove their case in court, they had none.  In a courtroom packed with Mr. Wheelon's supporters, the judge dismissed the charges of aggravated animal cruelty against Mr. Wheelon saying there was no probable cause to continue the case.

“Justice was served,” said Eugene Condry, a former Maryville High School teacher. “This reminds me of Nazi Germany ... the way these horses were seized.”

“It’s good to see the 4th and 5th amendments to be Constitution being upheld and due process of law being achieved,” added Tom Garren, a pharmacist for 35 years from Monroe County.

After the case was dismissed, Larry Wheelon spoke out about his ordeal. He said, "We love this industry and these horse(s) and we're not going to do nothing to abuse this horse," Wheelon said Tuesday. "You got $50,000 and you're going to go out and abuse it? I don't think so." While the case is over, legally speaking, Wheelon said he still is facing a court of public opinion. "I've told all my owners I was sorry this was happening, and I hate what they're going through. I've got some customers that have been with me since 1965," said Wheelon."

But the case is not over, The animal animals movement is determined to not take this defeat laying down. Even though a District Court Judge dismissed the charges against Mr. Wheelon saying there simply wasn't enough real evidence to go on, animal rights activists are pressing hard to force the District Attorney to attempt to continue prosecuting Mr. Wheelon in Circuit Court. The activists made a big deal out of prosecution witness USDA Dr. Bart Sutherland not being allowed to testify due to a technicality but what they won't tell you is that USDA horse inspectors have already been outed during a FOIA request as admitting in government emails that they know nothing about horses and some of them actually hate horses.

On August 20, the Judge ordered, “the 19 horses being held in this case by the state of Tennessee and in the custody of the HSUS be returned immediately to the owners.” But the horses aren't in Tennessee. HSUS shipped them out of state immediately after the raid to Texas. Not only that, but court records claim that USDA agent Julie McMillan gave two of the horses to her ex-husband. Each of their owners will now have to battle to attempt to get their horses back from this combination of out of control animal rights activists and ignorant and overreaching bureaucrats looking to pad their prosecution resume.

It should also come as no surprise that HSUS has put a $5,000 bounty on owners or trainers of Walking Horses, just has they have for dog breeders.  So what you are asking yourself, does this have to do with a Streetcar named Desire? Turns out it was all Much Ado About Nothing.