San Diego County animal rescue groups expose backyard goldendoodle breeder

Lauren Botticelli has viewed her share of animals in dire straits.

It can be element what she signed up for as the head of the Animal Pad, an animal rescue business in La Mesa. But not even Botticelli was ready for the scene she encountered through a number of visits to a backyard breeder in Mexico.

Botticelli understood from a Facebook web page that Annette Rosenow bred goldendoodles, a common blend of golden retriever and poodle. Then Rosenow set a get in touch with out on social media indicating she required support. She sent a Google Maps pin to a residence in Rosarito, a seaside town south of Tijuana.

“No one particular knew in which she was and who she was,” Botticelli mentioned. “When we pulled up we really saw a hill of doodles. There were several more canine than she experienced admitted to in essence.”

It got worse from there.

“We noticed her toss rocks, throw buckets at the canines, and we had to bite our tongues in that instant,” Botticelli explained.

The rescue

Breeders in Mexico have an influence in San Diego County because numerous of the dogs stop up becoming offered here.

Botticelli and other rescuers produced a number of visits to Rosenow’s home, having a handful of puppies each and every time. Botticelli said Rosenow was only prepared to let go of the canine she deemed “timid weirdos” and wished to maintain her breeding girls and studs.

At a single stage, Rosenow made severe threats to a single of the rescuers. Her threats had been recorded on video clip following Mexican municipal law enforcement experienced place her in handcuffs. KPBS was not in a position to attain documents from Mexican authorities relating to that incident.

Having said that, Rosenow did acknowledge that she was in custody for three days. In the course of that time, the teams obtained to perform eliminating the remaining canine. But, what they found will haunt them.

“Annette told me this right, that they would be battling about food to the point where they ended up killing each other,” Botticelli stated. “Any mother that was providing birth — the other puppies had been feeding on the puppies. It was a ill condition and extremely, quite unfortunate. They have been starved.”

Botticelli shared images and online video with KPBS that showed doggy skulls on the home and the bodies of quite a few puppies in a freezer.

Some pet dogs have been defecating rocks eaten out of starvation. Boticcelli explained quite a few of the canine had to be sedated to take away the matted fur tearing their skin.

Rosenow at first agreed to an interview with KPBS, but afterwards changed her brain. In its place, she has in current weeks defended herself by way of text messages.

She explained the puppies in the freezer died of parvovirus, a virulent canine sickness. She included that she has no felonies for animal abuse and is becoming slandered.

Rosenow also reported she was detained by Mexican immigration authorities and is now in Germany. KPBS was unable to obtain documents relating to her detention.

A record of violations

This is not the first time Rosenow has run afoul of the legislation. And her functions haven’t been limited to Mexico — for yrs she ran breeding functions in the United States.

In 2017, the point out of New Mexico charged Rosenow with 61 violations relating to license and rabies needs.  She pleaded guilty to 11 of the counts — fined and sentenced to 23 times in jail, according to court documents. And a magistrate decide dominated she simply cannot own animals any where in the United States, the data show. 

In 2018, 6 of Rosenow’s canines died in a hot motor vehicle in Albuquerque following she says they had been abandoned by the individual she hired to transportation them to Texas, courtroom records demonstrate. Charges from Rosenow in that circumstance were being dismissed. 

Cindi Sullivan is director of Torrance County Animal Services in New Mexico, just one of lots of counties Rosenow is acknowledged to have run her breeding organization.

“I knew just before you even reported her identify who it was,” Sullivan mentioned. She experienced been been investigating Rosenow when she lived in her jurisdiction.

“I have so numerous aliases on this woman, so many diverse locations that she’s gone,” Sullivan additional. “Annette Christine Sticks, Annette Friedrich, Christina Sticks, Holly Smith.”

Sullivan is among the lots of who reported the difficulty with animal regulate in the United States is that breeders who are shut down in one particular jurisdiction can just go to another county or a different condition.

“It’s heartbreaking that everybody’s arms are tied, and this things just proceeds,” Sullivan stated. “We work for months and months to test to end these items from occurring, and all it normally takes is for them is to shift into the future district.”

San Diego Humane Culture CEO and president, Dr. Gary Weitzman, mentioned breeders will go on to have an easy time evading law enforcement right until there is a way to hold observe of them on a national stage.

“There’s no problem we have to have a central databases.” Weitzman mentioned. “Right now, it truly is very informal, and we have to count on our possess colleagues that are in our marketplace to truly translate what is actually occurring in yet another region. And that just places the animals at hazard.”

Weitzman mentioned responsible breeders are worthy of their pounds in gold to his firm. “Those are breeds that we want to see continue in the animal entire world,” he reported. “But, not on the backs of struggling from other animals getting bred in usually horrible situations.”

Weitzman extra that breeders should really let buyers to bodily see the place the animals are bred, demonstrate that all documentation is accounted for and often use payment that can be tracked. He said a transaction to offer a puppy or dog on public assets is unlawful in the state of California.

A couple lucky dogs

In 2020, Emily Hoyt acquired 1 of the goldendoodles that Rosenow had transported across the border to a Chula Vista parking good deal.

“She despatched me video clips of the puppies, so I definitely felt snug. She appeared quite genuine,” Hoyt mentioned.

She reported Rosenow appeared actually caring to her clients, using her Facebook group of 2,700 customers to hook up puppy parents. Hoyt claimed she was responsive and followed up about the pet soon after the sale.

The doggy Hoyt acquired from Rosenow, who goes by “Bennett,” is now pleased and wholesome, Hoyt claimed. And shortly soon after hearing about the rescue, she contacted the Animal Pad and has adopted a person of the rescued goldendoodle puppies.

“Fast ahead to now, discovering out all of this information and facts has just been actually surprising,” Hoyt reported. “I wouldn’t have predicted it. On the lookout back again, there possibly were some crimson flags that I overlooked, however.”