Just found out: if you emailed Maine Animal Welfare about the property in response to the video last Friday, you may have gotten a response from Animal Welfare stating that a PETA rep toured the kennel and approved of conditions ("The property was visited on Friday by a selectman, the town’s Animal Control Officer, both accompanied by a representative from PETA"). This is a lie; the PETA rep on the case confirmed that this did not take place ("No one from PETA was present when they did their inspection").

Also, Animal Welfare was providing my personal information to those who emailed. This was before the above story was published.

So: yet more lying and more unprofessional behavior that could have been covered in this article—whose puff-piece premise was completely rejected by those who read it and ended up being a complete waste of space.

Thank you for the kind words. I completely understand what you're saying (this is the first I've heard of the disability, too; I obviously don't know its nature). I'm honestly not looking for an unkind resolution here: something like you describe, where there was a a gradual, community effort to get the dogs better homes in some manner, would be great. It's just that the guy has iron-clad protection in perpetuating the current situation (when he, by the law, shouldn't), and it's a situation, as discussed, that invites suffering. There needs to be a path to better for the dogs and the community.

Thank you!

I think you've all seen this, but just in case: I'm the complainant mentioned in that article, and I go over my experience and the big issue with the article here.

In brief: when the reporter asked for my side of the story, I sent her documentation & recordings of evident violations, info on statutes, and evidence that the ACO and Maine Animal Welfare had a pattern of ignoring complaints/apparently obstructing for the place. The reporter said the info was too complex for the length of story she was allowed to write and just ignored it entirely, taking the ACO and Animal Welfare completely at their word. Thankfully, from the comments and others' first-hand experiences with the place, it looks like no one is buying the gloss-over.

Seriously, thank you all for that.