Skip to content

35,294 Entries
40 Added in Past 24 Hours

Justice Department Secures Agreement Preventing Indiana Exhibitor and Dog Breeder From Violating the Animal Welfare Act

Excerpt:  “In a consent decree entered today by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Indiana exhibitor and dog breeder, Vernon D. Miller, agreed to not apply for or engage in any activity that requires a Department of Agriculture (USDA) license for two years. If Miller is relicensed in the future, he must comply with Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations and standards necessary to provide humane and lawful care to the animals he exhibits and sells. A complaint filed in October alleged that Miller — individually and doing business as the Dutch Creek Farm Animal Park in Shipshewana, Indiana — had violated the AWA by failing to provide adequate veterinary care, safe and hospitable enclosures, appropriate enrichment and sanitary housing, food and water to his animals. The complaint also alleged that Miller had failed to maintain legally required records. At the time of the filing of the complaint, Miller had been cited for 90 AWA violations in just over a year, the highest number of citations for any USDA-licensed facility during that time period (2023-2024). Miller’s violations impacted over 300 animals that he exhibited to the public — including deer, zebra, exotic birds and primates — and dozens of dogs and puppies that he bred for sale as pets.”