17 dogs from warehouse get new homes, MI
Source: Freep.com, July 10, 2009
Officials at Oakland County’s animal shelter have new homes for 17 of 33 small dogs seized in June from a woman who penned them in a Royal Oak warehouse after Birmingham authorities charged her with keeping too many dogs.
Last week, Royal Oak police said the city would not file neglect charges against Traci Nelson, who operated Itsy Bitsy Dog Rescue from a Web site and her former home in Birmingham.
Nelson, 35, paid a $300 fine June 8 for keeping more dogs than Birmingham’s limit of three.
Nelson said she wanted only to rescue dogs.
Friends who helped with Itsy Bitsy Dog Rescue said she paid for pet food and care for animals she found suffering at puppy mills in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.
She charged $200-$400 to adopt a dog. But animal-control authorities said Nelson profited by selling dogs.
The dogs — Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, miniature pinschers and Jack Russell terriers — are available for adoption.
The cost is $136.50 each, said Sgt. Joanie Toole, a supervisor at the Oakland Pet Adoption Center in Auburn Hills.
To adopt a dog, go to the center at 1700 Brown Road. Hours are 10 a.m.-6:15 p.m. Mondays and Fridays; 10 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays. Call 248-391-4100.
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