Iowa dog breeder gives up 514 dogs, will soon face criminal charges
By James Stratton
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SEYMOUR, Iowa (KCCI) — As volunteers and workers from the ASPCA and Animal Rescue League of Iowa work to take hundreds of dogs from his rural Iowa properties, Daniel Gingerich has agreed to permanently stop selling, breeding or brokering dogs. Wayne County Sheriff Keith Davis says Gingerich will soon face criminal charges.
An agreement, which aims to settle a federal civil suit between Gingerich and the Department of Justice, was filed late Friday in court. It still needs a judge’s approval.
In it, Gingerich agrees to give up all 514 dogs to the ARL of Iowa and “permanently refrain from any activity requiring an AWA [Animal Welfare Act] license,” among other things.
Gingerich amassed 120 violations of the Animal Welfare Act since March, according to USDA records. USDA investigators visited his facilities 18 times in six months.
The agreement filed Friday also spelled out just how many dogs Gingerich owned.
The site at 3125 Davis Road in Seymour, the largest, had 275 dogs, including Toy Aussies, Cocker Spaniels, Labradoodles, Goldendoodles and more.
The second site, 25316 Elk Chapel Road in Lamoni, had 161 dogs. That property has a Pomsky breed, which is a mix between a Pomeranian and a Siberian Husky.
ASPCA and ARL of Iowa will confiscate 33 dogs from 28920 188th Avenue in Davis City, 23 from 12340 240th Street in Lamoni, 13 from 1405 120th Street in Hazleton and 9 from 3002 Highway 2 in Promise City.
ASPCA and ARL will bring the rescued dogs, at least from the Seymour-based site, to the Wayne County Fairgrounds where they will be checked by a veterinarian and sent to other shelters. Where those shelters are is not clear, ARL has denied multiple requests to comment.
“I’m glad to get this part of it behind us,” said Sheriff Keith Davis. “Then we’ll go ahead and pursue the criminal charges which are going to come later on.”
Davis could not say when the charges will come, or what they could be, but did say he is working with the DOJ and the USDA to get proper documentation.
He went on to say Gingerich has shown remorse for the situation.
“He apologized to me and said, you know, he’s the one to blame for all this,” Sheriff Davis said, adding that Gingerich has indicated he will turn himself in once charged. “He’s taking responsibility.”
Since March, USDA records show investigators found 120 violations of the Animal Welfare Act at Daniel Gingrich’s dog breeding facility. Over a six-month period, but only shut down the facility in early September by suspending Gingrich’s license for 21 days.
Documents show the first of 18 inspections was in March, but the USDA waited until Sept. 7 to suspend Gingerich’s license for 21 days and the Department of Justice filed a temporary restraining order in federal civil court on behalf of the federal government. That lawsuit is the case where the settlement agreement was filed by the DOJ and Gingerich, a federal judge still has to sign off on it.
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