Humane Society buys out breeder

MARKESAN, Wis., July 19 (UPI) -- The Wisconsin Humane Society has announced plans to buy out a large dog breeder and find homes for all his dogs.

Puppy Haven Kennel in Markesan, 90 miles northwest of Milwaukee, sells about 3,000 dogs a year, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The society said the owner, Wallace Havens, was selling the business at a steep discount because the dogs would go to good homes.

The American Kennel Club suspended Havens in 2006 after an inspector found poor conditions at the kennel. Havens canceled a scheduled re-inspection and was barred from registering dogs with the AKC.

Havens told the newspaper his decision to sell had nothing to do with the AKC suspension and was simply because at age 72 he wants to retire.

Cory Smith, animal sheltering program manager for the Humane Society of the United States, said the Wisconsin chapter's action is a first for the organization.