A Johnson County dog breeder who surrendered 131 dogs into his care has been charged with 41 counts of animal neglect.
Loren Yoder, 62, owner of the Sunset Valley Farm dog breeding business, was charged with five counts of animal neglect with injury, a serious misdemeanor, plus 36 counts of animal neglect without injury, a simple misdemeanor.
According to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were contacted in August by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship regarding animal welfare issues discovered at Sunset Valley Farm, located at 3027 540th St. SW to the town of Riverside.
IDALS conducted an inspection of the facility and determined that “a large number of dogs” were victims of neglect, according to the sheriff’s office.
Yoder agreed to surrender his 131 dogs to the care of Iowa City Animal Services. Physical exams performed by veterinarians led to a determination that many of the dogs had conditions caused by inadequate care, the sheriff’s office said, and that those conditions contributed to “undue distress, suffering, and pain to the affected animals.”
Yoder has not been arraigned and has not entered a formal plea, according to court records. He was released without bond and applied for a court-appointed attorney, listing assets of $1.5 million, and debts of $1,000. The court has yet to rule on that application.
Yoder has since surrendered his commercial breeder’s license, and said Thursday that he has no intention of reviving Sunset Valley Farm.
He said the county’s charges against him stemmed from pressure that a particularly “brainless” federal animal welfare inspector applied to state inspectors and to veterinarians.
He said his dogs were all “outdoor dogs” who may be dirtier than “city dogs who are nice and spic and span,” and only a few may have injuries that are in the process of healing.
“We’ll tell the judge what (the inspector) is doing,” Yoder said. “So we’re hoping that we can get the judge to overrule everything so I have almost no charges and no jail time or anything.”
Some of the dogs at Sunset Valley Farm were reported by the sheriff to be too nervous or fearful to be fully tested. One of them, suffering from an infection, was so frightened that he “pancaked” on the floor in an attempted examination, according to the sheriff’s office.
Other injuries reported by the sheriff in court filings include:
Open wound: A 10-month-old golden retriever had to be taken to another veterinarian for more extensive treatment after being surrendered. The dog had a “very large, deep, open wound on its left leg,” authorities said.
Pain and fear: One dog “could not be handled for an exam,” authorities said, while the other was “frozen in fear.” A veterinarian noted that one dog had an “obvious infection on his back legs” due to ingrown toenails wrapped around his legs. “This is another painful issue that could easily have been avoided,” the sheriff’s office veterinarian said.
Lacerations: One dog had wounds on its left side, left thigh, and right front leg, while the other showed signs of a three-inch laceration on the top of its head, a small wound in the middle of its back , and “multiple healing wounds.” .” Another dog had a one inch laceration on the back knee and an infected 2 ½ inch wound on the bottom of its neck.
Fleas, disease, matted fur: Many of the dogs deemed neglected but “unharmed” were described as emaciated and scared with thick fur coats, while others showed signs of infections, severe dental disease or “fleas all over place.” One such dog was described in court papers as “very shallow” with feces that “matted very loosely on all four paws.” The dog was described as “very thin” and “very scared.” Another dog was described as “covered in dirt” and suffering from a severe ear canal infection, as well as an umbilical hernia where the lining of the stomach or part of an abdominal organ bulges or protrudes.
Yoder canceled his USDA license in 2022
After being cited by the US Department of Agriculture for violations in the first, second and third quarters of 2022, Yoder was given an official warning from the USDA for violations found during a visit in September 2022. Yoder then canceled his USDA license in an apparent effort to avoid additional USDA inspections.
However, the business continued to operate on the same property, and it remained subject to state supervision and continued to be inspected by IDALS.
The state report for IDALS’ August 24, 2023, property inspection cited several deficiencies:
Whelping barn — In the business’s barn, where female dogs are kept with puppies for the first few weeks after they are born, the inspector noted that temperatures were in the 90s and there were not enough fans “to remove the sweltering heat” in place About 16 mothers were in heat, the inspector reported. The whelping building also had an “overwhelming amount of flies,” the inspector said.
Outdoor runs — In outdoor runs, there is an excessive number of weeds and holes in the ground are not filled to prevent injury. A golden retriever was on the loose during the inspection, and the outdoor enclosures were equipped with self-feeder mechanisms that were marred by what the inspector called “a heavy presence of flies inside and outside, dead and not.”
Personnel levels — The number of staff working in the kennel is “insufficient” for the number of dogs on hand, the inspector reported. “By their own admission Loren, Lloyd, and Uncle David Lee provide all 131 animals with less supervision or care,” the inspector wrote in his report.
In January 2023, Loren Yoder was cited by IDALS for several violations, although the published report provided few details of the conditions inside the facility.
“Bedding should be provided at all times to your outdoor population during inclement weather!” the inspector reported. His report also included a bold warning that IDALS could “limit the number of animals allowed in any housing,” but the report did not say why that warning was issued.
The report also said that “all the animals pictured” required medical attention, although no photos were published as part of the report.
During the September 2022 visit, a USDA official cited Yoder for one direct violation and six non-critical violations pertaining to the attending veterinarian and inadequate veterinary care, the method of animal identification, recording , animal housing facilities, main enclosure, and animal feeding.
The inspector noted that the three dogs appeared to be seriously underweight, but Yoder did not know the condition of two of the dogs and none of the three had been examined by a veterinarian. During the inspection, four adult poodles were found loose on the property and had to be rounded up and returned to their enclosure.
