“Like he’s my lawyer”: state senator intervened in animal welfare case


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The owner of a kennel in Davenport said state regulators reduced their sanction against his company this summer after a state lawmaker intervened in the case on his behalf.

Earlier this summer, the Animal Playground Kennel in Davenport, run by Robert Burns, was visited by state inspectors working for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. At the time, the kennel was supposed to be closed due to a license suspension triggered by a series of serious regulatory violations.

The kennel, however, was in full swing with 40 dogs roaming around, inspectors reported.

Defying a state shutdown order usually results in additional penalties for the business owner. In this case, however, IDALS not only took no further action against Burns, it reopened the case, rescinded its 30-day stay order, reduced the stay period from 30 days to 15 days, and then moved it to October to give Burns time to comply. They also gave him five more months to pay his fine.

The agency did all of this without Burns ever appealing the original fine and suspension.

Burns says it’s because his state legislator, Senator Roby Smith, R-Davenport, went to defend him during a lengthy phone call with IDALS officials. Burns said Smith was seated next to him at the kennel and made his case for him, telling IDALS officials that an inspector could be shot while looking out the windows of facilities they are visiting.

State Senator Roby Smit is a Republican from Davenport. (Photo courtesy of the Iowa Legislature)

“He was acting almost like he was my lawyer,” Burns said. “You know what, he really let them have him. He stood up for us for, you know, one of the things that I mentioned, which was, they were looking out our windows. He says, “You know, Iowa is an independent state. … He was like, ‘I want this on my desk by Friday – I want this, this and this.’ We had a two hour meeting, and it was me, my mom, and Roby Smith on my side. And we met, for example, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and the best veterinarian in the state.

When asked for his opinion on what was said at the meeting, Smith declined to comment.

“I don’t feel the need to talk to you about it,” he told an Iowa Capital Dispatch reporter Monday. “So we’ll stop there, okay?” Can’t tell me what I’m gonna do or what I’m not gonna do, okay? I don’t work for you.

Burns said Tuesday that shortly after Smith had this conversation with the Capital Dispatch, the senator called him to the kennel.

“He said to me, ‘Dude, I’m married, I don’t need people to come to my house,'” Burns said. “You know,” he said, “Journalists, I know how these people work.” He was like, just sort of like, ‘Leave my name out.’ “

Burns’ mother Cindy Martin said during the August phone call with IDALS officials, Smith challenged the agency over inspectors filming their visits to businesses and looking through windows.

“He said, ‘Is it your business practice to have inspectors peeking out the windows,” Martin said. “He said to me, ‘You know, Iowa is an inflexible state and in the winter it’s dark in here and it’s not a great neighborhood, and I’m worried about your employees, your inspectors. Someone might feel threatened and that might not turn out to be too good for your inspectors. So do you have a list of rules that your inspectors must follow? He said, ‘I want these rules in my emails by the end of the day.’ “

So what does Burns think of IDALS and the agency’s inspection process?

“It’s all bull—-,” he said. “I would like to pursue them. “

“An excessive amount of blood”

When asked why the agency reopened the case and reduced the stay after the appeal period expired and after Burns violated the stay order, IDALS spokesperson Keely Coppess, provided a written statement which read in part:

“The department uses Settlement Agreements and Final Orders to attempt to expedite the resolution of administrative actions by obtaining admission of the person / entity subject to an administrative order and to provide a level of finality to legal disputes between the parties. . “

Coppess added that “even after a potential appeal period has expired, individuals can continue to make other legal arguments, including whether an appeal was filed in a timely manner. Settlement agreements allow the department to gain admissions from a licensee, finalize cases, and avoid future litigation costs. “

The Iowa Capital Dispatch asked Coppess for details of the phone call with Senator Smith – when it happened, what the agency was asked to do, who was involved, etc. – but she didn’t answer.

The news agency filed a formal request under the Open Recordings Act for all notes and recordings related to the appeal. The agency has yet to recognize this request.

IDALS records indicate that Burns has a history of regulatory problems.

In July 2018, he was cited for failing to provide the dogs in his care with an adequate level of care. He later admitted that he had repeatedly accepted an excessive number of dogs in his kennel and failed to provide them with adequate supervision. His license was suspended for four days and he was fined $ 500.

In October 2019, IDALS received a complaint about a dog that was attacked and injured by other dogs at Animal Playground. The dog that was attacked suffered injuries that required medical attention worth $ 490, Burns admitted.

When inspectors arrived at Animal Playground to investigate the complaint, they saw dogs going back and forth between the separate play areas through “a large damaged area in the chain link.” They also noted “other areas of damage that posed injury hazards to pets.” There was, in fact, blood drawn and documented in the photos. “

Inspectors viewed a video recording of a dog named Molly being attacked first by a dog named Poppy and then by two other dogs named Bentley and CeCe. Inspectors concluded that the size of the playgroup they observed was in violation of state regulations, as was the number of employees overseeing the area.

“There were a number of cages which were not usable but which were used during our visit,” the inspectors said in their report. “These cages possessed obvious dangers that posed a distinct threat to the safety of pets.”

One, if not all, of the play areas would have been less than the state’s square footage requirements. Additionally, a dog with an injured toe or fingernail was not treated until the owner arrived at the kennel to pick up the animal, which meant “there was an excessive amount of blood spilled in it. establishment, ”the inspectors said. They also noticed an open floor drain that was unattended, creating a danger for dogs.

Ultimately, Burns was fined $ 1,000 and his license was suspended for 10 days.

“A lack of food and water”

In early February 2020, inspectors returned to Animal Playground and told Burns to fix the dog enclosures due to an excessive amount of rust and wire entering them, creating a “dangerous” situation for the dogs at the interior. In addition, the inspector stated that the “back room” which served as a play area for the dogs could not be used until it was “brought to code”.

A week later, inspectors returned and noted violations they said they had missed in previous inspections, such as “rusty inlet water pipes in the northern playground.” The inspector also noted that no improvements had been made to the back room.

On June 15, 2020, inspectors returned, signaling that they were there to ensure the company was not in operation due to the 10-day license suspension in effect at that time. Inspectors wrote in their report that the business was up and running and “Bob and receptionist Cindy said they closed May 9-19 and felt he had served his suspension. He said he had not yet paid the associated fine.

State files indicate that the IDALS followed Burns, and in subsequent files, the agency said it considered the suspension to be served in May, when Burns said it was closed.

In May of this year, inspectors returned in response to an animal abuse complaint. The agency cited Burns for numerous violations, such as unsupervised gambling groups; playgroups that had more than the maximum allowed of 15 dogs; a lack of food and water; unvaccinated dogs; inadequate record keeping; kennel enclosure with wire floor; and allowing “sexually intact” dogs in playgroups, which would have resulted in dog mating.

Following this inspection, IDALS again suspended Burns’ license, this time for 30 days, and imposed a fine of $ 3,000 to be paid within one month.

On July 28, inspectors went to the scene to make sure it was closed. When they arrived, they saw that it was operating at full capacity with around 40 dogs on site.

Burns says it was after this visit that he contacted his state senator and the two spoke to IDALS officials.

In less than four weeks, IDALS had reopened the case and reached a “settlement” with Burns. The agreement called for Burns’ license to be suspended for 15 days in October and a fine of $ 3,000 to be paid by January 2022.

Animal Playground is now back up and running, but Burns says it’s “only a matter of time” before he runs out of trouble with IDALS.

“What they’re trying to do is catch me off guard,” he said. “They want to silence me. “

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