JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and the Missouri Department of Agriculture obtained a temporary restraining order Thursday that will prevent a St. Louis boarding kennel owner from housing dogs.
Koster filed a lawsuit April 22 against Landmark Animal Center Inc. and Greg Striebel, the kennel's owner, for allegedly engaging in violations of the Animal Care Facilities Act. The Department of Agriculture alleged that the defendants failed to properly maintain records of current vaccinations for boarding animals, operated the commercial boarding kennel without a license since Jan. 31 and failed to meet certain housing requirements, creating risks of illness and injury to boarded animals.
The alleged housing requirement violations included failing to repair breaks in overhead chain link fencing that posed a risk to the animals, failing to repair or replace rusted outside doors and hinges that compromised the structural integrity and safety of the panels and gates and failing to provide or repair rusted, jagged enclosure doors.
Koster's lawsuit sought a temporary restraining order prohibiting Striebel from any further violations of the ACFA and from conducting any ACFA-regulated activity until the issuance of a future court order. The lawsuit demands that the defendants pay court costs and a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per ACFA violation.
Koster and the Department of Agriculture have made stopping illegal dog breeders and sellers a high priority.
"We want Missouri to be known as a state that raises animals in a humane environment and offers dogs from well-operated kennels to buyers across the country," Koster said.
Mo. AG gets order against St. Louis boarding kennel
