New life for dogs rescued from Johnson County puppy farm

Harper Rainbow, a 1-year-old lab poodle mix, was one of 131 dogs removed last month from a puppy farm in Johnson County after a surprise inspection by Iowa agriculture officials found the dogs there were being kept in hot, dirty conditions and many were in a “state of distress.”

One week after the Aug. 24 inspection — after groomings, veterinary visits and a couple of long trips — Harper met her new family and arrived Sept. 1 at her permanent home in Ithaca, Mich.

“She had a rough start, but boy, we’re going to make up for it. She’s going to have a good life,” said Amy Zamarron-Riley, Harper’s new owner. “She will be loved. She now gets to be a dog and not a piece of property.”

After being removed from the farm, at 3027 540th St. SW near Riverside, Harper and the other dogs were taken in initially by Iowa City Animal Services. No criminal charges have been filed against the owners of the farm, but an investigation is ongoing, according to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

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There wasn’t enough room for all the dogs in the Iowa City shelter, so some were housed in separate locations in the city while they had their initial check ups and grooming appointments.

Harper has been on antibiotics prescribed by veterinarians in Iowa, mostly as a preventive measure to protect against infections in some wounds she had. She had flystrikes on one of her ears and some wounds on her back when she arrived at the shelter. She also has a bend in her front right leg that looked like it came from a broken leg that healed on its own without proper care, according to Zamarron-Riley.

“She’s fine. She runs and it doesn’t bother her. It just looks kind of goofy, but we don’t care,” Zamarron-Riley said.

Harper also had most of her fur shaved off while in the Iowa shelter because it was badly matted and dirty, Zamarron-Riley said.

Much of the grooming and other work required to help the dogs was done by volunteers. The Iowa City shelter recorded 545 hours of volunteer time during the two weeks following the dogs’ arrival — from Aug. 24 to Sept. 8.

There also were 172 hours of overtime worked by full-time staff during the first week the dogs were at the shelter — from Aug. 24 to Sept. 2 — not counting the extra time worked by the salaried animal services supervisor. One staff member canceled a few days of vacation time to help with the dogs, according to Capt. Scott Gaarde of the Iowa City Police Department Support Services Division.

Of the 131 dogs, the Bissell Pet Foundation — a national nonprofit charity — transported 100 to other shelters in the Midwest to relieve strain on the Iowa City facility. Another 22 stayed in the Iowa City shelter to be adopted. Nine of the 131 dogs died after being removed from the farm from various causes, including heat stroke and canine parvovirus.

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Most of the dogs that stayed in Iowa City have been adopted, and the few that haven’t have potential owners in the application process. The shelter does have dogs that weren’t part of the 131 that are up for adoption, as well as some cats and bunnies, all of which can be found on the shelter’s website.

After initial treatments in Iowa, Harper and 37 other dogs picked up by the Bissell foundation were taken to the Little Traverse Bay Humane Society in Harbor Springs, Mich. From Harbor Springs, Harper traveled with a group of 18 dogs to the Humane Society of Midland County, about an hour’s drive away from where Zamarron-Riley lives with her husband and grandchildren.

Zamarron-Riley is a major dog lover, and she follows several dog rescue organizations and dog shelters on Facebook, including the Iowa City Animal Shelter. She saw the shelter’s posts about the need for supplies after the dogs initially were taken in, and had been following the story from afar.

“It’s a very sad story. I can't imagine. I see those dogs are all over the place, but hopefully they found homes and I hope the people that adopt understand it's a process,” Zamarron-Riley said.

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She and her family have adopted rescue dogs before, and their most recent dog, who lived with them for five years, died about a month before they saw that some of the Iowa City dogs would be coming to Midland County. It felt like fate.

“We got there before the van actually did, so they invited us to come watch them unload. … These poor dogs were just scared to death. They had never been on a leash,” Zamarron-Riley said.

“They took them right to the yard and invited us to go interact with them. There were these little puppies that were bouncing around, and Harper, she just was there and wanted to be seen, but she was so unsure of everything.”

Zamarron-Riley and her husband and grandson, who were with her, all fell in love with the new dog. The shelter told them Harper, who was identified at the time with just a number, was probably about a year old and had likely had at least one litter of puppies.

Now the dog has a name, a home and a new life.

“Two weeks in, and she’s really, really come out of her shell. She goes to the dog park at least twice a day. This morning she was playing with a ball,” Zamarron-Riley said. “She doesn’t know toys. She doesn’t know good food. She doesn’t know just loving. She now puts her paw on you to ask to be rubbed. She’s just a dream.”

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