Thirteen Iowa puppy mills and brokers, including one near Riverside, are on the Humane Society of the United States’ Horrible Hundred list for 2019. This is the seventh year in a row the Humane Society has published the list of 100 problem puppy mills and dog sellers to warn people buying puppies and dogs about common problems and to urge government oversight. Missouri had the highest number on the list at 22, followed by Iowa with 13. Those in Iowa are found in Ackworth, Ames, Britt, Cantril, Chariton, Coon Rapids, Grinnell, Melvin, New Sharon, Riverside, Sheldon, Sioux Center, and Sioux Rapids.

According to the HSUS, the name of the Riverside kennel is withheld by the USDA. In a July 2018 USDA inspection, there were 129 total dogs and puppies with dirty water containing sawdust bedding, grime, and hair on many of the water buckets. There was also “excessive buildup of thick dark brown to black layer of dirt, grime and debris on most of the inside plastic wall panel surfaces.” There was an excessive number of flies present in the whelping area and the license indicated there was no plan for control and no fly strips present.

During a November inspection, it was noted that an adult Newfoundland had an abnormal skin condition including missing hair, flaking skin, and greenish-discharge by one eye that had not yet been seen by a vet, a gas heater in the whelping room was hanging too low and could potentially be reached by six weaned Bernese Mountain Dog puppies, and an enclosure with six puppies in the whelping room that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, “The licensee stated that the solid feces is picked up daily but the surfaces in the enclosure have not been sanitized in over two weeks.” It is licensed by the Iowa Department of Agriculture under the owner name Loren Yoder. State inspectors found similar violations in November 2018 and in January 2019 state inspectors indicated the violations had been improved. A local resident complained that dogs were in deep snow, and a January 2019 state inspection showed 138 dogs and puppies were in the facility.