# Kansas "breeder" FINALLY gets jail time for abuse of GSD. AnezkaK9



## MOJO9913 (Nov 13, 2017)

Julie Bernet jailed after repeated animal cruelty and abuse | The Kansas City Star


Sad story of abuse of these beautiful animals. I _think_ she was on this forum as a member


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## dogbyte (Apr 5, 2002)

This is not her first time...I think. I believe she was out on parole from her first offense.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

I thought breeders are supposed to undergo inspections once or twice a year. How can anyone let things get this bad. We really need to either hold each other accountable or lend a hand when things get over someone's head.


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## Suzy25 (Mar 3, 2016)

That story was incredibly sad, I almost adopted one of the rescued dogs but I live too far :/ 

If anyone has instagram and wants to follow the rehab of one of the rescued dogs there is an instagram page for him https://www.instagram.com/straightouttaozark/?hl=en 

He was named Titan by the rescuers but the new owners know his actual name (Brix) and breeder he was imported from and all the titles he has and such. 
Watching him loving life and recovering after all he went through is so amazing and incredibly heartwarming


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Wow!

That woman has obviously got some serious mental health issues based on the rest of that article. 

I hope she stays in jail for a very long time :


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## Genalis_mom (Mar 9, 2018)

Wow. That dog is absolutely stunning. Love those markings. What is that called?




Suzy25 said:


> That story was incredibly sad, I almost adopted one of the rescued dogs but I live too far :/
> 
> If anyone has instagram and wants to follow the rehab of one of the rescued dogs there is an instagram page for him https://www.instagram.com/straightouttaozark/?hl=en
> 
> ...


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## Suzy25 (Mar 3, 2016)

Genalis_mom said:


> Wow. That dog is absolutely stunning. Love those markings. What is that called?


He is technically a black sable, you can see it in a photo they posted from when he was still in Europe before he was sold and shipped to the US to the abuser. I believe he is going through a coat transition, the sable colouring is much much lighter, sables can do through many colour changes throughout their lives. Only time will tell if his hair will grow back as dark as it once was or stay light, i believe the owner has been saying how much he is shedding and losing all the unhealthy hair. 

He has many bald spots which give him an interesting looking pattern right now haha


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

car2ner said:


> I thought breeders are supposed to undergo inspections once or twice a year. How can anyone let things get this bad. We really need to either hold each other accountable or lend a hand when things get over someone's head.


No, with 11 dogs, you don't get inspected, not unless there are complaints lodged against you. AKC might, but there also, I think they go mostly by the number of litters registered. I mean, if there are 50,000 litters registered by 40,000 breeders, the AKC is going to look at the 100-500 breeders that are putting out the most litters, unless they are getting complaints. 

Missouri is one of the states that is known for puppy mills. Ohio is too. In Ohio, you don't get inspected unless you fall under the Department of Agriculture. To qualify for this, you have to have 9 litters or sell 60 dogs, or sell any sight unseen over the internet. I think there is something about 4 or 5 breeding females. 

I get a letter from them pretty much every year, because I have a bunch of intact bitches. I just send it back with whatever number of litters -- usually 1 or 0, the number of dogs/pups sold, and I never hear anything more from them. 

The state is looking for people who have many dogs. 11 may sound like many. But it is not. It is horrific that she could not manage 11 dogs. Or 9. That isn't all that hard. Since it is spring, mine all need a good grooming, but they are not ready to eat each other yet. Nothing wrong with shavings, but they shouldn't be covered in poop. Yes, dog's poop. It is a symptom of being fed. But there's a difference between one-two days' poop and months worth of poop. 

It sounds like this woman has a lot of issues. Too bad that so many of her dogs were to that point of neglect.


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## Aly (May 26, 2011)

Thanks for posting this. I always wonder what happens to dogs rescued from bad/abusive situations. It's truly heartwarming.


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## Genalis_mom (Mar 9, 2018)

Suzy25 said:


> He is technically a black sable, you can see it in a photo they posted from when he was still in Europe before he was sold and shipped to the US to the abuser. I believe he is going through a coat transition, the sable colouring is much much lighter, sables can do through many colour changes throughout their lives. Only time will tell if his hair will grow back as dark as it once was or stay light, i believe the owner has been saying how much he is shedding and losing all the unhealthy hair.
> 
> He has many bald spots which give him an interesting looking pattern right now haha




Thank you for that information. Bald spots or not, he is absolutely gorgeous. Poor boy, I wish we could just shoot people that abuse the elderly, the handicap, children, and animals. It takes a special kind and cowardice of evil to prey upon the helpless.


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## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

That is so heartbreaking. The dog (from the link above) looks like he is titled so someone must have spent a lot of time training him or paid a lot of money to get him. Such a sad, strange situation. I can't help but wonder what was going on with the breeder--if she was always disreputable or if there were other factors at play like dementia or severe mental illness and social isolation. If the dogs were that neglected, she could be in a pretty sad state herself. Or she could just be heartless. At any rate, it's a shame that no one was able to intervene sooner. Does anyone know if the other dogs went to a rescue facility? Do they need donations? (MODs please delete if I am not allowed to ask that).


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## GandalfTheShepherd (May 1, 2017)

@sebrench I wonder that too ... saw several photos of the lady with her dogs before this all happened and she looked like she really loved her dogs, well would have fooled me anyways! Obviously not right in the head... but wonder how in the world something like that could have happened. How does someone go from seemingly caring to just abandoning them all for dead? I'm still amazed when I see breeders that _are_ able to handle 10 dogs, one is PLENTY for me right now!!!! How does one even go about exercising 10 GSDs every single day? Hope they all find good loving homes...


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Genalis_mom said:


> Thank you for that information. Bald spots or not, he is absolutely gorgeous. Poor boy, I wish we could just shoot people that abuse the elderly, the handicap, children, and animals. It takes a special kind and cowardice of evil to prey upon the helpless.


Why wait until they abuse people or animals? Why not just euthanize everyone who has a problem? 

A lot of times these cases are handicapped individuals, or elderly. Usually folks do not set out to neglect their animals. Usually they start out with great dogs and take good care of them. And then, shtuff happens. Paul Upton lost his son. That's a blow. But ANYONE can go through a serious bout of depression and fail those around them. Anyone. 

Anyone of you can have something happen in your life that triggers you to a place you've never experienced. And when you are there, there's no telling. That woman with the 30 dogs I think that killed them all and herself I think, with carbon monoxide poisoning. What drives a person to do that? I hope you never know. I hope I never know. 

But sometimes I think, but for the grace of God, that could be me. 

I am more likely to consider what we, the dog community can do for each other when things get out of hand. The thing is with any mental/emotional illness denial is usually one of the major symptoms, and another is that it becomes harder and harder to reach out the deeper down you are. 

I don't know this lady or what her story is. And dogs are dead -- that is awful. Terrible. But I am not ready to shoot her. I have more dogs than she did. On any given day when you have a 12-15 shepherds, you might have one or two that are skinny. When half of your dogs are age 8 or older, one might die of natural causes, at any time, or be lame, or develop an ear infection or a hot spot or skin issue. Our breed does have a lot of issues. People with one GSD, often have skin problems, behavioral issues, under or over weight. No one does anything about pet owners who fail their dogs. It only seems more horrendous if the person is a breeder. 

I find the story sad. And it makes me do inventory. I struggle with depression. Maybe if those of us who know we have a problem could reach out when we are not in our deepest place, have someone appointed who we trust to help us see our dogs' needs, who will kind of keep an eye on them, so that if we do go into our deepest place, the dogs do not end up eating each other. The problem, of course, is that those who do struggle, often have trouble with relationships, making good decisions about whom to trust, and so forth. At the end of the day, you can ask where this woman's family was, where her friends were, neighbors? How did nobody know that things had gotten this bad? To me, it is a very sad story. A story of isolation, loneliness, and mental illness. I don't know what the answers are.


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## GandalfTheShepherd (May 1, 2017)

selzer said:


> Why wait until they abuse people or animals? Why not just euthanize everyone who has a problem?
> 
> A lot of times these cases are handicapped individuals, or elderly. Usually folks do not set out to neglect their animals. Usually they start out with great dogs and take good care of them. And then, shtuff happens. Paul Upton lost his son. That's a blow. But ANYONE can go through a serious bout of depression and fail those around them. Anyone.
> 
> ...


Well said!


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## Genalis_mom (Mar 9, 2018)

selzer said:


> Why wait until they abuse people or animals? Why not just euthanize everyone who has a problem?


I do agree with you and I love the eloquence in your words! 

I have to honestly admit that I am just jaded and cynical, due to my work. I am a Detention officer in a maximum security facility. The folks that I deal with on a day to day basis are really messed up. I work with a woman that suffocated her 3 day old baby, two men that beat toddlers to death, about 30 pedophiles (their crimes are just too awful to discuss), and I recently had a man who had 40+ dogs that he was starving....keeping their body parts in the freezer, a serial rapist, the man that stomped his wife's head in and smeared her brains on his feet like lotion........there is 140 of the worst of the worst and they each have their own story.

My other job is that of a Guardian ad Litem. I investigate child abuse (physical, sexual and mental) and advocate for the child in the court room. One of the kids that I am working with right now was specifically bred by her mother's pimp for the sex trafficking world. She was forced to live as a child prostitute for 12 years, starting at infancy. She cannot remember how many times she was raped before she was 10 years old. I have sat through forensic interviews where a child tells of the abuse, held the hand of a 3 year old while a rape kit was processed and provided support for many children that had to sit in front of their abuser and testify in court.

Of course, I don't think that we should shoot everyone that has a problem. I have my own problems. I battle with depression.......due mostly to my line of work. For about 60 house a week, I deal with the worst people of society. I hear them laugh about the crimes they commit, one of the pedophiles loves to draw nasty pictures of the children he raped and I have to take the pictures away from him before he USES them for gratification and every day I see that murderer carefully rubbing lotion on his feet while talking to his dead girlfriend.

Yes, anyone can be triggered to something awful. I am no better than the people that I hold captive for a living, I am just more fortunate. But, being bathed constantly in moral depravity often leads me to a gut jerk reaction, I get so tired of the weak being preyed upon. So many children hurt every day.

I've been doing this work for nearly a decade. It has changed me, I am strong and more courageous now than I ever have been. I will fight to the bitter end to improve a child's life. But, it has harmed me as well. I trust no one, and GOD FORBID if some stranger tries to put their hands on my grandchild. I carry my gun everywhere I go, and now with all the animosity towards law enforcement, I am never without a gun within my reach. I treat my inmates with respect and kindness, but never forget that this does not change the fact that they can come after me when they get out (it has happened before).

Despite it all, I love my work. Thank you for the reality check, I need that sometimes. :smile2:


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

selzer said:


> Why wait until they abuse people or animals? Why not just euthanize everyone who has a problem?
> 
> A lot of times these cases are handicapped individuals, or elderly. Usually folks do not set out to neglect their animals. Usually they start out with great dogs and take good care of them. And then, shtuff happens. Paul Upton lost his son. That's a blow. But ANYONE can go through a serious bout of depression and fail those around them. Anyone.
> 
> ...


I agree with this 100%. 

I wonder how many of us on this forum suffer from depression or social anxiety issues.
No one spends that kind of money on dogs and just walks away. This was not your run of the mill puppy mill. This was a breeder of good quality dogs, for the most part. This was a woman who from all accounts loved her dogs, and started out doing things right. 
It's really easy to sit at a computer and pass judgement on people we don't know. But I also find this story sad and maybe it's a wake up call to everyone. 
I don't communicate with a lot of people outside this forum. I would guess there are a lot of us like that and it has been made clear on a few occasions that sometimes we need to pay careful attention to each other. It is a source of amazement and wonder to me that people will extend themselves to reach out to a stranger with kind words and thoughts. 
Sometimes that's all it takes. We need to remember to be kind to each other, even when we disagree.


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## AwayFromHere (Jun 30, 2013)

Genalis_mom said:


> I do agree with you and I love the eloquence in your words!
> 
> I have to honestly admit that I am just jaded and cynical, due to my work. I am a Detention officer in a maximum security facility. The folks that I deal with on a day to day basis are really messed up. I work with a woman that suffocated her 3 day old baby, two men that beat toddlers to death, about 30 pedophiles (their crimes are just too awful to discuss), and I recently had a man who had 40+ dogs that he was starving....keeping their body parts in the freezer, a serial rapist, the man that stomped his wife's head in and smeared her brains on his feet like lotion........there is 140 of the worst of the worst and they each have their own story.
> 
> ...


As an aside, my husband has been an officer for about 13 years and was a CO before that, and I am a therapist specializing in early childhood abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. It's draining, and vicarious trauma is real. We are both huge fans, to the point that I spent thousands to train in it myself for my own clients, of EMDR for processing work overwhelm. It's sometimes very quick, significantly less talk therapy, and is life changing for people in our professions. There is a lot of stigma against therapy. My husband describes his first EMDR session after a CI when his department refused CIR as life changing, and I have started developing a law enforcement/first responder program through my clinic.


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## RoninByDesign (Aug 11, 2017)

selzer said:


> Why wait until they abuse people or animals? Why not just euthanize everyone who has a problem?
> 
> A lot of times these cases are handicapped individuals, or elderly. Usually folks do not set out to neglect their animals. Usually they start out with great dogs and take good care of them. And then, shtuff happens. Paul Upton lost his son. That's a blow. But ANYONE can go through a serious bout of depression and fail those around them. Anyone.
> 
> ...


This is very refreshing to read, the internet and people in general are usually so stuck on retribution, vengeance and taking pleasure in watching the "bad" people suffer. OF course people who are a threat to other beings should be removed and rehabilitated if they can be(and life long probation), but we should probably use empathy and rehabilitation... Because whatever life paths and brain chemical reactions that lead her to those decisions would have literally happened to anyone if we lived her life 1:1 and the universe was in the same state. determinism is for real. 

And this is not to say this story isnt incredibly tragic. I really feel for those dogs, they didnt deserve this. I've been following brix on instagram for a while now.


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

Definitely agree with Selzer's post -


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