Unlicensed breeder in Hopkinton surrenders 2 dozen golden retrievers

HOPKINTON – An unlicensed breeder voluntarily surrendered 27 golden retrievers to the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals from a house on Alton-Bradford Road late last week.

One adult dog has already been returned to breeder Peter Reynolds and two more probably will be, according to Wayne M. Kezirian, president of the RISPCA. "He said they're part of his family," Kezirian told The Providence Journal Tuesday.

Hopkinton police were also called in to investigate.

Another four adult dogs and all 20 puppies – three to five weeks old – will be placed for adoption, and Kezirian said that more than 150 people have already stepped forward to adopt. That includes two organizations that train support animals, one that works with children and another that works with hospital patients.

"He appeared to care for his animals," Kezirian said. "They appeared to be properly fed."

But, he added, the dogs weren't kept in proper conditions. "Just a home that was in disarray," said Kezirian. "They were dirty. They were smelly. Twenty puppies that are confined make a real mess."

Kezirian said that he doesn't anticipate that the RISPCA will file charges against Reynolds. "From our perspective, he's been cooperative," he said. "He has agreed he will stop breeding animals."

Reynolds told The Journal on Tuesday that he got into the breeding business years ago when a friend asked to buy a puppy from him and continued to do so more or less at cost, undercutting licensed breeders by two or three times their prices.

"I was just trying to put golden retrievers into loving families who didn't have $3,000 to pay for a dog," he said. "I bred dogs that were loved."

"He was selling these animals for $750 each," said Kezirian.

Reynolds told The Journal that problems arose when a mother dog he didn't plan to breed this year accidentally got pregnant. "I ended up with more puppies than I planned on."

One mother had a litter of nine and another had a litter of two. But Whippet, whom he didn't plan to breed had a litter of 11, making 22 puppies, instead of the usual 7 to 12 Reynolds breeds in a normal year. (Two of the puppies had already been delivered to new homes before the investigation began.)

The mother dog who had 11 puppies and a five-year-old puppy of hers named Runty, who are being spayed and neutered, will be returned to Reynolds, Kezirian said. The father, Emerson, 13, has already been returned.

Kezirian said that past customers have sung Reynolds' praises, and some have expressed interest in adopting the remaining adult dogs.

While Kezirian was sympathetic to Reynolds, he noted, "It's never appropriate to be a backyard, unlicensed breeder raising dogs in dirty conditions."

For his part, Reynolds said he has sold his breeder's equipment, and said the affair has been traumatic for his family. "It's basically like DCYF coming in and taking all of your children."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Hopkinton Breeder voluntarily surrenders dogs amid investigation