Ex-puppy mill owner suspected of setting own home ablaze
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FERNDALE Wash. -- A convicted puppy mill owner has been arrested for investigation of arson following a suspicious fire at his own home on Wednesday.
Firefighters responded to the fire at Kenneth Cassell's home, located in the 7100 block of W. 40th St., at around 11 a.m. The fast-moving flames gutted a section of the home before they were extinguished.
The cause of the fire has not been determined; however, Whatcom County deputies said the blaze may have been intentionally set. Public records show the home was set to be sold in a foreclosure auction on Friday.
Deputies said they found a note tacked to the barn, indicating the homeowner had sold everything he owned -- one of several clues that indicated Cassell might hurt himself or others. Neighbors also warned deputies, they said.
"The resident may or may not be there and that he was thinking of maybe harming himself," said Lt. Scott Rossmiller with the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office. "That made them - the fire response - nervous."
A SWAT team searched the home for Cassell, but he was instead later found in downtown Bellingham. Cassell was questioned, then booked into jail for investigation of arson.
No one was hurt in the fire and no animals were found on the property.
Cassell was convicted of three counts of animal cruelty in the second degree after Whatcom Humane Society seized 48 miniature Australian Shepherd dogs from a locked barn behind his home in April 2012.
WHS director Laura Clark said the dogs were living in conditions that can only be described as "squalid and inhumane." She said many of the dogs were filthy, had matted fur and overgrown nails and were covered with feces.
He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and banned from owning an animal ever again, according to the Bellingham Herald.
Deputies said Cassell, during conversations with neighbors, had mentioned that he was upset about his dogs being seized and that he was angry with the court and the Whatcom Humane Society.
"He's known to have weapons," Rossmiller said. "Obviously that's not against the law. Some of the concern was whether he's in the frame of mind where he might try to hurt himself or other people. That was literally the unknown we were dealing with."
Cassell is due in court for his first appearance in the alleged arson case Thursday afternoon.
Firefighters responded to the fire at Kenneth Cassell's home, located in the 7100 block of W. 40th St., at around 11 a.m. The fast-moving flames gutted a section of the home before they were extinguished.
The cause of the fire has not been determined; however, Whatcom County deputies said the blaze may have been intentionally set. Public records show the home was set to be sold in a foreclosure auction on Friday.
Deputies said they found a note tacked to the barn, indicating the homeowner had sold everything he owned -- one of several clues that indicated Cassell might hurt himself or others. Neighbors also warned deputies, they said.
"The resident may or may not be there and that he was thinking of maybe harming himself," said Lt. Scott Rossmiller with the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office. "That made them - the fire response - nervous."
A SWAT team searched the home for Cassell, but he was instead later found in downtown Bellingham. Cassell was questioned, then booked into jail for investigation of arson.
No one was hurt in the fire and no animals were found on the property.
Cassell was convicted of three counts of animal cruelty in the second degree after Whatcom Humane Society seized 48 miniature Australian Shepherd dogs from a locked barn behind his home in April 2012.
WHS director Laura Clark said the dogs were living in conditions that can only be described as "squalid and inhumane." She said many of the dogs were filthy, had matted fur and overgrown nails and were covered with feces.
He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and banned from owning an animal ever again, according to the Bellingham Herald.
Deputies said Cassell, during conversations with neighbors, had mentioned that he was upset about his dogs being seized and that he was angry with the court and the Whatcom Humane Society.
"He's known to have weapons," Rossmiller said. "Obviously that's not against the law. Some of the concern was whether he's in the frame of mind where he might try to hurt himself or other people. That was literally the unknown we were dealing with."
Cassell is due in court for his first appearance in the alleged arson case Thursday afternoon.
By all appearances, they should have just let it burn after confirming that nobody was trapped inside. A smoldering hole in the ground would be an improvement in this case.
In the old days when a person ran a substandard business he was retrained and helped by other members in his field or by the humane society not HSUS who is only out for money. But today we demonize these people who are struggling to feed themselves and their families and don't know that much about how to care for dogs. We take under the color of law their property and condemn them publicly instead of helping them get better at what they do. I have yet to see a rich puppy miller or one that is making loads of money. Â They just don't and I know that for a fact. Most of the substandard breeders I treat love their animals and work hard to learn how to do better, but they don't have the money to build pretty facilities or pay someone to bath and groom every day. Most pet owners don't bath and groom their own dogs every day, but they demand perfection from these breeders. Did you know that most of these breeders are elderly women and disabled veterans who have no other way to make a living and we crucify them instead of helping them learn to do better. In the old days farmers use to help each other out in times of crisis, but today we send in our hate mail to columns and spread the new McCarthyism of today the animal rights mantra without even knowing that the goals of these cults HSUS, ASPCA, PeTA and ADL is to end all pet ownership. WE have become so disconnected that now we fear our neighbors and spy on each other as HSUS offers $5,000 for each false accusation. I cannot blame this man because the hate mail on this page demonstrates how low our society has become when no one cares about anything but the sad eyed puppy. Don't bother to respond about how your pet is better than people and deserves better care. That is a given, but its a sad statement on our society when you view your neighbors with such contempt. Â The shills for animal rights are like the McCarthyites of the past who ruined lives base upon lies. Did you know that PeTA kills 98% of all pets it takes in and that every law HSUS passes is intended to cause the extinction of dogs and cats. Animal rights is about the extinction of our pets and our property rights. They have already killed off our sense of individual freedoms and sense of community help.Â
@Howard H The problem is most of these people who run puppy mills aren't interested in being retrained having a reputable dog breeding facility - that would require some effort on their part and eat into their profits. Most of them have been reported many times and have been talked to by law enforcement or animal control officers and advised of what they need to do to care for their animals properly, but they don't want to do the work or spend the money to do things the right way. They only want to make an easy quick buck with no regard for the health or comfort of the creatures that are dependent upon them for their care.   If it turns out that this was arson, it is just more proof that people who treat defenseless animals poorly are selfish and greedy and have no regard for the law. They aren't going to be willing to be "retrained" and ought to be locked up for a lot longer than a week. There are plenty of other ways for elderly women and disabled veterans to earn a living without exploiting and mistreating animals.Â
@Howard H I'm alarmed that you are openly defending the horrific treatment of these dogs. I got a lab once from a breeder. Her home smelled like dog & there was some muddy paw prints here & there but overall it was clean. Mama & the puppies were well fed & healthy. They had vet records. They had shots. Can you tell me that 48 dogs in one place would be that well cared for? Do you think he could care for each of them & all the expenses? Provide adequate space and shelter? Even clean up after them? Make sure there was no inbreeding and resulting physical defects? Pick up the phone. A reality check is calling.
@Howard HÂ You must be an operator of a puppy mill yourself, or someone who just got done huffing gas fumes.
I dont care who you are, if you run a puppy mill, then you should be punished, demonized, ridiculed in public, spit on, maybe even urinated on. Treating animals like that is unacceptable. Animals are the only creatures capable of unconditional love; you can beat them senseless and they will still love you and obey you. I have a few ex-gf's who looked like dogs in hindsight, but couldnt come close to the respect, loyalty and happiness my dog shows me and gives me.
@Howard HÂ You know, I was going to reply to your above post, where you're trying to defend the abhorrent treatment that this "breeder" subjected his animals to. But then I read it again, and realized you're incapable of reasoning with. I hear they're making great strides with medication these days.... you should maybe check into it.
SWAT is called in for the littlest of things today. Nice way to waste $$Â
@donner There is a new thing going around called "swatting"; its where someone makes a fake call to the police and the swat team and armed response are usually dispatched. Give me your address, please.
@donner That's a pretty standard scenario for calling in SWAT to clear an area, actually. Multiple signs pointed to a suicidal/homicidal mindset, he was known to have guns, and he was of concern to the neighbors. Not really a waste of money, and it's a good training opportunity for the SWAT team. The guy just burned down his house, who knows what else he is capable of doing?
@commonsense @donner Well its clear what you are capable of and that is talking bad about someone you don't even know spreading more rumors. We will probably find out this was done by one of the hate speech writers from the animal rights groups. They always talk about violence being the way to push their agenda.
He only got 10 days in jail for the animal cruelty? What a freaking joke.
OMG there is an edit button! Woohoo!
I wonder if he was just trying to get rid of evidence or anything.
I had to do a double take when the Merle white and black dog was shown on TV this morning.  I thought it looked a lot like Audry, my blue/Black eyed  beauty obtained through the Whatcom Co. Humane Society.  Looking closer, it is Audry.  Wow.  Not only is she my best friend, constant companion, but now she's a movie star too!
Audry is blind and deaf on her left side, a consequence of improper breading for Merles, and snores like a lumberjack. Â We go for walks in the woods or on the beach every day, and she gets mad when it's time to make my rounds as a water system operator and I don't take her.
Thanks have to go to the Humane Society for putting this man out of business and finding responsible owners for the great dogs that lived in hell.
@Mike on Lummi Thank you for giving Audry her own version of heaven!
I just noticed that KOMO has changed the commenting to allow 5 minutes for editing. Thank goodness.
@jcman Now if they can just fixed their hacked web servers. Hope everyone has AV and your definitions are up-to-date!
@Pollywannacracker @jcman dude, I noticed this the other day that I kept getting redirected to another website when I went to KOMO's website. They probably arent aware because they are too busy sensationalizing their news content and throwing their sources under the bus.
What they guy probably doesn't realize is that now the property is worth a lot less, he will be on the hook for the difference between what they get at auction and what he owed on the property. I'm guessing in his mind he was saying, "If I can't have it, then they won't get squat for it." Dog in the manger kind of thinking.
people who run puppy mills should be sentenced to live in a cage in their own Excrement for a year.
I am happy to say I own one of these dogs. His name is Revelstoke. I am 95% sure he is the brown dog on the left in the original article. We got him from Motley Zoo Animal Rescue in Redmond about a month after they originally arrested the owner. He was about 6 months old when we got him. I am happy to say he is an amazing/smart/friendly puppy that runs and plays with us until we are blue in the face. He has had to have a knee surgery for a dislocating kneecap and the other back leg will have to get fixed this summer but that's how pet ownership goes :-). He also is a little stranger shy but I would be too with that background...if you'd like to meet him just let me give you a Pupperoni and he'll be snuggling up to you in no time. This article and seeing the original article upset me but I am planning on getting Revel a great Valentines Day treat and let him know that from here on out life is smooth sailing.
@Rob Samsel - We also have one of his dogs - a sweet girl named Cookie, she and Revlstoke are probably cousins. Cookie had to have knee surgery when she was about 8 months old for dislocating kneecaps as well. We suspected at the time it was genetic, I'm almost sure it is now. Still, she's a great dog, so smart and loving, and well worth every penny in the vet bills! Does Revelstoke snort & snore? Cookie sounds like a chainsaw somtimes! :) I've often wondered if it was genetic as well. Enjoy your sweet puppy, we sure love ours!
@Dznymom @Rob Samsel we too have one of the dogs, Sam. We bought him before he ran into theses issues, July 2010. At that time he had the adults in the runs and one litter in the barn. Sam is shy with strangers unless they have a treat but if he's friend, the warmest dog ever. There are signs of inbreeding but wouldn't trade him.
Ooh...I bet that smelled GREAT!
House? More like a hovel, this guys has some serious issues. From the looks of his home, it should have been condemned and razed long ago.
In a sense the fire was a improvement..
Anyone who breeds or buys from a breeder should be ashamed. Adopt!Â
@Isadora There is a big difference between a reputable breeder and a puppy mill. There is no shame in buying an animal from a reputable breeder, one that specifies they will always accept the animal back, one that respectfully breeds to improve the standards of the breed and truly cares for the animals long term care. There are very wonderful people out there that do this responsibly...then there are the creeps that abuse animals and do not care about the long term welfare of the animal.  I used a breeder when looking for specific characteristics from our current dog, most of my other dogs have been rescues, however, and I've worked heavily in rescue for years.
@Susabelle @Isadora there is a huge difference between the two.
10 days in jail. Â pfft.Â
What an idiot, probably going after insurance money after his puppy death camp operation was uncovered, Hope he rots in jail for a long while for arson and insurance fraud
@Lrry*x*KÂ This person (don't want to call him a man) is all about the money! Anyway he can make an easy dollar.
Why the APC?
@Jeff Valdez Story said SWAT team was called out. Checking the welfare of residence, no response, known criminal. Just because he had a puppy mill doesn't mean he didn't own weapons. Precautions man.
@pensguy76 @Jeff Valdez Story was updated to say that. I wish KOMO would append new data to the article instead of doing a direct edit. It renders some of the comments irrelevant and confuses people who previously read an older version.
lets hear it for Whatcom Kenney!
@ballardanian Whatcom Kenny?Â
Good. Since the government cant seem to impose any strict punishment on these people, then karma can.
Oh dear lord, I hope there weren't any more puppies there!!
Karma!
Hope it was worth it. Soon to be charged with arson. Off to prison for you.Â
@HallandOates Wimpy Liberal Western Washington will plea bargainÂ
down to JayWalking4....
@Biggg Donnn I saw JawWalking4 at the Gorge a few years ago. They were great
@Insomniac Dreams @Biggg Donnn
BluntForceTrauma and VampireStateBuilding were also terrific...!!