Animal Advocates question handling of Horton's case

Horton continues placing ads for his puppies.
We got a hold of this one.
A pet shop owner says she has seen horton's ads and can't believe he's back in business..
Denise Spangler says, "i could not believe it, absolutely could not believe it."
Neither could we.
So '10 on your side' spoke with Carroll County's animal control officer, who was there the day of the raid.
Mollie asks, "In cases like these should he have just been shut down?
Woods answers, "If the circumstances have warranted of shutting down if could have been down."
The county's commonwealth attorney, Greg Goad, agreed.
He allowed Horton to keep 2-hundred dogs, and says he'd make the same deal if he had to do it all over again.

Goad says, "It has to be dealt with the statutes that you have and we've dealt with this case with the statues that we've had on the book, at that time, just like we would any another case."
Some animal advocacy groups and prosecutors argue leaving any animals under an accused abuser's care, increases the risk of repeat abuse.
Boutetourt's assistant commonwealth attorney, Gillian Deegan.
"There's nothing that's going to stop this person from saying I lost those animals i'm going to just get some more and start my operation right back again."
Prosecuters have the option to eliminate the accused offenders chance to re-offend by making a case to seize all of the animals.
They can petition the court for a hearing, which must take place within just 10 days.
According to the Virginia code, the court may prohibit the possession or ownership of other companion animals by the owner of any companion animal found to have been abandoned, cruelly treated, or deprived of adequate care.
Enforcing that law could put puppy mills like Horton's out of business immediately.
Deegan says,"You need to address the laws that are already in place, enforce those laws, and hold peoples feet to the fire."

But, sometimes seizing all of the animals can't happen because of the lack of resources available to care for those animals.
In Horton's case, more than 7-hundred dogs needed homes.
They had to be sent to shelters across the east coast.
Another 2-hundred remained in Horton's care.
Mollie asks Woods, "have you gone back up there?"
Woods says, "He is in the preparation of correcting his violations. "
Although Woods has Horton's pups under close scrutiny, that can't be said for all animal breeders.
But, a new law going onto the books will put more restrictions on commercial breeders like Horton.
The law will also prevent those who have been convicted of animal neglect or cruelty from selling companion animals
It also mandates pet shops make sure that their dogs are purchased from dealers or persons that are properly registered and licensed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.