CEDAR CITY — Deputies with the Iron County Sheriff’s Office responded July 1 to an area in northwest Cedar City on Midvalley Road where several dogs were seized from an animal training business.
They arrived at a home on Midvalley Road to find 19 dogs — all unhealthy, malnourished and living in life-threatening conditions, Lt. David Mitchell told Cedar City News via text message.
“Once on scene, deputies met with an adult female who was making statements of going to jail for abusing her dogs and gave consent to deputies to enter her home and check the welfare of the dogs,” Mitchell said.
After obtaining a search warrant, officers seized the dogs with the help of animal care experts and transported them to a shelter for medical care.
Mitchell said that several local veterinarians and Kanab’s Best Friends Animal Society were called upon to assist with immediate medical treatment for a majority of the dogs.
Although no arrests have been made, criminal charges of animal cruelty are pending, Mitchell reported.
Ryan Young traveled from Rock Springs, Wyoming, that morning to retrieve his Great Dane puppies from Sarah Abigail Mills, whom he said was training his dog at a business named Petpros Behavior Services.
He told Cedar City News by telephone that he was trading two puppies for training services for another. Mills was supposed to provide weekly videos to show the puppy’s progression. After months of not hearing anything, Young started attempts to reclaim the dogs.
“I left Rock Springs at 5 a.m. that morning and by the time I got to Park City she was telling me the dogs were in bad shape and she was turning herself in,” Young said. “They were still bringing dogs out by the time I got there. My dogs were the last three out.”
A Facebook business page for Petpros Behavior Services offers “private, in-home training and behavior problem consultations in Iron and Washington Counties in Utah with no mileage charges. Virtual sessions nationwide. 26 years experience.”
An advertisement shared to a St. George community Facebook page by Petpros Behavioral Services told about their methods used to train dogs.
“Positive force and fear-free methods,” the post on St. George Word of Mouth Facebook page states. “In-person sessions $70/session, 3 for $195, 6 for $360, or 12 for $660. Virtual sessions are always $50. Trainer very friendly and accessible between sessions.”
Petpros Behavior Services did not respond to phone calls from St. George News. Young said the Great Dane trio are doing better, eating food and getting used to the attention. But they will never be the same.
“They are a little over 5 months old now and the smallest weighs 11 pounds, the biggest 13,” Young said. “They should be between 40 and 50 pounds at that age — they will never be the same. They will never grow to their full size.”
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