Co-owner Daniel Makara pleaded guilty in Cleveland Municipal Court yesterday to three counts of animal neglect and two counts of abandoning animals. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was immediately suspended; then, he was placed on probation and barred from any contact with animals. He will also submit to a mental health assessment.
Co-owner Raven Cooke pleaded guilty to three counts of animal neglect. Her 180-day jail sentence was similarly suspended. And while she is also barred from contact with animals, both she and Makara are allowed to be around “the Rottweiler dog known as ‘Ellie’ and the Husky dog known as ‘Zeus,'” according to court records.
The list of tragic experiences of families who’ve adopted from Makara and Cooke is a lengthy one, brought to a halt for now by the Cleveland APL’s humane investigations team. Among the problems shared with Scene: underweight dogs, worms, coccidia, distemper, Parvo, respiratory problems, the use of livestock antibiotics on dogs, improper adoption forms, $1,000-plus in adoption fees for sick dogs, $3,000-plus in veterinary costs in some cases — and multiple dead dogs.
Marvin and Shelley Miller, of Dayton, coordinated a meeting with Makara while they were traveling north on a separate trip. They were looking for an Australian shepherd; Makara had several. They paid a $200 holding fee, met him and the dog en route to their other destination, and then adopted Lucy on the way back on Dec. 27. She was well, by all accounts, and the Millers pointed out to Cooke their amazement at “how much is going on at their home.” Cooke tells them she has a 4-month-old baby in the house, too.
“It’s not the type of house that you’d want to live in,” Marvin tells Scene. “I would say that in this room that was probably 25-by-15 feet…there must have been 15, 20 dogs there, running around. In the half-hour we were there, we must have seen two or three people come in and pick up a dog. This isn’t an ideal way to have a lot of dogs; if one of them gets ill, they all get ill.”
Lucy became sick within three days. She began having trouble breathing, and experiencing severe diarrhea. By Dec. 31, she had stopped eating, and deep lethargy was setting in.
Makara told them that Lucy’s litter mate had coccidia, and said that he would have included that information in the adoption papers. (He did not, according to Marvin). He also told the Millers that Lucy’s sister had been tested for Parvo, because she had exhibited symptoms recently. Growing increasingly suspicious, the Millers began to investigate Makara’s background.
On Jan. 5, though, the Millers brought Lucy to their vet, where she died in the arms of her family.
What the Millers and many others have learned is that this is not Makara’s first time in the investigative spotlight. Last year, he was run out of Geauga County after the Humane Society removed 15 dogs from his adoption operation, a place called Cleveland Dog Rescue and Rehabilitation Center located on a farm in Novelty. The dogs were found trapped in crates in 90-degree heat after Makara’s landlord evicted him. “The conditions were deplorable,” Chief Humane Agent Christian Courtwright said in a public statement.
Makara quickly established Puppies In Rescue (formerly known as UnderDog No-Kill Rescue and Training Center and, slightly earlier, Cleveland Area No-Kill Rescue and Training Center, tragically enough) in Cleveland. Even as he was under investigation and moving from one county to the next, Makara kept his PayPal account open and urged his supporters to donate to his cause.
Yesterday, as well, the Geauga case came to a close with Makara pleading guilty in Chardon Municipal Court to two counts of animal cruelty.
This article appears in Feb 15-21, 2017.
WHAT KIND OF JUDGE SUSPENDS THE 90 Day jail sentence???? Wonder who paid him off ????
GODDARDS LAW SAYS ITS A FELONY TO ABUSE THOSE PUPPY MILL ANIMALS! They were living their life’s in a HELL!!! THAT IS ABUSE!!! This is just horrible!
DOES THAT JUDGE HAVE NO FEELINGS, NO EMPATHY NO SOUL???
I CAN NOT BELIEVE THE SLAP ON THE WRIST HE GAVE THOSE TWO PEOPLE!!
He needs to be disbarred!
I cannot believe they are not sitting in jail. They will just move somewhere else and start over again. The problem is the justice system. Judges do not take animal neglect seriously.
They should be fined, have to pay people back for dogs adopted out that died and jail for years. Upon release not allowed any dogs, not allowed to own a dog. If found breeding selling dogs in the future longer jail time ,fines, repayment for dogs who die after adoption. Get stricker these kinds of people screw and cheat people and harm dogs.
These same people have been investigated in the past for the same offenses. Suspending their jail sentence is simply irresponsible. I encourage everyone to post on their facebook page (Puppies in Rescue) that the owners/operators pled guilty to their charges. Over 18,000 people have liked their facebook page—-I bet the majority are unaware of their crimes.
Good job APL humane agents! Shame on that judge who basically ignored Goddard’s Law! Judge should have to be treated like those dogs were, bet that would change the sentence the got!
Who is the judge? We need to find out and bombard his office with calls. This is hideous. Those poor babies, rescued only to be forsaken again by people. I’m ashamed of that judge. They should’ve been hit where it hurts most, in their wallet!
I wish humans who abuse animals were sentenced to experience the same conditions.
Many, many thanks to everyone involved in bringing these people to justice. Shame on the judge for failing to sentence them appropriately.
once again..a slap on the hand. suspended jail time. REALLY!! the dogs did not get that. they sat in crates, pens etc. and if no contact with animals, why are they allowed to visit the dogs mentioned. WE NEED BETTER LAWS and judges willing to talk for the animals. This is crazy. I was an agent. these types of people just move from county to county and start all over. AND no fine. WOW…..
I am one of the people who ended up with one of their dogs. But it was not through them directly. She was a little german shepherd pup. A sweetheart. She seemed to be fine for the first 7 days. Then she puked up her food. On a Friday night. But yet still seemed fine. Just seemed like she may have eaten too fast. Well we went to bed and woke up on Saturday and she just seemed different, then all of a sudden there was more throwing up which then turned to horrible diareah, within a couple hours she went from happy go lucky little girl to deathly ill. We took her in and within hours she was gone. It was horrible. While waiting for lab results to come back we were role to go home and bleach anything and everything she may have had contact with just in case. Well it was parvo. And we also have other dogs in the house. So even til right now we still freak out a little bit. She ended up fitting right in and becoming a perfect part of the pack and family. Our kids were crushed and so we’re we. These people do not care about any of these dogs. They deserve to sit in jail for a good period of time. They should never be able to own any type of animal for the rest of their lives. Honestly I don’t think they should even be allowed to have children. Because as little care as they gave to these pups it shows what kind of selfish and irresponsible people they are.
After everything they’ve done to these poor puppies and the families that adopted them, they got a slap on the wrist. I adopted one of the puppies, who had fleas, roundworms, giardia, coccidia, and an upper respiratory infection. (My other dogs caught the parasites.) My puppy was treated for months. Blood work done a week ago indicates that he’s still unwell. Dan and Raven tampered with official veterinary records, typed up fake documents, lied about my puppy being examined (and being given a clean bill of health) by a licensed vet, and gave me the the wrong puppy. I signed a contract on 10/22/16 (the day the microchip was implanted), which had my puppy’s microchip number and put down a $200 deposit, which had the name the “rescue” gave to my puppy. He was also listed as “litter c, blue collar”. My puppy was scanned and has a different microchip number. According to VIP Petcare, which runs the vaccination clinics at Pet Supplies Plus, where the microchip was implanted, I have “litter c, black collar.” I have emails from VIP Petcare confirming a full examination was not done/clean bill of health was not given. In fact, full examinations at Pet Supplies Plus stores are only offered in Northern/Southern California. Raven and Dan insisted I was incorrect, even when my vet called VIP Petcare, after me. (I have FB messages where they continue to lie that my dog was examined and healthy, until I sent the emails.) Dan and Raven would not let me pick up my puppy until 10/29/16…in that week, they gave my puppy to someone else. On 10/25/16, Raven posted that “all puppies had been adopted, were in their new homes, vet checked, with a clean bill of health.”–something along those lines. Dan and Raven already had several new litters of puppies, but my puppy was still there. The puppies never had access to water. They were being fed Pro Pac Adult dog food. I asked Dan how much food my puppy was fed daily..he didn’t know. On 10/29/16, a beagle puppy was stuck in between the wall and the box the puppies were being kept in. A potential adopter heard a cry and found the puppy..she pulled it out. Dan didn’t even check to see if the puppy was injured. Dan originally gave me paperwork for the wrong puppy. (A tan puppy..a completely different breed.) Dan said, “He was dewormed, so expect diarrhea.” (Which puppies can have diarrhea due to deworming, change in environment, and switching food.) My sister is a vet tech and we were speaking to our vet. We went to get the puppy’s correct papers on 11/6/16. (We already knew what was going on and that it was not a legitimate rescue. We had called Dan several times on 10/30 and left voice mails. His phone was then disconnected. I had to send a FB message. I asked if any puppies were sick. They told me that all puppies were “healthy, happy, and rambunctious.”) Dan dewormed my puppy and gave us the microchip documentation. He was supposed to give us ALL of the paperwork, but he said he couldn’t find it. On top on the microchip documentation, vaccine labels were added next to “official proof of vaccination”, which was signed by a licensed vet. VIP Petcare said that my puppy did NOT receive vaccinations at Pet Supplies Plus, only a microchip–that’s what the “official proof of vaccination” refers to. VIP Petcare said someone added the labels to the microchip documentation. I kept questioning Raven and Dan, regarding the vaccines. They then said he was vaccinated on 10/29/16…why would they add labels to official veterinary documents signed by a vet, making it appear as if the vet gave the vaccines? I was given an “intake form” (which again, has the name the rescue gave my puppy and the microchip number), that states my puppy was given a series of vaccines, including Rabies, that are not age appropriate–or weren’t at the time. I sent a FB message asking for the Rabies certificate and Id tag. I told Dan that Rabies vaccines have to be administered by a licensed vet–and that the vet gives a certificate and ID tag. At that time, Dan said that it was a “general form” and those vaccines were not given. Raven and Dan told me that they would pay for my puppy’s vet bills in a FB message. (Our vet said if the dewormer didn’t work, to bring the puppy and our older dogs in. Our other dogs were also sick by this time.) At first, Dan said that our older dogs got the puppy sick. He claimed that I never informed him that my puppy had diarrhea. Dan said, “you wouldn’t be complaining about vet bills if you would have communicated with us.” Raven told me she had fecal tests. I said, “How would I not be complaining about vet bills? Even if you did a fecal test, I would still have to take my puppy to the vet to have the test confirmed and have him treated. You’re not able to diagnose and treat a dog. You’re not a veterinarian. I would be spending the same amount of money.” I was in contact with them the entire time. (Even when they didn’t respond. Now I’m blocked.) Dan said he would only pay one bill–the $41 bill..I did not accept. Including the treatment of all dogs, I’ve spent about $2000. The puppy is going to the vet tomorrow for more tests. This has been going on for years. People have been trying to stop them..this won’t stop them. Within the past week, Dan was selling dogs online. Dan has another rescue set up on FB under a different name. He has several aliases online. Raven is now selling dog toys out of her house. I was contacting the APL in November 2016. I called several times and sent a message through FB. I believe I contacted them through their website too. I didn’t get a phone call until I left a review on their FB page, which was January 9th, 2017. I missed the call and it took 10 days to get a return phone call. I couldn’t pick up, because adopters were trying to getting a story aired. I did not speak to anyone from the APL until January 31, 2017. The phone call was 7 minutes long. 2 minutes of the phone call, I was trying to find the date my puppy was diagnosed with coccidia. I have so much paperwork and records, I couldn’t find it quickly. I was supposed to be giving my statement to the APL..I didn’t get to do that. The officer told me that he had to go on calls and to email him the confirmation that my puppy was positive for coccidia. (The officer didn’t even give me his correct email address. I had him repeat it twice. I had to contact the APL to get his email address.) I feel Dan and Raven could have been stopped sooner. The conditions went from bad to worse. Puppies ranged from having minor -serious illnesses to parvo and distemper and dying. I’m sure there are more sick dogs than we’re aware of. How many puppies died before being adopted? We’ll never know. Dan and Raven took advantage of animal lovers. As for me, I had to put 2 of my elderly dogs that were sick to sleep within 3 weeks of each other…it was a horrible time. My dogs were depressed and I was looking to adopt a dog that needed a home. Raven told me that my puppy was from an “accidental litter in the area”. Turns out, they got him from Northern Kentucky. Both Raven and Dan listened to my story, about losing my two dogs, that I had autoimmune diseases, and back surgeries. They knowingly handed me a dog with zoonotic diseases. My immune system is weaker than the average persons, which makes it easier for me to catch diseases..and would make me very sick. Dan and Raven didn’t care, as long as they got their money. Dan and Raven don’t care about animals..it’s an easy way for them to make money, instead of getting a real job. They should be in jail. This “sentence” won’t teach them anything.
Please, all of you protest this judge all over town! Go to his house, the courthouse, everywhere! If you tell me his name I will protest online. We see that after YEARS of hard work to get a law passed it doesn’t matter, judges just don’t care to follow any law themselves. If this judge isn’t taken out now then this will continue and it will be that no one even bothers with charging these evil monsters. Why waste time filing charges for nothing. To me the judge is every bit as guilty as these evil animal abusers.
They STILL have their Facebook page up with instructions to message them if you are interested. Idk how that is allowed.
And this this why these idiots get to keep doing it! Suspended punishment for both???? The judge is a moron and I hope he doesn’t have animals. I can imagine how they must betreated when he turned the cheek to these 2 pieces of trash! I hope these monsters both bet hit by a bus!