The rest of the story...

10/12/09: It appears there was a miscommunication as to how many dogs were remaining to be transported.

There were reportedly 40 dogs remaining after the first group of dogs were relinquished. Of this 40, 5 were allowed to be sold as part of the plea agreement, 4 are to be spayed/neutered and returned to the owner as pets and 1 puppy died.

So in the end, there were far fewer dogs that needed to move to rescue groups than was originally thoughts, and it didn't make sense to ship just a handful of dogs so far if not necessary.

The BC rescue groups in TN were asked to take a few extra dogs, and the final transport took place dispersing the remaining dogs amongst several BC rescue groups in TN, MD and OH. We have been assured by our HSUS contact that all of the remaining dogs are now safely in the hands of reputable rescue groups.

NEBCR would once again like to thank everyone involved in helping get these dogs to safety - especially all of the other BC rescue groups that have taken in these dogs to assure they are safe, healthy and on their way to their forever homes!

BREAKING NEWS 10/08/09: The remaining dogs from the seizure of the Border Collie Rescue of Middle Tennessee, where the owner had been breeding and selling puppies for many, many years (shipping them all over the world), have been released pending a plea deal by the owner/director Richard Swafford.

While it has been reported that Swafford "sometimes" bred puppies to sell to support his "rescue" organization, at the time of this seizure he had 22 puppies on the ground, and one female that NEBCR received was in heat.

NEBCR and the entire border collie community are very grateful that this breeding operation has finally been shut down!

(photo courtesy of www.tennessean.com)