69-year-old headed to stand, accused of dog abuse and running puppy mill

Police found a dozen dead dogs,
almost 50 Labs with medical problems 

ELLSWORTH, Wis. — He ran accused of running a puppy mill that was found to have dozens of dead dogs and even more with medical problems is headed to testify. 

Today, Stuart West, will be on the stand, tried in Ellsworth, Wis., on 125 misdemeanor charges of animal abuse while raising dogs on his property.

Last year, police found a dozen dead dogs at West’s home and almost 50 Labradors that all had medical problems.

West claims he was breeding the dogs with an unusual raw-meat diet, so they could be used for drug-sniffing by law enforcement. But he is accused of failing to feed many of the dogs.

Another charge is that the 69-year-old West confined the animals in a badly ventilated building.

The surviving dogs were taken in by the Animal Humane Society, which began adopting out some of the animals last summer.

West is being represented by La Crosse attorney Keith Belzer.