Published: June 23, 2009 10:27 am      

Mother and daughter in alleged puppy mill charged with felonies

Breeders could face prison time for not filing taxes

Two Harrison County women accused of running an alleged puppy mill that was shut down on June 2 have been charged with felony tax evasion.

The office of Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed charges on Monday against Virginia Garwood, 63, and her daughter, Kristen Garwood, 26.

According to the attorney general’s office, the Garwoods have sold dogs commercially since 2004 but did not report any earnings they received from the sales and did not collect or remit sales tax to the state. Virginia Garwood also illegally declared her daughter as a dependent on tax returns, a probable cause affidavit states.

Authorities estimate the pair owe more than $132,000 in taxes.

About 240 dogs were seized by the Humane Society of the United States when a search warrant was executed on their property which is known as Breezy Valley Dairy Farm in Mauckport. The dogs were taken to a temporary shelter in New Albany and dispersed to adoption centers throughout the region.

The Garwoods face charges on four counts each of class D felony evasion of income tax and two counts each of class D felony failure to remit or collect sales tax. They also are charged with failure to preserve sales-tax records, a class A misdemeanor, and failure to register as a retail merchant, a class B misdemeanor.

Bond was set on Monday at $3,500 surety or $1,500 cash in a Marion County court.

Class D felonies carry a possible sentence of six months to three years in prison, while the women could also face up to a year in prison for the class A misdemeanor and up to six months in prison for the class B misdemeanor.

The women could also face charges in Harrison County for selling a diseased animal, according to the attorney general. At least two dogs were reportedly found to have Giardia, a contagious gastrointestinal disease. Zoeller previously described the conditions of the farm where the dogs were being kept as “squalid.”