Suspected Virginia Puppy Mill Claims Defamation

A dispute between the owner of an alleged puppy mill and animal advocates and concerned
neighbors in Fauquier County is intensifying.
Irina Barrett, who runs Canis Maximus Kennel, is suing the Middleburg Humane Foundation and the
Fauquier County humane inspector for defamation, as reported by
Fauquier Now News.
The lawsuit comes in the wake of heated hearings before the local zoning board where
Barrett has been trying—in the face of widespread community opposition—to get approval
to house her dogs. She has operated without a business license for the past three
and a half years.

In the suit, filed in federal court this month in Alexandria, Barrett, who breeds
Doberman Pinschers and Great Danes, claims that Fauquier County humane inspector
Hilleary Bogley spread lies about her business in a report distributed throughout the area.

Bogley made a series of visits to Barrett’s kennel earlier this year, after she says
she received an anonymous tip about inhumane conditions there. Among the observations
Bogley documented: pens soaked in urine; dogs without access to water, heat, and ventilation;
underweight and fearful dogs; and overall conditions that qualified Canis Maximus
as a puppy mill.

Ultimately, Barrett agreed to surrender 12 of her dogs to be adopted through the Middleburg
Humane Foundation. In her report, Bogley noted that the surrendered dogs had many
health problems, including eye and ear infections, pneumonia, sores, and worms. In
her complaint against Bogley, Barrett doesn’t deny the dogs were ill; rather, she
says “many, if not all” of the problems are not unusual, and that she purposefully
turned over dogs “most in need of veterinary support.”

The lawsuit doesn’t end with Barrett’s assertion that Bogley’s report defamed her.
She also takes issue with the fact that Bogley runs the Middleburg Humane Foundation,
in addition to her job as a humane inspector. She alleges that Bogley stood to benefit
financially from taking her dogs, since they were then adopted out by the Humane Foundation,
which charges adoption fees.

“It seems to be a direct conflict of interest,” said Barrett’s lawyer,
Andrew Bodoh, to
The Washingtonian. “The Middleburg Humane Foundation may not be a direct competitor [of Bogley], but
they’re in the same business of placing dogs with families.”

But like most animal shelters, the Middleburg Humane Foundation is a nonprofit—not
a commercial business—and says it charges adoption fees only to cover medical costs.
According to its website, the $125 fee
to adopt a dog helps cover expenses such as spay or neuter surgery and vaccinations.
By comparison, Barrett’s Canis Maximus website says she sells her dogs for $1,500 to $2,500.

Asked how the Humane Foundation’s $125 adoption fees could be considered a profit,
Bodoh said: “We don’t know all of the specifics at this point. That’s going to be
part of discovery.”

Bogley has yet to respond in court filings to the lawsuit. We left a message for her,
and will update this post if she returns the call.

Marisa M. Kashino

Senior Editor

Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 and was a senior editor until 2022.