Neighbors want dog kennel shut down

McCOOK, Neb. — A Red Willow County District Court civil suit filed by neighbors of a McCook dog kennel may not be over yet, despite a recent ruling.

District Court Judge Donald E. Rowland ordered the kennel owners, Daniel and LizAnne Miller, to pay $10,000 in compensation and limit the number of dogs on the property to 40 in a June 13 ruling.

The plaintiffs in the case, Joe and Ranae Williams, have since filed a motion for a new trial and indicated nothing short of shutting the kennel operation down would end the nuisance it presents to neighboring properties.

A telephone conference is scheduled in the civil case at 8:15 a.m. on Monday, July 10, in Red Willow County District Court.

The Williams’ motion claims Rowlands’ judgment in the case is contrary to the evidence adduced at trial. “Nothing short of a permanent injunction, enjoining defendants from conducting a kennel operation on their property, will abate the nuisance caused by the defendant's intentional and unreasonable conduct,” according to the motion seeking a new trial and a limit of three dogs on the property.

Among other points, the motion claims the Millers admitted they both work full time and that there is nobody on-site at the dog kennel during normal business hours to monitor the dogs and ensure that a nuisance is abated.

Judge Rowlands took over the civil suit in January from Red Willow County District Court Judge David Urbom. Court documents indicate the change stemmed from a conflict of interest between Judge Urbom and a third original defendant, Rebecca Eiler. Eiler is identified as the daughter-in-law of Judge Urbom’s court reporter in court documents and was removed as a defendant prior to Rowlands’ recent ruling.

The dispute between the dog kennel and neighbors previously resulted in two Red Willow County District Court rulings from Judge Urbom. Judge Urbom overturned a 2007 attempt by City Council to reject the initial application for a special exception to operate the kennel in city limits, and overruled a renewed 2014 effort from the city claiming the kennel operation had grown to a point it violated the special exception.

The dispute has spurred multiple complaints from area residents levied during City Council and McCook Planning Commission meetings, dating back to 2007. It gained broader attention when the Millers were included among the Humane Society of the United States’ 2014 list of worst “puppy mill” facilities in the nation.

The Miller’s dog kennel is located at 71363 Road 385, south of McCook and within the city’s 2-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction.