The owner of a southern Iowa puppy mill where 32 dogs were found to have been neglected is currently facing no criminal charges in the case.
Newly released court records also show that in the months leading up to the recent seizure of the animals, federal officials repeatedly allowed the owner of the kennel to help schedule the government’s on-site inspections of the facility.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service sued Wuanita Swedlund of Farmington for allegedly barring federal officials from conducting inspections of her dog-breeding operations.
According to the USDA’s lawsuit, licensed breeders are required, during business hours, to allow inspectors to enter their place of business to inspect and photograph the property, the animals and business records. The lawsuit alleges Swedlund has failed to provide the USDA’s APHIS inspectors with access to her facility on five occasions when they visited the Farmington operation between November 2025 and May 2026.
As a result, the USDA claimed, APHIS officials were unable to inspect the business or view the animals in Swedlund’s care. The USDA asked the court to issue an injunction granting the agency access to the property.
While that case was proceeding in federal court, VanBuren County officials, armed with a search warrant, visited Swedlund’s facility on June 30 and took temporary custody of 32 dogs, one cat and one rabbit.
On July 10, citing the fact that Swedlund appeared to have either acquired additional dogs in violation of a previously issued temporary restraining order or hidden animals from inspectors during past inspections, U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher issued the USDA’s sought-after injunction requiring Swedlund to let inspectors onto the property — although, by then, the animals had already been seized by the county.
“Swedlund’s noncompliance goes well beyond bureaucratic handwringing,” Locher wrote in his ruling. “The evidence shows that Swedlund has housed hundreds of dogs since acquiring her USDA license in 2023. She has consistently failed to provide her animals with adequate facilities, access to water, or access to medical care. It is evident that the animals in Swedlund’s care suffered needlessly — precisely the type of harm that the Animal Welfare Act sought to prevent. The public’s interest strongly favors a preliminary injunction.”
While that ruling settled the federal case brought by the USDA, the state court still had to determine the fate of the 34 animals seized from Swedlund.
On July 17, District Court Judge Joel D. Yates presided over a hearing at which deputies and animal welfare experts testified as to the condition of the animals and Swedlund’s facility.
That same day, Yates transferred ownership of the animals to the PAW Animal Shelter in Fort Madison, where they were already being treated, for eventual adoption. In his ruling, Yates said the evidence showed the “animals were neglected by not having access to appropriate food, potable water, sanitary conditions, proper ventilated shelter and necessary veterinary care.”
No criminal charges in the case
Swedlund, 35, said Tuesday her only regret about the seizure of the animals was the manner in which it was carried out. Rather than wait for her to be present, she said, authorities took the animals when her three children, age 11 to 17, were present. The experience, she said, left the children traumatized.
“They did it in front of the kids instead of having me there,” she said. “It hit them hard, actually, because some of them were emotional support animals. My kids have depression and anxiety, and this hit them pretty hard. For the first three days afterward, they didn’t sleep at all. (The county) wouldn’t even let me have a few dogs back just to help with the kids’ health.”
She said the animals she considered family pets were a rottweiler, a Yorkshire terrier, a pug, a chihuahua, the cat and the rabbit.
Swedlund has not been criminally charged with animal neglect or any other offenses related to the incident, and says that as far as she’s concerned the matter is settled and she’s done dealing with USDA inspectors and the county.
Court records show that while the USDA places great importance on the surprise nature of inspections at breeders and kennels, the agency’s inspectors repeatedly texted Swedlund during 2025 and 2026 to arrange for inspections at mutually agreeable times.
The records also show Swedlund declined to meet with the inspectors at the facility, citing work obligations at a Casey’s General Store. At one point, she even texted the inspectors photos of her work schedule at the retailer so they could arrange for an inspection that didn’t conflict with her work at the store.
In federal court filings earlier this month, Michelle Spatz, a senior trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, told Judge Locher that unannounced inspections by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service were “critical” to the agency’s work.
“In general,” Spatz told the court, “the unannounced nature of APHIS’ inspections is critical because it provides an accurate picture of the level of compliance and general welfare of the animals on a day-to-day basis.” She explained that when breeders and dealers have advance notice of an inspection, they “could conceal their failure” to comply with certain regulations, in part by simply transferring or euthanizing animals that show signs of illness or injury.”
Inspectors tried to schedule inspections
Text messages from USDA inspectors, included as exhibits in the federal court case, show the inspectors repeatedly messaged Swedlund about setting up pre-scheduled visits and inspections.
“We have an appointment 10:15 today,” an inspector twice texted to Swedlund in February 2025. Swedlund did not respond.
On Sept 9, 2025, an inspector texted Swedlund, “Hi Wuanita, are you available for inspection today?” Swedlund did not respond, according to the court records.
On Nov. 20, 2025, an inspector texted Swedlund, “Are you available for inspection today, Wuanita?” Swedlund replied, “Sorry, can’t talk … At work.”
On Jan. 8, 2026, inspectors again tried to gain access to the facility, texting Swedlund, “Please call when you can.” Swedlund replied, “I’m at work at Casey right now.” The inspector responded, “So you’re not available for an inspection?”
On Feb. 12, Swedlund sent an inspector photos of her work schedule at Casey’s and explained, “Trying to get days off so we can do an inspection.”
“Thank you, Wuanita,” the inspector replied. “It doesn’t look like there’s much time in your schedule for an inspection.”
A few days later, Swedlund told the inspector she’d have March 2, 6 and 10 off, indicating an inspection could be done then.
But then, on March 6, Swedlund texted the inspector that she was called into work and also had a doctor’s appointment that day.
On May 5, the inspector messaged Swedlund, “Hi, Wuanita, are you available for an inspection today?”
“No,” Swedlund replied, adding that her work schedule had changed.
Swedlund: ‘All my animals were healthy’
Swedlund said that the problem with arranging for an inspection was that she always left her 17-year-old child in charge of the kennel while she was working at Casey’s, and her child didn’t have the authority to let in the inspectors.
As for her future plans, she said she wants “to get out of town,” but also has plans to buy the property she now occupies from owner Steve Kruse — another Iowa breeder with a history of Animal Welfare Act violations. Once she owns the property, she said, she can sell it and use the proceeds to buy property in a more rural area of Iowa.
She said she feels the court proceedings were stacked against her, and that she wasn’t treated fairly. “All my animals were healthy,” she said.
Court records indicate the USDA first issued Swedlund a license in July 2023. Since then, the records show, she has been cited for numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act, some of which were tied to the deaths of eight puppies from three different litters.
In that case, the USDA alleged Swedlund told inspectors she had found three dead bulldog puppies after feeling a strong, cold draft at the front of their enclosure. Inspectors reported Swedlund had placed duct tape over the hole that caused the draft, but the tape was peeling away at the time of the inspection and the cold draft could still be felt.
Three more puppies from a litter of Rottweilers were found dead, the USDA says, and one puppy was severely injured and later euthanized after a husky broke into an enclosure housing a sheepdog and her newborn litter. A week later, another of the puppies from that litter was apparently eaten by its mother.
