One of Iowa’s largest and most troubled dog-breeding operations is now operating under a new license — a change that has wiped clean its slate of past violations and may derail a lawsuit over the government’s oversight of the business.
Federal records collected by the Iowa-based animal welfare group Bailing Out Benji show the animal dealer’s license for Stonehenge Kennels in West Union, which had long been held in the name of repeat violator Steve Kruse, is now in the name of an individual named Christine A. Snakenberg.
As a result of that change, the West Union kennel now has a clean record of regulatory compliance — although Lee County property records indicate the land and buildings where the kennel is located are still owned entirely by Kruse.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach Snakenberg and Kruse for comment.
For decades, Kruse has operated Stonehenge Kennels, a dog-breeding facility that the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals calls “one of the largest puppy-mill operations in the United States.” At times, the kennel has had as many as 700 dogs on site, according to federal inspection records.
Over the years, Kruse has been cited for numerous animal-welfare violations, including throwing a bag of dead puppies at an inspector, but has continued to operate and be relicensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Last year, the ASPCA sued the USDA, alleging the agency had failed to provide adequate oversight and enforcement of federal regulations related to Kruse’s operation. In November 2024, the USDA filed a motion with the court seeking dismissal of the case based on jurisdictional issues.
The court, however, never ruled on that motion and the case has been at a standstill for nine months. On Wednesday, with the motion to dismiss still pending, U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb issued an order noting that the matter might now be moot since Kruse’s three-year license, issued in August 2022, had recently lapsed.
In order to rule on the November 2024 motion to dismiss, Cobb wrote, she now would like briefings from the USDA and ASPCA on the potential mootness of the case based on Kruse’s lack of a license. The judge’s order makes no mention of Snakenberg’s license at the West Union kennel, which was issued on Sept. 12, 2025 — 10 days after Kruse’s license was canceled or lapsed.
Puppy laundering alleged by ASPCA
As part of its lawsuit, the ASPCA has alleged Kruse is part of a puppy-laundering scheme that makes use of other USDA licensees. The APSCA claims the USDA “improperly approved” the licenses of two of Kruse’s Iowa associates, Brian Lichirie and Wuanita Swedlund, despite “full knowledge of the relationship between the parties.”
That lawsuit alleges that despite the Animal Welfare Act’s clear prohibition against issuing more than one license to a dog dealer, Lichirie and Swedlund each held their own license while operating kennels populated by dogs owned by Kruse.
Such arrangements are prohibited by the USDA since they can result in puppy laundering — the process of routing dogs from a serial violator to a different licensee with a relatively clean record, in order to facilitate sales to retailers in jurisdictions that ban the sale of dogs sourced from questionable operators.
The ASPCA claims the USDA wrote to Kruse nine years ago, in 2016, to inform him that federal law required him, Lichirie and Swedlund to operate under a single license. When Kruse failed to take corrective action, the ASPCA claims, the USDA continued to renew his license and never took any steps to revoke the licenses of either Lichirie or Swedlund.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks a court order that would force the USDA to void all current licenses issued to Kruse or his associates.
Inspectors cite animal-welfare violations
According to the ASPCA, the USDA’s own inspection reports detail “horrific treatment of breeding dogs kept caged in Kruse’s massive West Point, Iowa operation, which typically holds more than 700 dogs.”
The inspectors’ reports document observations related to dogs limping and suffering from open, bleeding wounds; dogs with untreated eye infections or severe dental issues; painful fur matting; and a lack of veterinary care.
The USDA reports also allege Kruse poured hot sauce on one dog’s open wounds to keep the dog from licking them and housed other dogs in cages so small they restricted the animal’s freedom of movement. The dogs also had fecal matter on their coats and in their food bowls, the inspectors alleged.
Last month, noting the recent lapse in Kruse’s license, the ASPCA said it was not yet clear what has happened to the hundreds of dogs in his care and what the change in licensing status would mean for Kruse’s associates.
“What is clear is that a broken system kept Kruse running and that system is in desperate need of reform,” said ASPCA spokesperson Maureen Linehan. “The ASPCA is committed to working through the courts and Congress to end the practices that have allowed commercial dealers to harm dogs for so long.”
(Photo: Steve Kruse’s Stonehenge Kennels in West Point, Iowa, has been repeatedly cited for failure to provide adequate veterinary care. The two dogs pictured here were suffering from bleeding foot injuries and an eye disorder, according to federal inspectors.) (Aerial photo courtesy of Bailing Out Benji. Inset photos, taken by USDA inspectors, courtesy of Bailing Out Benji.)
