DENVER (KDVR) -- An Englewood dog rescue called Moms and Mutts: Colorado Rescue for Pregnant and Nursing Dogs Inc. received a license suspension from the Colorado Department of Agriculture on Friday, and the rescue's director says they are being used as a political pawn.

The license was suspended under the Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act, which is a licensing and inspection program run by the Colorado agriculture department. MAMCO was the rescue where 11 puppies were euthanized after a puppy brought from Texas tested positive for rabies.

Because the puppies were unvaccinated, and there are no licensed products for post-exposure prophylaxis of rabies in pets, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment recommended the euthanasia. Additionally, animals must be euthanized to test for rabies, as the virus primarily attacks the brain, and specimens must be submitted to a rabies laboratory for testing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"With the suspension of the license, MAMCO has been ordered to immediately surrender all the dogs in their care, including both dogs in the shelter and dogs in foster homes, to other licensed shelter or rescue organizations," said Nick Fisher, PACFA's program section chief, in a release on Friday.

According to the state, MAMCO "voluntarily entered into a stipulation and order" on Dec. 16, 2024, that placed the organization's PACFA license on probation for 18 months and also assessed civil fines. The suspension order says that the state found unclean conditions in pet animal areas and that MAMCO "failed to remove animal and waste and debris from the pet animal facility as necessary to control infestation," among other alleged violations.

MAMCO director says PACFA is promoting rabies protocol

Aron Jones, the director of MAMCO, told FOX31 on Friday that Colorado PACFA "has broken several laws and violated their own policies in order to make us the pawn in their political game."

"We have done nothing wrong, and this has been stated by Nick Fisher publicly," Jones said. "They are perverting the rules in order to get their rabies protocols passed in the spring. These protocols will effectively disable most Colorado rescues as they will not allow rescues to bring in puppies under 12 weeks of age."

In the fall, PACFA proposed a rule that would require all pets brought to a licensed facility from out of state to have a rabies vaccine. Dogs must be at least 14 weeks old before they can receive a rabies vaccine.

Jones said PACFA's latest failed inspection at MAMCO was "based on completely false information," and said that the organization's lawyer requested a hearing to prove the false allegations in court. She said the license suspension was retaliation for the hearing request.

"This is totally unfair and their harassment has effectively killed our rescue. Even when we win at the hearing, PACFA has no oversight and does not have to renew our license," Jones said. "We will have to declare bankruptcy long before the hearing and close our doors. We are being required to transfer all of our dogs to other rescues and without adoption fees, we cannot pay the bills. Our staff will go unpaid and this has hurt them as well. This is not only displacing the dogs, it is hurting the people involved."

She said that the rabies protocol will not do anything to prevent animal overpopulation, and said backyard breeders are allowed to have up to two litters per year without a license. Additionally, the breeders, Jones said, are not required to be spayed or neutered before they're sold. She accused Fisher of wanting to close down animal rescues in the state.

Jones explains what led to PACFA license suspension

PACFA said that MAMCO was notified on Feb. 13 that it had failed two inspections for violations of the act, and said it believed there is an "imminent threat to the health and safety of Colorado dogs and their owners."

Jones said the issue centers around puppies MAMCO was caring for, which had their first positive fecal exam on Jan. 22, showing hookworms.

"We began treatment. Hookworms are very common in rescue puppies," Jones said. "The first puppy, Jag, got really sick and we took him to the vet. We got to the vet within an hour and considering rush hour traffic, that is not an unreasonable amount of time."

Jones said the vet noted that Jag was really sick, and without knowing about the fecal exam, said it could be distemper or rabies.

"Once she learned about the fecal exam, she did an ultrasound and discovered an intussusception," Jones said. "He was not well enough for surgery so we opted to euthanize at that time."

She said a few other puppies didn't look "perfect" the next morning, so she brought them to the vet as well and conducted a fundraiser to help with medical care for the large litter.

"Then PACFA showed up," Jones said. "The puppies were isolated in a separate room, on a tarp, inside of a playpen. No other rescue dogs were allowed into the room. We do not walk on tarps. This follows the law 100%."

PACFA told them that evening to quarantine the puppies because of suspected rabies, and Jones said she told the state organization there's no chance of any rabies exposure, as the puppies had never been outside, but asked the veterinarian's office to conduct a necropsy.

However, Jones said the state had already seized the puppy's body for testing.

Vet office turns away sick puppies due to suspected rabies

A few days later, she attempted to take some of the puppies to the vet office again, but said she was turned away at the door because they had been told the dogs were suspected to be carrying rabies.

"We had to wait hours for the tests to come back showing the dog was not rabid. By the time we got the test results and the vet would agree to see us, the three puppies were very sick," Jones told FOX31. "We had done as much as we could and the vet gave us advice over the phone to the best of her ability."

Jones said she recorded the calls, and when she was able to later that day, she hospitalized the puppies, but after a few hours the vet recommended euthanasia.

"Those three puppies died because PACFA is trying to get their political agenda passed. Not because of us," Jones said. "We tried to get them seen, but their false rabies cries made it so no one would see them. They didn't die because of neglect on our part."