In response to the Star-Advertiser editorial on the Waimanalo puppy case ("Puppy mill case demands justice," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Dec. 19), we want to make clear that our frustration is not directed at the Prosecutor’s Office or how it handled the charges.

One hundred fifty-five dogs caged in neglected and filthy conditions were rescued from a commercial dog-breeding business where money was more important than the animals.

We agree that justice needs to be served at the upcoming court hearing on Feb. 15.

The charges were filed against both the puppy mill manager who directly oversaw daily care of the animals and the corporation that profited.

We believe the company officers should be held responsible and prevented from owning dogs in the future. With a father and son as corporate officers and a daughter who owned the breeding operation’s property, as well as two pet shops, it seems clear that this is a family business.

Despite the Hawaiian Humane Society’s presentation of thousands of records and meticulous documentation to meet legal requirements to prove cruelty, the puppy mill manager fled Hawaii before he could be charged and the corporation claimed it had gone out of business.

Fortunately, the court awarded all of the animals to the Society, which then placed them with caring families.

This was the first case in which the forfeiture law was successfully utilized, and it resulted in animals being awarded to the Society prior to the outcome of a criminal trial.

Bradley International pleaded no contest to 153 counts of animal cruelty on Dec. 12.

In 2005, when a large-scale Kahaluu breeder faced more than 60 counts of cruelty for animals suffering in his operation, the courts granted only a partial conviction and gave the animals back to the offender so that he could pay his cruelty fines. We have come a long way as a community since then.

The Hawaiian Humane Society has always worked cooperatively with the city Prosecutor’s Office and will continue to do so.

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Pamela Burns is president and chief executive of the Hawaiian Humane Society.