Iowa Capital Dispatch
June 25, 2026
The federal government is taking an Iowa dog breeder to court, seeking a court order that will allow inspectors onto the property for the first time since 2024.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is suing Wuanita Swedlund of Farmington for allegedly barring federal officials from conducting unannounced 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 the last five times they have visited the Farmington operation, all of which fell between November 2025 and May 2026.
As a result, the USDA claims, APHIS officials have been unable to inspect the business or view the animals in Swedlund’s care since December 2024.
“While this repeated failure to allow inspections is concerning on its own, Ms. Swedlund’s history of Animal Welfare Act violations as well as a recent public complaint about Ms. Swedlund’s facility compound that concern,” the lawsuit states. “The last time that APHIS inspectors were able to access Ms. Swedlund’s facility on Dec. 19, 2024, APHIS officials observed a dog with heavily matted fur across its body, dogs with no access to water, and an enclosure housing multiple dogs that was almost entirely covered with fecal matter.”
According to the lawsuit, APHIS fielded a complaint in April 2026 in which the complainant “described an overwhelming smell” upon entering Swedlund’s facility, which the USDA says “generated extreme concern for the condition of the dogs in Ms. Swedlund’s care.”
After again being denied entry for an inspection, the USDA says it suspended Swedlund’s license for 21 days. That suspension, the USDA says, will no longer be in effect beginning June 27, 2026.
Citing the expiration of the license suspension, the USDA is now seeking a court declaration that Swedlund is violating the Animal Welfare Act by refusing to allow inspectors onto her property. In addition, the agency is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would force Swedlund to let the APHIS inspectors onto the property and give them access to her records.
Swedlund has yet to file a response to the lawsuit, and the Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach her Thursday for comment.
A history of animal-welfare violations
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 death 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. According to the lawsuit, 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.
Other USDA citations alleged Swedlund failed to provide proper veterinary care for several dogs in her care, including a puppy with a severe limp and “hard swelling” on one leg. Swedlund was also cited for using expired and improperly stored medications and for missing medical records.
During a January 2024 inspection, an APHIS inspector cited Swedlund for failing to have enough staff on hand to maintain the minimum level of care required by federal law, noting that she was the sole full-time caregiver for 153 dogs and puppies.
Court records show that in February 2024, Swedlund signed a joint stipulation with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship in which she agreed to decrease the number of dogs at the facility to no more than 30, and to do so within 30 days.
During APHIS’s next inspection, in April 2024, an inspector identified only 12 dogs at the facility but was unable to confirm where the previously housed dogs had been transferred, the newly filed lawsuit alleges.
In February 2026, after several failed attempts by APHIS officials to gain entry to the Farmington operation, the USDA issued an official warning to Swedlund for repeatedly failing to provide access to her facility in violation of federal regulations. That was followed by several more failed attempts at an inspection, resulting in the 21-day license suspension, the USDA alleges.
Lawsuit: Swedlund engaged in puppy laundering
Although the USDA lawsuit makes no mention of it, past APHIS inspection reports have pointed out her affiliation with another Iowa dog breeder accused of numerous regulatory violations, Steve Kruse, and the fact that federal law prohibits operations from routing animals through multiple license holders.
In pending lawsuit filed against the USDA by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the animal-welfare organization claims the USDA “improperly approved” the licenses of two of Kruse’s Iowa associates, Swedlund and Brian Lichirie, 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 10 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.
Swedlund’s vet sanctioned by boards
State records indicate Iowa-licensed veterinarian Jerry Couchman has acted as the attending veterinarian for Swedlund’s dog-breeding operations.
In September 2025, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy charged Couchman with a variety of disciplinary charges tied to the federal Controlled Substances Act. According to the board, Couchman, in addition to his veterinary work, “has a dog-breeding business on his home premises.” State records indicate Couchman’s kennel is occupied by roughly 70 bulldogs.
The board did not publicly disclose the charges against Couchman until March 2026, which was the same month Couchman agreed to a settlement in the case.
That agreement called for a minimum nine-month suspension of Couchman’s Controlled Substances Act registration, restricting his access to controlled substances.
Last year, the Iowa Board of Veterinary Medicine issued an emergency order indefinitely suspending Couchman’s veterinary license. At the time, the board alleged Couchman’s conduct posed an immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare.
On Nov. 4, 2025, Couchman and the veterinary board agreed to resolve the disciplinary case with a settlement agreement that called for Couchman’s veterinary license to be suspended for nine months, after which it was placed on probationary status for three years. He was also fined $3,000.
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Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com.
