Pa. man faces 230 charges in puppy mill abuse
The man authorities allege is responsible for the gross neglect and abuse discovered when officials raided his eastern Pennsylvania puppy mill a week ago has been fined more than $150,000 and is facing over 230 charges for allegedly violating the state's dog laws.
Eighteen of Derbe Eckhart's dogs from the Almost Heaven Kennel were sent to shelters in Baltimore, which Unleashed wrote about. My foster dog, Teddy, is another victim of the Emmaus mill.
According to the Associated Press, Eckhart has 15 days to appeal the $152,900 fine from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
Department of Agriculture spokesman Chris Ryder says Eckhart failed to get rid of 216 dogs after he lost his kennel license. Ryder says Eckhart was also failed to get approval to transfer 17 dogs.
Almost Heaven was also raided in Oct. 2008. Animal welfare officials say hundreds of animals were living in filthy conditions. Eckhart faces animal cruelty charges from that raid.Two of the dogs rescued from the Almost Heaven Kennel, were sent to the Maryland SPCA in Baltimore where they were adopted last week. Sun Photo by Tasha Treadwell.
Almost Heaven was also raided in Oct. 2008. Animal welfare officials say hundreds of animals were living in filthy conditions. Eckhart faces animal cruelty charges from that raid.Two of the dogs rescued from the Almost Heaven Kennel, were sent to the Maryland SPCA in Baltimore where they were adopted last week. Sun Photo by Tasha Treadwell.
Comments
I hope this will open up more people's eyes about where they are getting their pets from. I know several people who got their designer puppy from a 'family-run' farm in Pennsylvania that they found on the internet. These are nothing more than puppy mills. There are too many wonderful dogs waiting to be adopted in area shelters - it boggles my mind why anyone would be fooled into buying their pet off the internet.
Please check out this website http://www.stoppuppymills.org/puppy_buying_tips.html for more information on puppy mills.
Posted by: Leigh | July 9, 2009 9:04 AM