Puppy Mills: Who is Really Protecting Animals in PA? It is not the State inspectors.

[JPZenger]

Another infamous PA. puppy mill and kennel has been raided by the PA SPCA. This place was well-known to be problem, but the PA. Dept. of Agriculture passed it with flying colors during their inspection only 2 months ago.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_5raid.6612800oct02,0,2235017.story

I don't want to post excerpts of the article because it is too upsetting.

The following article was published in March 2007 describing long-standing problems with the system and the same puppy mill/kennel owner, Derbe "Skip" Eckhart.

http://www.mcall.com/news/specials/all-special-kennel-031107,0,5454576.story?page=1&coll=all-news-hed

The Morning Call had previously printed articles that uncovered that this same guy used a friend to go to people who offered "Free Animals to a Good Home." The friend would then turn the animals over to Eckart for sale. He also has sold many dogs that turned out to have serious health problems that were not revealed to the buyers. The people became attached to the dogs before they realized the medical bills they faced. He was running one of the largest dog selling operations in the region.

Fortunately, the Legislature has been embarrased into moving forward on tougher regulations. There was a hesitation, but after an incident in Maxatawny Township in which a kennel owner shot all of his dogs to avoid the expense of providing state-ordered veterinary care, it was hard to vote no.

[JPZenger]

1. Blog by Morning Call Reporter Who Tried to Get the Hellhole Shut Down

http://www.mcall.com/news/columnists/all-b1_5skip-r.6612173oct02,0,3457399.column

Excerpts:

"Justice finally served at Almost Heaven
by Bill White October 2, 2008

...Almost Heaven dog kennel contributed to this diminished expectation for justice. Proprietor Derbe ''Skip'' Eckhart had served time for cruelty to animals. I had heard from dozens of witnesses that his operation in Upper Milford Township was awful, and I had accumulated all kinds of evidence of his misdeeds, past and present. Yet there he was, still in business, clearing state Bureau of Dog Law inspections with flying colors while hundreds of helpless animals suffered. I'd been writing about him for years, and it didn't seem to make any difference.

... SPCA investigators and veterinarians emerged to confirm what so many of us already knew. Almost Heaven was a hellhole. They said it was vastly overcrowded, with dogs stacked on top of one another in tiny cages. Indescribably filthy, with animals walking and sleeping in their own feces and their coats covered with excrement and urine. They described sick animals. Frightened animals. Injured animals. Dehydrated animals. Even dead, decomposing animals, in plain sight. It wasn't just dogs. There were cats, guinea pigs, fowl, horses, monkeys, even a pot-bellied pig. This guy is like the Doctor Doolittle from Hell.

Indeed, one of the highlights of the afternoon was the arrival of state Bureau of Dog Law warden Orlando Aguirre, who was part of the four-person team that gave this cesspool all ''satisfactory'' ratings back in August. Aguirre had no comment. If this raid accomplishes nothing else -- besides driving Skip Eckhart from the kennel business -- I hope it puts the screws anew to an agency that has dismally failed to protect Pennsylvania dogs from the avarice and cruelty of puppy mill operators. Thank heaven for the SPCA.

It was a bizarre scene. Even from the street, the reek of feces was sickening. You could see filthy dogs trying to bark at us, except that they had been debarked, so they whispered at us. Animal rescue people started arriving, elated to see Eckhart being brought down. ''It's the best day of my life,'' said Main Line Animal Rescue's Bill Smith, a longtime Eckhart critic. A crew from Animal Planet's ''Animal Cops'' show was there all afternoon, preparing a future program on the raid. TV news helicopters and crews started converging, too."

Kennel inspection reports are available at the following address:
http://services.agriculture.state.pa.us/KennelInspections/SearchKennelInspections.aspx
This kennel was rated completely satisfactory in all matters in the State inspection 2 months ago. The kennel handled more than 550 dogs in the last 12 months.

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Here's another article by Bill White from earlier this year questioning how State inspectors could approve other puppy mills that a short time later were shut down for cruelty.

http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/music/all-b1_5awful.6524903jul31,0,4886535.column

[JPZenger]

2. 90 dogs shot at kennel to avoid veterinary care bill

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/26902239.html