Foxy
January 24th, 2006, 08:59 PM
This is an article sent to me by Small Paws Rescue, who's mission is to shut down illegal puppy mills.
This is where the "cute puppy in the window" came from and the price HIS/HER parents paid! I cannot stress enough to people why you should not buy puppies from a Pet store that sells AKC purebreds!!
Read below and at the end are some links about puppy mills.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006 — Time: 2:30:10 PM EST
Amish man sentenced to prison for operating dog ‘factory’
By STEPHANIE FARR-sfarr@sungazette.com
An Amish man used to spending his days on open land at his Washington Township farm was sentenced to 30 days in County Prison Monday for operating what county Judge Nancy L. Butts called a “factory for dogs.”
Bonnets, long beards and solid-colored clothing were common dress in the courtroom when Aaron Lapp, of 848 Leisure Acres Road, Washington Township, was accompanied by more than 15 traditionally-dressed members of his community ready to act as character witnesses.
Lapp was before Butts on a summary appeal of two charges of operating a kennel without a license and one charge each of possessing dogs without a license and cruelty to animals.
He was appealing the sentence handed down by District Judge C. Roger McRae in October. McRae sentenced Lapp to 145 days in prison and more than $4,500 in restitution and fines.
On June 17, two SPCA humane society officers and a state dog warden went to Lapp’s farm after receiving numerous reports of animal cruelty in regards to the approximately 100 dogs he had on the premises.
Nine dogs in need of “immediate care” were taken into SPCA custody as a result of the search, humane society officer Lawrence Woltz said. Some were matted with dried feces and urine while others had rashes and skin diseases, he said.
Woltz showed a video recording of the farm taken on the day of the search. It showed dogs living in cramped wire cages, kennels overflowing with feces, urine and matted hair and drinking water that was bright green in color.
Most of the cages did not have boards for the dogs to rest their feet from the wire and some dogs were chained outside with no shade, he said. ‘‘It’s pretty clear what you’re operating is a factory — for dogs,” Butts told Lapp as she pronounced sentence. “If you need to grow something to sell it, don’t grow animals, grow vegetables.
‘‘If this is the way life is over the mountain, it’s going to stop,” the judge added. “There’s a way you treat animals and this isn’t it.’’
Attorneys for both sides spent two hours Monday morning discussing a plea agreement. Lapp agreed to plead guilty to two counts of operating a kennel without a license and one count of owning dogs without a license and to pay a $200 fine on each count.
As part of the plea agreement, Lapp is to withdraw his current application to obtain a kennel license and will have 30 days to sell or give away nearly 70 dogs still in his care.
Lapp also agreed, though begrudgingly, to plead guilty to cruelty to animals, with no sentencing recommendation.
Mostly stoic throughout the proceedings, Lapp answered the judge’s questions with brief two- and three-word statements and had to be asked to speak up on several occasions. He neither apologized nor tried to excuse his actions, except to say he had never beaten the animals.
Butts explained that the cruelty to animal charge covered a broad range of abuses, including neglect.
Butts sentenced Lapp to spend 30 days in prison, fined him $750 and ordered him to pay $2,552 restitution to the SPCA. She allowed him 30 days to report to the prison so he can file a second appeal, if he chooses, she said.
Lapp’s pleas ended the appeal process, and Butts’ order replaced District Judge McRae previous sentence.
Public Defender Eric Linhardt, who represented Lapp, said his client’s actions did not warrant prison time and told the judge that a jail sentence would ‘‘impose a serious hardship on his family.’’ Lapp said if was to go to prison he would have to find someone else to milk the cows and take care of the farm.
Though many of Lapp’s Amish brethren were in the courtroom to testify as character witnesses, Linhardt called just one witness, Wendy Thomas, a non-Amish woman whose children regularly play at Lapp’s farm.
Thomas called herself an ‘‘animal rights activist’’ and said she had worked with the SPCA to ‘‘put people in jail.’’ She said Lapp cares very deeply for his animals and was trying to cure some of the sick ones with ‘‘homeopathic’’ remedies. ‘‘I’ve seen the extraordinary measures this man goes to take care of his animals,’’ she said. ‘‘I’ve seen animals mistreated, and I feel this is an injustice here.’’
Witnesses for the prosecution viewed the situation a bit differently though. A veterinary technician who groomed one of the dogs taken from Lapp’s farm said that matting over the eyes had obscured the dog’s vision and matting of the fur on the dog’s legs and abdomen prohibited free movement.
Woltz said that the ‘‘stench was overwhelming’’ and the cages were ‘‘overflowing’’ with feces and urine.
The final witness for the prosecution was Bernadette Miller, a woman who adopted one of the Yorkshire terriers taken from Lapp’s farm by the SPCA.
‘‘It was traumatized. It was shaking, very scared. It was an empty shell. It had no personality,’’ she said of the dog’s disposition when she first brought it home. ‘‘It’s a work in progress.’’
Miller said the dog had to learn how to run, jump and play because it was never exposed to those activities before. She said that she had to take the animal to the veterinarian many times for treatment of its constant vomiting and diarrhea.
In his defense, Lapp said he received a federal license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to operate the kennel a month before his farm was searched.
But state dog warden Scott Shurer said he had told Lapp several times that he needed a state license to operate a kennel. The federal license is needed to sell animals to pet stores or out-of-state dealers, but the state license is needed for sales to the general public, he said.
Small Paws Rescue...
www.smallpawsresuce.org (http://www.smallpawsresuce.org)
Here is their link on "What are puppy mills?"
http://www.smallpawsrescue.org/pup3/puppymills.html
This is where the "cute puppy in the window" came from and the price HIS/HER parents paid! I cannot stress enough to people why you should not buy puppies from a Pet store that sells AKC purebreds!!
Read below and at the end are some links about puppy mills.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006 — Time: 2:30:10 PM EST
Amish man sentenced to prison for operating dog ‘factory’
By STEPHANIE FARR-sfarr@sungazette.com
An Amish man used to spending his days on open land at his Washington Township farm was sentenced to 30 days in County Prison Monday for operating what county Judge Nancy L. Butts called a “factory for dogs.”
Bonnets, long beards and solid-colored clothing were common dress in the courtroom when Aaron Lapp, of 848 Leisure Acres Road, Washington Township, was accompanied by more than 15 traditionally-dressed members of his community ready to act as character witnesses.
Lapp was before Butts on a summary appeal of two charges of operating a kennel without a license and one charge each of possessing dogs without a license and cruelty to animals.
He was appealing the sentence handed down by District Judge C. Roger McRae in October. McRae sentenced Lapp to 145 days in prison and more than $4,500 in restitution and fines.
On June 17, two SPCA humane society officers and a state dog warden went to Lapp’s farm after receiving numerous reports of animal cruelty in regards to the approximately 100 dogs he had on the premises.
Nine dogs in need of “immediate care” were taken into SPCA custody as a result of the search, humane society officer Lawrence Woltz said. Some were matted with dried feces and urine while others had rashes and skin diseases, he said.
Woltz showed a video recording of the farm taken on the day of the search. It showed dogs living in cramped wire cages, kennels overflowing with feces, urine and matted hair and drinking water that was bright green in color.
Most of the cages did not have boards for the dogs to rest their feet from the wire and some dogs were chained outside with no shade, he said. ‘‘It’s pretty clear what you’re operating is a factory — for dogs,” Butts told Lapp as she pronounced sentence. “If you need to grow something to sell it, don’t grow animals, grow vegetables.
‘‘If this is the way life is over the mountain, it’s going to stop,” the judge added. “There’s a way you treat animals and this isn’t it.’’
Attorneys for both sides spent two hours Monday morning discussing a plea agreement. Lapp agreed to plead guilty to two counts of operating a kennel without a license and one count of owning dogs without a license and to pay a $200 fine on each count.
As part of the plea agreement, Lapp is to withdraw his current application to obtain a kennel license and will have 30 days to sell or give away nearly 70 dogs still in his care.
Lapp also agreed, though begrudgingly, to plead guilty to cruelty to animals, with no sentencing recommendation.
Mostly stoic throughout the proceedings, Lapp answered the judge’s questions with brief two- and three-word statements and had to be asked to speak up on several occasions. He neither apologized nor tried to excuse his actions, except to say he had never beaten the animals.
Butts explained that the cruelty to animal charge covered a broad range of abuses, including neglect.
Butts sentenced Lapp to spend 30 days in prison, fined him $750 and ordered him to pay $2,552 restitution to the SPCA. She allowed him 30 days to report to the prison so he can file a second appeal, if he chooses, she said.
Lapp’s pleas ended the appeal process, and Butts’ order replaced District Judge McRae previous sentence.
Public Defender Eric Linhardt, who represented Lapp, said his client’s actions did not warrant prison time and told the judge that a jail sentence would ‘‘impose a serious hardship on his family.’’ Lapp said if was to go to prison he would have to find someone else to milk the cows and take care of the farm.
Though many of Lapp’s Amish brethren were in the courtroom to testify as character witnesses, Linhardt called just one witness, Wendy Thomas, a non-Amish woman whose children regularly play at Lapp’s farm.
Thomas called herself an ‘‘animal rights activist’’ and said she had worked with the SPCA to ‘‘put people in jail.’’ She said Lapp cares very deeply for his animals and was trying to cure some of the sick ones with ‘‘homeopathic’’ remedies. ‘‘I’ve seen the extraordinary measures this man goes to take care of his animals,’’ she said. ‘‘I’ve seen animals mistreated, and I feel this is an injustice here.’’
Witnesses for the prosecution viewed the situation a bit differently though. A veterinary technician who groomed one of the dogs taken from Lapp’s farm said that matting over the eyes had obscured the dog’s vision and matting of the fur on the dog’s legs and abdomen prohibited free movement.
Woltz said that the ‘‘stench was overwhelming’’ and the cages were ‘‘overflowing’’ with feces and urine.
The final witness for the prosecution was Bernadette Miller, a woman who adopted one of the Yorkshire terriers taken from Lapp’s farm by the SPCA.
‘‘It was traumatized. It was shaking, very scared. It was an empty shell. It had no personality,’’ she said of the dog’s disposition when she first brought it home. ‘‘It’s a work in progress.’’
Miller said the dog had to learn how to run, jump and play because it was never exposed to those activities before. She said that she had to take the animal to the veterinarian many times for treatment of its constant vomiting and diarrhea.
In his defense, Lapp said he received a federal license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to operate the kennel a month before his farm was searched.
But state dog warden Scott Shurer said he had told Lapp several times that he needed a state license to operate a kennel. The federal license is needed to sell animals to pet stores or out-of-state dealers, but the state license is needed for sales to the general public, he said.
Small Paws Rescue...
www.smallpawsresuce.org (http://www.smallpawsresuce.org)
Here is their link on "What are puppy mills?"
http://www.smallpawsrescue.org/pup3/puppymills.html