Puppy mill alert - pa

[tristanichole]

Action Alert: Puppy Mill Bill in Pennsylvania
6/26/2009 9:02 AM

This is a request for help we recieved this morning. I know the bill is not in Minnesota, but we have Amish puppy mills here, too, and this same kind of brutality is happening in our state. The dogs in PA have a chance at legal protections and they need all the help they can get. Please tame a moment to send a polite e-mail and feel free to send links to our website to friends and family and ask them to do the same.


It takes an Amish farmer less than 5 minutes to "debark" one of his breeding dogs by hammering a steel rod down her throat - and breaking her jaw and shattering her back teeth. It takes 5 minutes for that same farmer/commercial breeder to cut off one of his dog's tail - in a filthy, dark barn without anesthesia. And it takes about the same amount of time for his thirteen year old son to tie the dog down and cut the puppies from her belly. Five minutes more to crop her ears using a pair of rusted hedge shears - the dog squirming and crying out in unbelievable pain.

So why is it taking Senator Stewart Greenleaf more than a week to decide that this is wrong? When we called his office last week to ask why his Committee is sitting on H.B. 39, we were told by his aide that Senator Greenleaf is "reviewing" the bill. What's to review?

Everyone on Capital Hill knows about this bill. It is the companion bill to H.B. 2525 that passed into law last fall. When asked, repeatedly, if Senator Greenleaf would support H.B. 39, his aide would not commit. This is surprising to us considering Senator Greenleaf not only toured Pennsylvania' s puppy mills with a reporter from the Inquirer in 1995, seeing firsthand the conditions these animals face, but he also coined the expression "Puppy Mill Capital of the East Coast" and expressed an urgent need for change. Well, Senator Greenleaf, here's your chance to bring about change and help these dogs!

H.B. 39 would make it illegal for anyone other than a licensed veterinarian to perform these procedures, or if it is already illegal for anyone but a licensed vet to perform the procedure, it will toughen the penalties. Please contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to vote the bill out of their committee so it can finally go to the floor of the Senate for a vote. The bill passed the House unanimously, and passed the Senate Agricultural Committee unanimously two weeks ago (thank you members of the Ag Committee!). This bill is a crucial step toward protecting the dogs of Pennsylvania.

Please email (or call) the below legislators and ask them to to support H.B. 39 and move it to the Senate floor. Important to note, Senator Greenleaf represents Montgomery County.

* Stewart Greenleaf [email protected], 717-787-6599, or call: 215-657-7700
Mary Jo White [email protected]
Joseph Scarnati [email protected]
Patrick Browne [email protected]
Jane Earl [email protected]
John Gordner [email protected]
Jane Clare Orie [email protected]
Jeffrey Piccola [email protected]
John Rafferty [email protected] (represents parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks Counties)

All email addresses below end with: @pasenate.com
Lisa Boscola [email protected] (at pasenate.com)
Jay Costa [email protected]
Wayne Fontana [email protected]
Michael Stack [email protected]
__________________

 

[3CsMommy]

Forwarding to my Mom-in-Law too. Thanks for the heads up!

That said, "What's to review?"---- All the pork that has probably been attached to it by Senators selling votes on a very high-profile and heart-wrenching situation. :tantrum:

 

[tristanichole]

Isn't that just the most frustrating thing?? What these people are doing is pure torture...but "lets review this all first"...what a load.

 

[pita839]

The Amish are that cruel? I never knew that. That is horrible and disgusting. Must be why they don't want contact with the outside world. They don't want people to know what goes on behind closed barn doors. What makes the Amish so different that they can do this but not the average Joe? Maybe the Senator is getting kickbacks from the Amish. Makes me want to go out and buy something from the Amish, NOT. I live in PA and this is the first I've heard about this. So sad

 

[3CsMommy]

What makes the Amish so different that they can do this but not the average Joe?

They've claimed exemption from taxes, and therefore most of the services paid for by them, as a religious organization. Some of it they "don't need", like social security for the elderly, because as a closed group they take care of their own, and some, like the Draft, they don't want for moral reasons (conscientious objectors).

The number of Amish girls on Rumspringer that went to the Rape Crisis center in my college town first made me question how well they "take care" of their own. So I looked into it further, found out about puppy mills, about how horribly many of them use their horses (some of which I had to see first hand and turned my stomach), and have essentially written off most of the community because it's so hard to tell the good "plain folks" from the @$$holes. Just like us English, there's a bad apple in every bunch, and I can't stand the idea of letting my boyfriend (because a number of them wouldn't even speak to me as a single woman) purchase strawberries or eggs or hay from the family child molester or the guy milling Jack Russels in their barn.

 

[Dolyphinm]

The Amish often work their animals until they literally drop dead. Once they hit old age they don't try to find a new home for their animals as I think would be more proper. I understand they need some of their animals to work and may not have the room to let them enjoy their gold age, but to just work them until dead or killing them just doesn't seem right by me. Animals are also part of God's creatures.

I am going to go see what kind of pork got added into this.

 

[tristanichole]

Unfortunately, a very LARGE percentage of puppy millers are Amish. You would think they would value life more, seeing as these are God's creatures and they're so religious...but they don't.

 

[alli713]

What makes the Amish so different that they can do this but not the average Joe?

Well, technically the average Joe can do this too if he runs a puppy mill. Not all puppy mills are run by Amish.

And in the same mind, not all Amish are evil. Just like people in the modern world, you can't hardly lump all of them together. Yes, there is a lot of bad things going on in their communities that authorities don't hear about, but it's the same out here in our world.

I think the evil is the puppy mill industry and everyone who runs or supports them. Many pet stores that sell puppies buy from puppy mills. So in essence, they're just as bad as the puppy mill owner.

Many people honestly don't know about puppy mills and how the puppies sold at pet stores come from them. If they did, pet stores would no longer be selling puppies because no one would buy them. But people keep buying puppies from pet stores, so they keep selling them.

 

[Easterpiggy]

that is so horrible. that makes me sick to my stomach. something needs to be done. debarking??? what the F ??!! what is the purpose of that??!!! who does that ???!!!!! I am going to have nightmares for a week!!

 

[rach_leigh]

Oh I know that is terrible and disgusting! One of my friends told me a terrible story about what the Amish people to do to female dogs...I was mortified!! She told me this because her neighbor purchased a German Shepard puppy from them and she died and he took her to the vet for an autopsy. I cried! I hope that puppy mills close down and these poor dogs get the love and care they deserve!