Posted on 09/14/2010 11:46:17 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
A commercial kennel owner in New York destroyed 93 dogs using a hose connected to a farm engine and pumping carbon monoxide into a makeshift "gas chamber."
David Yoder, owner of Black Diamond Acres kennel in Romulus, told a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector during a July 15 inspection that he killed the dogs to "depopulate" the kennel.
Yoder said he created an airtight chamber out of a wood whelping box (where nursing puppies are typically housed with their mothers) by fitting the opening with a metal door with a small hole for an exhaust pipe which was attached to a 3 horsepower farm engine.
Then he gassed "approximately" 78 adult dogs and 15 puppies in groups of five or six. Yoder said he left the barn during the gassing because he had a headache from the fumes. He also said he used a stethoscope to make sure the dogs had stopped breathing before burying them, according to the inspection report.
It is against federal law for a licensed kennel owner to perform their own euthanasia. The inspector, Andrea D'Ambrosio, also noted that dogs not immediately gassed likely suffered from inhaling the excess fumes.
"The manner of mass euthanasia caused potentially high levels of behavioral stress and unnecessary discomfort to all the dogs in the kennel," the report said.
Mary Anne Kowalski, a board member of the Seneca County SPCA, said she was not aware of anyone from the USDA reporting what she believes is a clear case of animal cruelty to local authorities.
The dogs were killed sometime after a June 29 inspection where Yoder had been ordered to get his dogs tested and treated for Brucellosis (after earlier tests indicated some of his dogs had the contagious disease) and before the inspector returned on July 15.
The case bears an eerie resemblance to the 2008 mass shooting at a Berks County, Pa., kennel after the owner was told to treat his dogs for flea infestation. That incident helped propel the passage of the new state dog law and the immediate prohibition of euthanasia by any means other than by a licensed veterinarian.
Romulus, located 60 miles southeast of Rochester in Seneca County, may have been the first municipality in the nation to ban puppy mills when it passed an ordinance last year outlawing commercial kennels.
Seneca County has a sizeable Amish population, and many are involved in dog breeding, Kowalski said. Yoder, who is Amish, bred poodles, Bichons, Maltese and Boston Terriers. He was allowed to continue operating his kennel in Romulus despite the ban because it was grandfathered under the new ordinance.
Kowalski, who discovered the report of the gassing on the USDA website while updating her files today, said she was stunned at what she read. "I just lost it," she said.
Kowalski said she reported the incident to the sheriff and district attorney in the hope that cruelty charges will be brought against Yoder.
"I hope these dogs did not die in vain," she said.
One year in Prison per violation. That is 93 years. Not concurrently, but consecutively.
Likely Amish, based on that name. They're VERY heavy into puppy mill operations. This SOB needs to be gassed.
Real nice work there, Heinrich Himmler. Better hope Michael Vick is on your jury.
Straight away to jail with you now...
I am nauseous!
Mighty CHRISTIAN of this money grubbing jerk!!
The Amish just lost a lot of respect!
Its a tight knit community and NOBODY was upset???WTF?
surprised he doesn’t gas kids, if they get in the way!
Duh. He is Amish. I only needed to read the article through.
All the puppy mill breeders in the Finger Lakes are either Amish or Mennonite.
He killed some animals and you think he should be executed? You need to develop a sense of proportion. Question - do you ever eat meat?
Muzlum convert???
A lot of spousal and child abuse in the Amish community gets swept under the rug because, as you say, they are very close knit.
These animal abuse laws were mostly enacted to locate child and human abusers, cause the connection is so close!
I would bet, with this kind of abuse and sickness, this guy also has child, domestic or other abuse in his history.
GO FOR IT SPCA AND THE LOCAL LEGAL AUTHORITIES!
What’s all the uproar, seems like a pretty humane way to put them down.
It was indeed a dirty Amish type:
Most people across America mistakenly believe that the Amish just aren't the types of people to be just as revolting, sneaky, and criminally-minded wastes of space as any other random citizen.
All the jokes at FR about Amish terrorists and we just found one.
From what I have heard, the Amish have very little regard for animals.
And you need to undevelop your miscalibrated sense of moral relevancy.
Read my post #11....
Educate yourself first...if YOU don’t care about humane treatment of animals, THINK ABOUT THE CONNECTION TO HUMAN ABUSE.
“some animals” ...and this was inhumane treatment, not killing animals for food, it was a f...g puppy mill...THAT is called Greed and this guy is one sicko!
First let me say, I don’t like commercial puppy farms for a number of reasons. Now that that’s out of the way:
I don’t know what death by carbon monoxide poisoning is like, but I assume that you go to sleep, since people are accidentally killed this way on occasion, and you would think if it was painful they would wake and leave the house.
On the other hand, one of my own dogs, during *humane* euthanisia by my vet (I always stay) became agitated, vomited and was clearly distressed. This is not to say you should not use this as a method to euthanize your pet, but it IS to say that carbon monoxide may not be worse. It does not sound like this particular thing, while apparently against the law, was particularly cruel. I think this has more to do with stepping on the toes of vets.
He has SOME serious screws loose. I mean he didn't MASS gas them... he thought it all up, planned it out, and then brought nearly 100 dogs into a small cage 5 or 6 at a time?
That means he did this act, 20 times. Counting the time it would take to move, gas, move again, etc. This had to have taken ALL DAY or MULTIPLE DAYS.
THAT ain't normal brain waves...
As much as I dislike the Amish puppy farms, they are livestock like cows or pigs. I think I recall that the USDA started this whole practice at some point.
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