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.
Certainly, and I’m generally a law and order type, but I see more of a fine and even some community service. He does not appear to have had any abuse of the animals in mind here, simply a business decision. I wish the USDA would really do their job and police these places as they are supposed to, but they don’t. And there is a movement afoot to police more and more breeders (including small hobby breeders like me who have a litter every few years).
I'm not among those who ever said that. There's a wide distinction between reputable breeders who have in place the proper facilities for this activity and show an interest in furthering a healthy breed; and backyard breeders or puppy mills with 6-8 dogs crammed in feces-filled cages.
Oh believe me. I am a Police State HATER. So, I feel that. It's the lawyer in me. Always start strong and negotiate back down from there. If I start exactly where I want to be, when we are done? I will find myself overly defending a weak position or not getting what was really needed.
Sue them and demand 10 million. When they say it was a $50 bicycle, drop to 1 million. When they come up to $1000 to cover your court costs, drop to $10,000. You will get $3,000, which will teach them a lesson and pay your bills. But if I start at $50 plus court costs, I will get $1500 and not make any money and be in business to help the next person.
So, this guy, we start with 99 years. 1 per count. Then he sees it is serious and learns a lesson when he feels lucky to get 30 days suspended and lose his license.
No Lady! we had to be consistent....if an illegal alien runs into my car with no insurance I would stuff him in a box and attach a hose from my car to the box. Right is right!!!
Fair enough...........
Well. If you want to go that way. I still think we should uphold the law. You should get a $20 fine! HAHAHAHA
I’ll pay it...because it’s you!!!!
That was discovery and treatment. It mentions nothing abou cause or neglect.
HAHAHAHA. Good one!
No, you didn’t, but more and more I see it, everywhere. The lines have been blurred, people talk about *breeders* in general with distaste, shelter dogs (which I promote) are trendy, purbreds are not cool, etc. And HSUS and PETA are behind a rise in laws against breeding in general. And the general public is still blissfully unaware.
I’ve learned the hard way that having a pet put down by a vet is not necessarily humane....just legal. I do the dirty work myself now. Animal does not feel a thing!!!
Thats why a car in a closed garage, or a generator inside a garage can really build up the gases. So what this guy did was mostly asphixiate the poor dogs, and with a nasty gas at that.
I learned this many years ago, when someone I knew attempted suicide by routing his exhaust gas into his car through the window. He passed out and nearly died, but he lived. Afterwards, he described it as a horrible way to go, because it was painful to breathe, burned his eyes, and he nearly coughed up his lungs.
With real CO poisoning, you dont much feel anything, maybe a bit sleepy, and then poof...
I understand how CO poisoning works, the CO displaces O in the hemoglobin by binding to it 200x stronger than O. Thats why even once you remove a person from the source of CO, it can be difficult to save them.
Only because you haven't actually been struck by lightening...
};^P>
According to the information here, unless they have a vet on staff, no breeder is going to be able to do this.
I am seeing two lines of argument here.
The first is by dog lovers. I have had a bunch of dogs, and they are great pets, and very friendly and loving.
The other argument is by those who realize that a “puppy farm” is still a farm. And farm animals, of all kinds, who are no longer valuable as merchandise or for the food they produce, or are diseased, are put down. This is a fact of life on a farm.
There is no possibility that farmers will “retire” such animals, because they must pay for their food. Nor will they give them away, as their business is to sell, not give.
Yet in most cases, while farmers have to kill, they take no great joy in doing so. There is no sadistic glee in it. They want to do it as quickly, painlessly, and least expensively as possible.
Were I in this farmer’s shoes, I wouldn’t have used carbon monoxide, because even though it is deadly, it is also dangerous and expensive.
Instead, he should have used carbon dioxide. It can be made in higher concentrations, works just as quickly, and is quite painless. An empty 55 gallon drum with 5 gallons of water in the bottom. Then dump in a whole box of generic Alka-Seltzers. It is heavier than air, so most will remain in the drum after displacing the air. Put the animal in a cage, and lower them into the drum with a rope, for 10 minutes. They will be unconscious in a few seconds, and likely dead within a minute.
And while those who love dogs will still probably be outraged, please read this:
“Canine Brucellosis is very difficult to treat successfully. A combination of minocycline and streptomycin is thought to be most effective but is expensive. Tetracycline can be substituted for the minocylcine to reduce costs but also lowers the effectiveness of treatment. All infected animals should be neutered or spayed to prevent sexually related transmission. All infected animals should be considered to be lifelong carriers of the disease, even if treated.”
This means that those animals had to die. As much as if they had been cattle with anthrax.
Your argument is well reasoned. However, I would submit that the real problem is, in fact, the law that allows companion animals to be bred and treated like foodstuffs.
Years back every man did his own dirty work, as my dad said shoot your own dog and iron your own apron, don’t leave the hard stuff to someone else to do....people also slaughtered and casterated their own farm animals...life was much harder than what we are use to today...
Cussing all coons while I finished off my chickens. They were our egg layers not meat chickens. Thats a totally different breed and was done professionally done. One of the guinea's had a macerated foot and leg, I was able to do a tiny splint on it and 4 days later she was fine. Its amazing how fast animals heal when cared for...
Also had coons get into my turkey pen and kill 7 or 10 baby Royal Palm turkeys, the hen was able to save 3 probably by not moving when the coon approached....she was a big hen, but the coon chewed a hole in the roof, dropped down and got the chicks. Ate them all as nothing was left...I hate coons, disease carrying predators, in Michigan big rabies carriers....Also had another pen of turkeys attacked in a pen with nylon net roof cover. Coons are nasty as snot as another freeper said...
The reason he's probably not had animal cruelty charges brought against him for mistreatment and neglect is that he's destroyed the evidence.
Probably smart enough to understand that using unauthorized means to destroy the animals was a lesser charge, all things being equal.
;)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.