Amish/Mennonite puppy mills
http://www.bogartsdaddy.com/bouvier/Bouv_Pages/article-nypost-pa-puppymills.htm
By Laura Italiano
Post Correspondent
Inside the picturesque barns and wooden fences of Amish country, pedigree puppies are bred by the tens of thousands, many living in a hellish world of filthy, crowded cages. They are "puppy mill" puppies, and they bring in $4 million a year for the 100 Amish and Mennonite farmers who supply boutique dog-shop markets, including at least two New York dealers, the ASPCA says.
"It's not just some cottage industry by people who sell bread-and-butter pickles by the roadside," said Roger Caras, ASPCA executive director. The farmers sell 20,000 puppies a year to wholesalers for an average $223 a pup, government records show.
And it's making some of these quaint farmers quite rich. U.S. Department of Agriculture documents show that one farmer in the town of Blue Ball sold 1,293 puppies last year for an estimated $290,000 though federal inspectors have cited his farm for numerous violations since 1992 including overcrowded cages and inadequate sanitation, pest control, feeding and watering of animals.
"Then these sickly, genetic nightmares are delivered to the upscale pet shops," Caras said.
"They given them a bath and blowdry them and fluff them up and pray they don't die before they're sold," for $1,000 or more each.
Separate investigations by the ASPCA and The Post found the deplorable conditions of puppy mills hidden away in picture-postcard Pennsylvania Dutch country, the fastest growing puppy-breeding region in the eastern United States.
Inside one dark, fetid metal shed inspected by The Post last week, About 40 puppies—German shepherds, dobermans and shitzus among them—were locked in threes and fours in cages a single dog would find cramped.
Many were unresponsive to a visitor's presence and voice. Most had coats matted with feces. There was no apparent escape from the shed's darkness and stench.
When questioned about the shed, Amish farmer David Zimmerman denied it was a kennel, even pretending that the ruckus of dog barks coming from inside was "just Potsy, the family dog, chasing that gray kitten again."
He might have been cautious for good reason: Zimmerman's license to sell puppies in bulk has been suspended by the USDA.
"It's harassment," Zimmerman said of the USDA, which has also fined him $51,250 for numerous animal-welfare violations. Zimmerman, whose farm is in Ephrata, is appealing the fine.
There is such a place, BTW.