Thank you all those folks who are willing to decry the Amish puppy mills! I blogged some time ago about how the Amish communities support this evil institution. I will repeat what I said then. As long as the Amish communities are supporting them — AND THEY ARE– then boycott ALL Amish products!
I took some hits for saying that then but the rationale is still the same. Amish communities have no interest in living up to outside standards and only meet legal requirements to avoid those penalties. The only people who can make the Amish stop raising dogs as “cash crops” are the Amish. They will not do so without more outside social pressure on them. The only outside pressure most of us can exert is to boycott their products. No more jellies, quilts, wood furniture! Nothing until the Amish stop their puppy mills!
Thanks to the Akron Beacon Journal for this article.
Troubled dog auction moves to new Amish community
Associated PressMIDDLEFIELD, Ohio – Protesters have driven a dog auction out of an Amish community in northeast Ohio – and into another.
Geauga County officials say they’re worried that the controversy surrounding the Buckeye Dog Auction in Holmes County will continue.
Critics call the breeding operations that supply the auction “puppy mills,” factory-like operations in which caged dogs churn out litters year after year.
Animal lovers regularly gathered outside the auction in Holmes County to protest what they called an industry built on cruelty. Ervin Raber, co-founder of Buckeye Dog Auction, acknowledged that those protests helped push the auction out of Holmes County.
The same protesters will travel to Geauga County, predicted Dale Bath, who oversees Harlequin Haven Great Dane Rescue near Cincinnati.
“We’ll be up to visit,” Bath said.
Middlefield Township-based Bylerville Enterprises LLC bought the auction for an undisclosed sum. The planned relocation reflects a growing interest within Geauga County’s Amish community to enter the dog-breeding business, said Urie Byler, a co-owner of the company.
Geauga County is home to fewer than 100 kennels, said Matt Granito, the county’s dog warden.
The auction spurred a surge in kennel operations in and around Holmes County as purebred puppies turned into an increasingly lucrative cash crop. Last year, Holmes County licensed 478 kennels – a 40 percent increase from 2003, the year before the auction started.
Geauga County Commissioner Bill Young said he has asked the county prosecutor’s office to look into the auction relocation, which is also drawing concern from the dog warden and the Geauga Humane Society.
“Things have always gone very smoothly in this county,” Young said. “Why bring in an issue that can be so disruptive?”
Byler said he and his brothers don’t want trouble and will work with local authorities and organizations to ensure the operation surpasses every standard.
The first auction is scheduled for April 21. Byler expects at least 350 dogs to be sold and said his group will follow the law to ensure the animals are cared for properly.
