Quote:
Originally Posted by Ples  I also am not Amish and can't honestly say I knew that much about them, but in the last year I have learned more than I ever wanted to know, I purchased a puppy from an Amish puppy mill, not knowingly of course. It is located in the York/Lancaster area of Pennsylvania. We bred that dog with our male Yorkie and the puppies were born with a terrible disease called hypotrichosis. This disease is quite rare and causes, at the very least, baldness on their heads and abdomens and can have other even worse problems associated with it. I had to do a lot of research but finally tracked down that the person I bought the dog from had purchased the puppy from these people. The Amish look at these dogs as a way to make money, they are not pets by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not saying that making money is bad, just they don't seem to comprehend what they are doing is wrong. I'm assuming because that is the nature of their beliefs. To make a long story short, I contacted state and county organizations, the ACA, and everyone else I could think of along the way. In the end, I got every cent back I paid for our female and they agreed to spay the dam so she would have no more puppies with that disease. The breeders gave that damto a rescue that called me to report they had been given the dog and the spaying was completed. At least she will get a good home. The sad, sad, part of this is NO ONE can or will put these Amish breeders out of business. The man could never understand through all this, ending only on the day we were to go to court why I was so emotional over......a dog (his words). He just kept wanting to "give me another one." The experience was horrible and my only advice, is never deal with an Amish breeder, even if it doesn't look like a puppy mill. They are incapable of thinking about these dogs as we do. As I said, I got my money, but I was left with my beautiful girl carrying a disease and 3 puppies with this disease and more heartbreak and confusion than any money could ever make up for. I apologize in advance if I have offended anyone who know the Amish, but having gone through this I have earned the right to my opinion. |
Thank you for posting and sharing. Many of us without knowing better bought dogs from petstores, byb, bad breeders or puppymills. I myself bought my first yorkie ten years ago from a byb. She is now a small puppymill. He died this past summer from a rare cancer. Cancer is cancer but I believe with all my heart that his bad breeding had a lot to do with it. He also suffered from genetic problems etc. He was a great dog and a good boy. Loving. I made a mistake. I didn't know any better. He is what brought me to fighting the mills, the byb, bad breeders and petstores. Noel who is 4 years old is one of my rescues. She came from the same person that my Newman came from. We now believe that this person was not only a byb, now a small puppymill but that she also brokered dogs from the Amish. Noel I believe was one of those dogs. When we got her she was bleeding rectally, had been beaten and was an emotional wreck and she stunk. She stunk so bad we had to drive with the windows open. The stench stayed with her for at least a month or more and that was after bath after bath. It took 6 months before my husband could touch her. She wasn't aggressive. She was petrified. It took up till this year before she would let a stranger approach her. New people in the house would drive her to hide behind the washer, cowere behind the washer and tremble. She's come a long way, but she is the reason I fight. She and Newman are what drive me to shut these places down. PLEASE CONTINUET TO JOIN OUR FIGHT AND TELL YOUR STORY AND EDUCATE.
Thank you again for your story.
Elaine (mom to 5 - 4 of which were rescues)