Almost Heaven dogs are free at last

[Number9Dream]

Though the battles with this animal abuser have been a mostly Lehigh Valley story, these new victories are great news to dog lovers / animal lovers everywhere! Like it or not, our commonwealth is notorious for puppy-mills, but now there is one less. I can only hope that "Skip" Eckhart (the most hated man in the Lehigh Valley) ends up behind bars.

snip> As I walked Wednesday morning down the rows of dog cages -- marked on handmade signs as ''Dalmatian Drive,'' ''Fido Freeway,'' etc., while a rescue team from the Humane Society of the United States sorted through the dogs it seized Tuesday from Almost Heaven kennel -- what struck me most was how many of the dogs got to their feet and stuck their noses up to the doors.

When I reached a finger in to touch their noses, every one of them licked me.

If you have a hard time understanding why people would get so worked up about the mistreatment of dogs, that's a good clue. Raised in filthy, crowded conditions, sick and frightened, these animals' instinct still is to crave human companionship, however fleeting. This capacity for unconditional love, even in the face of terrible cruelty, is heartbreaking.

So the sight of 216 dogs, free at last from one of the state's most notorious puppy mills, was truly uplifting.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-whitebox.6939491jun25,0,6572033.column

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a5_5kennel.6941826jun26,0,4638104.column

[old mark]

1. The kennel's license was revoked permanently Thursday, but the owners

can still have a limited number of dogs on their premises - I think 20, but I'm not sure.

They were raided last October and their license suspended temporarily.
The police found dogs this week with eye ailments, open sores, malnutrition, living in filth.

These people should be in prison.

mark

[JPZenger]

2. Long Long History of Fraud and Abuse

It is amazing that this guy was able to get away with this fraud and abuse for so many years. Why was a guy with pasts conviction of severe animal cruelty able to get a State kennel license? Fortunately, the Legislature strengthened the Dog Law, which made it easier to bring him down.

There are allegations that Dog Enforcement Offices of the PA. Dept. of Agriculture tipped him off to past inspections so he could hide the abused animals and clean things up before the inspections.

He was able to keep 25 dogs because that number is not regulated by the State under the Kennel regulations. However, now that he has again also been charged with cruelty as a criminal matter, it is expected they will be able to take away all animals, hopefully.

So many of the dogs he sold had serious life long illnesses, including the dog of my neighbor.

One of his worst practices was having a co-conspirator respond to "Free to a Good Home" ads for dogs. She pretended that she was going to give a good home to a dog someone was giving away. Then they were placed in the Almost Heaven hellhole and sold. That happened many many times.

His website is still up: www.almostheavenkennel.com I'm waiting for him to use another front and try to re-open, claiming that someone else owns the business.

Here's a list of his past abuse, going back to 1988:

http://www.pet-abuse.com/profiles/9024/

[Number9Dream]

3. Wondered how kennel passed inspections

Like you said, "How did he get / keep a kennel license?"
We've wondered all along if bribes had been paid. I hope Bill White (the reporter) will continue to follow this story. He's done a terrific so far.

[Number9Dream]

4. Update - Warden fired

Just received this update from reporter, Bill White:
"I did a column about one warden who just was fired, and my understanding is that they’re still investigating others, all relating in part to what happened at Almost Heaven. It’s a question all of us have been wondering about for a long time. I just today put in a Pennsylvania Open Records Law request for all the information the state has relating to the investigation."

[blue neen]

5. Pennsylvania MUST get rid of the puppy mills.

This has given our state a black eye, deservedly so.

We rescued a puppy mill dog this winter that was sold at a local chain pet store. She was going to be put to sleep, because the people who bought her said she was "sick". We've worked really hard with this little dog, but she's worth it. I find her irresistible.