Rescuers buy 8 dogs from breeder and protest puppy mill: Animals in the News

Published: Thursday, July 05, 2012, 10:30 AM

By Donna J. Miller, Plain Dealer reporterThe Plain Deale

Ban Ohio Dog AuctionsProtestors gather in Millersburg in Holmes County, where hundreds of puppy mills are run on Amish farms to supply puppies for Internet sales and pet stores.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Rescuers bought eight dogs from a high-volume dog breeder who auctioned his breeding stock and puppies June 30 in Millersburg in Holmes County.
Activists and a Cleveland television station attended the auction and obtained undercover video of some of the 400 dogs being sold for $50 to $1,500 each. Some were pregnant, ill or in poor condition, protester Kathy Burke said.
She and 50 other puppy-mill opponents from 13 counties gathered outside the nearby courthouse for a peaceful rally against dog auctions and puppy mills, which are plentiful in Holmes County. More than 500 are run by Amish families who collectively made $9 million in 2007, a Holmes County official said in 2008.

View full sizeBan Ohio Dog AuctionsTodd holds Gus in a veterinary waiting room after Gus was purchased from a Millersburg puppy mill June 30.

"We were there to be the voice for the voiceless animals who suffer for years in cages without ever being allowed to let their paws touch grass or feel a human touch," Burke said.
The Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions bought the dogs that had been repeatedly bred to keep them out of the hands of other breeders. The dogs went straight to a veterinarian, who found ear mites, skin and eye infections, tooth decay, urine burns and injured paws. Three of the rescued dogs are being cared for by New Beginnings Animal Shelter in Fairfield County, LUV4K9s and Ontario Bloodhound Rescue in Canada.
Learn more at banohiodogauctions.com.

Ban Ohio Dog AuctionsAmish boys monitor the dogs being auctioned at the Millersburg puppy mill.

Ban Ohio Dog AuctionsProtesters gathered outside the courthouse in Millersburg, where more than 400 dogs and puppies were auctioned June 30.

Kathy BurkeThe Rev. Bill Lawson, left, his wife Robin, of Shreve, and Betty Dellinger, of London, were among the 50 protesters who gathered June 30 outside the courthouse in Millersburg, where more than 400 dogs and puppies were auctioned at a nearby Amish farm.