Dear Cruel MoFos of the World,
My outrage-o-meter is seriously overloaded. Like the needle is shaking in the red zone and little puffs of smoke are seeping out accompanied by the occasional spark.
Please knock it off.
Seneca Co, NY: A puppy miller with a disturbing track record of problematic USDA inspection reports (pdf) was told by a USDA inspector at the June 29th inspection to address the issue of Brucellosis in his kennel. When the inspector came back on July 15, the puppy miller, David Yoder, informed the inspector he had indeed dealt with the contagious disease situation: by putting his dogs, 5-6 at a time, into a whelping box, Rube Goldberg’d into a gas chamber via an exhaust pipe and a 3 horse power farm engine. He couldn’t stay to monitor what level of suffering the dogs endured while being gassed because, you know – there were fumes and stuff and the puppy miller got a headache. So Mr. Yoder left them to die in view of the main kennel dogs who also suffered from the fumes. He came back after a bit to remove the bodies and put the next batch in for killing. In all, Mr. Yoder killed 78 dogs and 15 puppies in this manner.
OK, now we come to the really outrageous part. (You didn’t think that was it already I hope?) The USDA inspector typed up the report noting “This method of euthanasia should not be used again”, and mentioned that the remaining dogs had so much shit piled up in their cages, it wasn’t falling through the mesh floor anymore. The report was filed and tra-la-la, business as usual. Until:
Mary Anne Kowalski, a board member of the Seneca County SPCA, said she was not aware of anyone from the USDA reporting what she believes is a clear case of animal cruelty to local authorities.
[…]
Kowalski, who discovered the report of the gassing on the USDA website while updating her files [on September 13], said she was stunned at what she read. “I just lost it,” she said.
Kowalski said she reported the incident to the sheriff and district attorney in the hope that cruelty charges will be brought against Yoder.
Mr. Yoder’s wife commented to an area newspaper:
Barbara Yoder said today that USDA inspectors had urged them earlier to euthanize their dogs because they had contracted brucellosis, a bacterial disease that can also be passed to humans.
She said the USDA inspector “scolded” them for not having put the dogs down sooner.
Cruelty charges for the Yoders? Perhaps (investigation pending). For the USDA inspector? *tumbleweed* *howling wolf*
The USDA issued a report critical of its own inspection program FOR THESE VERY REASONS in Mid-May.
Glad to see it’s been taken to heart by the field inspectors.
W~T~F!!!!!
The USDA agent who allowed the continuing neglect and abuse of these dogs should be held equally responsible. Maybe he and Mr. shit-pile can share a cell.
Any info on where people can write/call/email to demand cruelty charges by local authorities etc would be appreciated. I guess this is some little town etc. but still…
I think they are waiting to see if the feds will come up with anything. Personally, I don’t see why they couldn’t also do a local investigation and charges, assuming the investigation results warrant them. Seneca Co DA: http://www.co.seneca.ny.us/dpt-district-attorney.php
If the HSUS really cared about stopping ‘puppy mills’ they’d be ALL OVER this blatant lack of enforcement by the USDA inspectors. It’s pretty much endemic! Their silence about this issue speaks volumes.
Unfortunately HSUS has an agenda to get new, additional dog breeding laws passed on the state level. They don’t seem to be bothered by the facts that we already have federal laws on the books and they are not being enforced. Doesn’t make sense to me.
I’m sure it helps them to preserve a constant source of abused puppy-mill dog pictures (and bust stories) for their fundraising ads, too.
Yeah… call me cynical. I believe the people on the ground DO truly care, but it’s obvious the leadership has ‘more important’ goals going on.
“This method of euthanasia should not be used again”
Thanks for the words of wisdom, Einstein.
Something tells me that the Yoders have been sniffing fumes for many years….either that or someone took a sh*t in their gene pool generations ago.
The USDA’s long history of negligence in enforcing Animal Welfare Act regulations will not change overnight. This case is an outrageous example of USDA/APHIS’ failure to pursue egregious and repeat violators. One animal welfare group that has been pushing this issue for over a decade is the 6000 member Companion Animal Protection Society (caps-web.org). For as long as I have been a member, they have been lobbying for increased oversight, more inspectors, better training, more effective documentation of violations and greater transparency.
For more than eight years, CAPS has been meeting with USDA officials and congressional aides in an effort to get oversight hearings and changes to the AWA. The two year Inspector General’s investigation that resulted in May’s scathing 69 page report, was initiated after CAPS’ President and pro bono attorneys had a lengthy meeting with two OIG directors. USDA officials promised to make sweeping changes, “moving more swiftly to take enforcement action” and “making information about these actions available to the public” through the APHIS website.
They must be called to account for failure to follow through on these commitments. The inspector should be fired, the Yoders prosecuted and the USDA’s failures featured in media exposes, if necessary.
The HSUS is also taking swift action against puppy mill abuses. On Wednesday, Wayne Pacelle is holding a fundraiser at New York’s Pierre Hotel, organized by some of New York’s wealthiest socialites. There’s a Forbes, a Ralph Lauren offspring, Mayor Bloomberg’s younger, dimmer daughter, a Kenneday (Kick Kennedy) and two Hearsts. According to the Post (New York’s fun newspaper), one of the young Hearst ladies participated in a puppy mill raid in Mississippi. They should drop the charges based on that alone.