Ohio dog breeder sought in PA cruelty case, vet steps up to help animals
Police in Jefferson County have issued an arrest warrant for an Ohio woman charged with animal cruelty for abandoning 14 Pomeranians and three other small dogs in the woods in May.
Ohio dog breeder sought in PA cruelty case, vet steps up to help animals
Amy Worden, Inquirer Staff Writer
UPDATE - The Animal Hospital of Punxsutawney is still taking contributions to help defray the cost ofcaring for these sick dogs. Any additional money will go into a fund to help pay for the care of other needy animals. Veterinarian Emily Rapp said the funds will benefit stray animals and owners who cannot afford expensive surgery or complex treatments for their pets. Contributions may be sent to:
Animal Hospital of Punxsutawney
2421 Walston Rd.
Police in Jefferson County have issued an arrest warrant for an Ohio woman charged with animal cruelty for abandoning 14 Pomeranians and three other small dogs in the woods in May.
Tiffany Eggleston, 37, of Columbus, Ohio, is wanted for dumping the dogs - all suffering from dental disease, eye infections and fecal encrusted fur - in the predator-filled forest after she was reportedly evicted from her trailer near Punxsutawney.
"She is on the run, we cannot locate her," said State Police Trooper Michael Britton of Eggleston, who once showed and bred AKC-registered Pomeranians.
These tiny dogs wandered around in the predator-filled woods until some Good Samaritan neighbors rounded them up and began taking them to a local veterinarian. One dog, a blind Pomeranian, was roaming the woods for three days.
Where did they take the little survivors? Not to an animal shelter. There isn't one anywhere in the county whose most famous resident is an animal. That would be the world's best known groundhog, Phil. who lives in luxury in the Punxsutawney library. The Good Samaritans took the dogs to a Super Samaritan, local veterinarian Emily Rapp.
"They just kept coming," said Rapp, I couldn't turn them away." She tried to call the county dog warden, Jamie Carlson, for help but he didn't answer his phone on Friday afternoon and Rapp said he told her he didn't work weekends.
Their teeth were so rotten many had to be pulled. She found heart conditions and eye infections that will leave permanent scars.
She said she had never seen anything of this magnitude.
And Rapp and her staff performed vet care for the dogs but then they became the de facto shelter and began the process of finding these very badly dogs new, loving homes.
And they did find homes.
The bill? Rapp has no idea. Thousands in spay/neuter surgeries alone, she said. Donations came in and volunteers helped.
But why in 2012 is a veterinarian playing animal rescue and shelter for an entire county? In fact, Rapp said there is no animal control facility in any of the surrounding counties. The Pennsylvania SPCA closed its Clarion County shelter in 2008.
Why do state troopers have to investigate animal cruelty? Because there are no humane officers in Jefferson County.
This sad incident underscores three critical statewide issues that cry out for statewide solutions:
the lack of shelters that will take in stray dogs
the shortage of humane police officers
the ban on overtime for dog wardens
(Didn't the chihuahua rescue last month in the northeast that occurred late on a Friday night demonstrate that animal welfare is not a 9-5 enterprise?)
"There is no protocol," said Rapp. "And there is a huge void."
One of the reasons that there is no money to pay for animal control in Clarion county and many other counties in PA is because there is no money from licensing breeders. Ms. Worden and her ilk, aka "animal rights fanatics"; have driven more than 300 dog breeders out of business in the state of PA, thus killing a stream of revenue from taxes and licensing that could be used to hire animal control officers for the state. The animal rights agenda is to END all animal use including owning pets, eating meat, etc. They accomplish this by what is known as incrementalism - pass a small law that makes changes and drives away a few people, then go back and claim that law isn't enough and pass another law and a few more people quit raising animals, then go back and pass another. Problem is when you drive people out of raising animals instead of EDUCATING them about better ways to raise animals then there is less money for programs to "protect" animals. It is time for the shareholders, ie - professionals with training and education in animal husbandry, who will be regulated by the regulations to be those who step up and address what regulations will be, NOT animal rights groupies who may have owned a pet or two. This was a situation that could have been prevented but breeders now are afraid to admit they have run into financial difficulties since they will be labeled as the dreaded "puppymill" by the fanatics instead of helped. This breeder had no place to turn for help. Maybe we need to start extending a hand instead of pointing a finger. And the lawmakers need to listen to the REAL experts instead of those who THINK they know best.— etbmfa- I am pretty sure that the breeder that left these poor dogs in the woods to feed the wildlife was not crying out for help due to a lack of knowledge of animal husbandry. She dumped dogs in the woods to die a slow and horrible death because she didn't feel like paying for euthanasia. I am unsure of what sort of education you feel she would have been receptive to. If she was told that she needed fewer breeding animals because she wasn't taking care of what she had I doubt she would have been receptive to that. You have to have alot of dogs to make alot of puppies to make alot of money. I think that the REAL experts you are referring to are people like the vet in this article who faced the decision of whether to euthanize these animals (inexpensive solution) or forego compensation for treatment of these animals and save them at her own expense (VERY expensive solution). And now she is being asked by you to "teach" bad breders how to be responsible. You should not have to teach people what suffering looks like or what responsibilty is. Bravo Dr Rapp for getting involved at great personal expense! Boo-Hiss to all of those "breeders" out there who feel sympathy for the horrible person who left these little animals that provided her with an income to starve and be eaten in the woods.— DrReneeG
- Maybe animal control and shelters should be funded from the state so there is at least one for every three counties. Unfortunately there needs to be "some" oversight of all breeders. Thank you Dr Emily Rapp for being the guardian angel of these abused dogs! Humanity all too often expresses itself in less than ideal ways and I love it when people do what is right. Amy, can you do a follow up story and give the address of where donations can be sent? Thanks a million!— starlight
- etbmfa seems to be of the opinion the lack of breeders is the cause for less money. Not so much. The law changes and overwhelming cost to regulate them took a big hit on the Dog Law funds. The last Governor didn't do the animals any favors when he illegally took the $4 million out of the reserve fund. The State would have the money to help fund the shelters if the legislators would raise the individual and kennel license fees. If you look at many other States license fees they make Pennsylvania's fees laughable.— watchingover
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