{"id":8183,"date":"2024-11-05T03:01:59","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T03:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caps-web.org\/?p=8183"},"modified":"2024-12-10T18:42:55","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T18:42:55","slug":"caps-investigators-journal-the-truth-behind-amish-puppy-mills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caps-web.org\/caps-investigators-journal-the-truth-behind-amish-puppy-mills\/","title":{"rendered":"CAPS Investigator’s Journal: The Truth Behind Amish Puppy Mills"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re like me, knee-deep in the fight against puppy mills, you\u2019re not surprised to hear that the Amish are prevalent dog breeders who supply pet shops. However, you may not understand why. Maybe when you hear \u201cAmish\u201d you think of Dwight Schrute\u2019s cousin, Mose, from The Office. Or maybe you sometimes see them with a horse and buggy on a back road. They\u2019re around more than you think. Amish communities are in over half of US states, even upstate New York. You just may not see them all that much because they keep to themselves. After all, their whole thing is not conforming to the outside world. Or at least, it\u2019s supposed to be.<\/p>\n

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Amish horse and buggy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Their \u201cnon-conformist\u201d approach becomes muddled considering the Amish tend to be prolific puppy millers. Their kennels may be hidden behind fences and trees, or in plain view from the road. As CAPS\u2019 lead investigator, I\u2019ve been to hundreds of Amish mills over the years. I\u2019ve learned about their culture and watched as they\u2019ve become ever more ingrained in the pet trade. It\u2019s given me insight into how an isolated people has become intertwined with us all.<\/p>\n

Who are the Amish?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Before we get into the pet trade, let\u2019s clear up some misconceptions about the Amish. Yes, they are a religion, and are a denomination of Christianity. No, there\u2019s no such thing as an Amish church, because they worship inside their homes. Yes, they do pay taxes, they just don\u2019t pay federal taxes for welfare-based programs because they don\u2019t benefit from them. And no, they don\u2019t have moustaches, because in 17th<\/sup>-century Europe, soldiers typically had moustaches. The Amish are pacifists, and when an Amish man marries, he begins to grow his beard but keeps his upper lip shaved to show a defiance against military service and commitment to non-violence.<\/p>\n

They decided to not be \u201cworldly\u201d by not conforming to the outside world and by staying away from the temptations that technology provides. With social media being what it is, it seems like they are on to something. They speak their own language commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch, but also speak English. They marry only within their own communities, and anyone who leaves is excommunicated and cut off even from close family. If you\u2019re not one of them, you\u2019re \u201cEnglish.\u201d That\u2019s what they call you.<\/p>\n

The benefits of the Amish were best explained to me by an Amish puppy miller. He pointed out that while the \u201cEnglish\u201d have insurance for things like homes, the Amish don\u2019t, because they don\u2019t need it. He said that if his house burned down today, Amish people would come from several communities over to donate supplies and build his family a new home for free. Within a week, he\u2019d be moved in as if nothing had happened. I have to say that I respect that. In my \u201cEnglish\u201d community, I can\u2019t get a neighbor to pick up my trash can if it falls over.<\/p>\n

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Amish barn raising<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why do Amish run puppy mills?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

But what\u2019s with all the puppy mills? When I go through records of breeders supplying pet stores, I often see names like Yoder, Stoltzfus, Zimmerman, and Graber. These are typical Amish names, and Amish breeders have become so common that many pet shop employees will tell you upfront, \u201cWe get most of our puppies from the Amish.\u201d How did this come to be? How did the non-conformists, who refuse to grow moustaches, drive a car, or own a TV, end up with USDA licenses for breeding and AKC registrations for their dogs? And if they don\u2019t use technology, why do Amish breeders have cell phones? I\u2019ve learned over the years that while the Amish are so different from the rest of us in many ways, they are just as greedy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve investigated Amish breeders for CAPS since 2003. Back then, I primarily focused on breeders in Pennsylvania and Ohio. But I\u2019ve since investigated Amish mills in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. I\u2019ve seen more bad Amish mills than non-Amish, but that\u2019s only because I\u2019ve probably seen more Amish mills than non-Amish mills, especially in recent years. I\u2019ve had them take me on tours through their kennels and invite me into their homes. I\u2019ve had candid conversations with them about their culture and breeding businesses.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come to know a people for whom hard work is not just an ethic or a means to a paycheck but a lifestyle. It\u2019s a reward unto itself. They believe that working with the earth means being godly. Growing vegetables and raising livestock to them is noble. I suppose any non-Amish farmer would agree with them. And just like many non-Amish farmers, the Amish realized that instead of having twenty hogs in a barn, they could have a hundred dogs, and puppies will bring a higher price than feeder pigs.<\/p>\n

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Amish farmer using a horse-led tractor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because so many people want to buy puppies online and from pet shops, the Amish realized they could fill the demand. In that way, they found themselves engaged with the outside world they had previously avoided. They began using cell phones under the excuse that it was just for work. While they still don\u2019t use the internet, they\u2019ll let someone else post their puppies for sale online. They won\u2019t buy vans and ship puppies to stores, but they\u2019ll pay someone else to do this. \u201cWorking with the earth\u201d turned into peddling puppies. They became worldly, whether they admit it or not.<\/p>\n

USDA’s Five-Year Plan increased number of Amish breeders<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part of USDA’s Five-Year Plan for 2015-2020 included a program for encouraging Amish and Mennonite breeder to obtain a federal license. There were a number of unlicensed Amish who were breeding dogs and selling puppies through brokers to pet shops. The USDA’s program was a success. The states with the most USDA-licensed dog breeding and brokering facilities are now Missouri, Ohio and Indiana, the latter two replacing Iowa and Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Amish breeders sell to brokers (Amish and Non-Amish)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Amish breeders use a variety of USDA-licensed brokers. Many have relied on Blue Ribbon Puppies<\/strong> <\/a>out of Odon, IN. It was founded by Levi Graber, an Amish man.\u00a0 CAPS originally investigated some of Graber’s breeders for a two-part story with NBC in Indianapolis.<\/strong><\/a> You may recognize Blue Ribbon as the broker linked to a multi-state Campylobacter<\/strong> <\/a>outbreak from infected puppies. I\u2019ve investigated many of Blue Ribbon\u2019s Amish breeders, where I found dogs in rows of wire cages, each having only enough room to take a step or two in one direction before having to turn around again. For example, in 2018, in Loogootee, IN, I documented the kennel of Justin Knepp<\/strong><\/a>, where I saw Beagles and Weimaraners walking on cage wire, with enough space to step through doggie-doors to the outdoor portions of their cages, circle around, and then go back.<\/p>\n