Amish Owner Planned to Breed His Injured Dog, Then Put Her Down. A Shelter Got Her First
A really sad, and maddening, story was reported last week out of upstate New York. Some of this is hard to read. Via WWNY:
POTSDAM, New York (WWNY) – Warning: the photos and description of the dog’s injury may be upsetting
The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a suspected case of animal cruelty after a severely injured dog was brought to the Potsdam Humane Society.
According to Victoria Murray, the shelter manager, the year-old Australian shepherd collie mix named Rosie was seriously wounded when her leg got stuck in a saw mill belt sometime in April.
Murray said the owner failed to get the dog the necessary veterinary care for more than 2 months.
It took outside effort, and ultimately, the threat of jail time and fines to get the owner to give up control of the dog:
She said at least two people reported Rosie’s condition to the animal control officer, who visited the owner’s town of Hopkinton home twice to investigate.
Murray said the Amish owner refused to let the officer see the dog.
According to Murray, it was only after the officer informed the owner that an animal cruelty conviction could result in a year in jail and a $1,000 fine that the owner turned over the dog.
The owner reportedly had plans to breed the dog, and then to put her down.
Rosie’s Recovery
Rosie the dog’s leg had to be amputated, and she is now recovering at the Potsdam Humane Society’s shelter. A Facebook campaign managed to raise $4,000 to pay for her operation and recovery.
The shelter provided an update last week (June 23), sharing photos and a video, and writing that:
Little Miss Rosie was so excited to see us this morning. She was full of tail wags and kisses. Now we are resting after filling our belly! Thank you Silver Birch Veterinary Urgent Care for taking such good care of our patient!
For Rosie the dog this is good news, especially given where she was. Great job by the humane society and the vet. Hopefully someone out there is going to see her story and decide to give her a home (more on that below).
Amish or Non-Amish, Some People Just Shouldn’t Be In This Business
If you’ve paid attention over the years, you’ll know this isn’t the first Amish dog breeder that has made the news for poor treatment of their canines.
There are bad breeders everywhere, but Amish breeders have gotten a lot of attention. I believe this is due to several factors. Those include:
- The sheer prevalence of dog breeding among Amish as an attractive, profitable “sideline” business
- An agriculture-centered mentality, in some, of seeing any animals which generate an income as “livestock”
- Some truly bad cases that have generated news coverage, and finally
- The fact that the Amish are an easily-identifiable group
But – that’s not to say that all Amish breeders treat their dogs poorly. There are some very good ones who raise dogs not as farm animals, but as social creatures destined to become loved pets.
And as time has gone on, I have hoped the bad ones would either change their ways, or be discouraged from the business.
Dog breeding is profitable, however, and Amish households are set up well in some sense to enter the business, with their spacious properties, horse barns and other structures, and a farming and horse culture meaning they regularly deal with animals.
Whoever Rosie’s owner is, this is a guy who simply shouldn’t be in the dog breeding business. I hope he has quit the business, or will do so soon. The animal cruelty investigation was still ongoing at the time of the WWNY report.
As for Rosie, she’s recovering, and I expect she’ll end up in a loving home soon enough. The report closes with this:
Murray says Rosie will likely be ready for adoption in a couple of months, and there are already a dozen people who’ve submitted applications to take her home.
“She’s very sweet,” Murray said. “She just wants love.”
Three-legged dogs can still thrive
It is a shame HOW this dog became three-legged. I can’t imagine the pain she must have been in.
In our travels we have come across a number of three-legged dogs, some from congenital defects, some from injury, some from disease requiring amputation. They really were doing well. They seem to adjust very well to the missing limb. Let’s hope this happens for Rosie, who appears to be a very sweet dog that just needs a loving owner.
Grrrr….
This is an issue that I really dislike among the Amish. I wish there was a way for local communities to monitor Amish animal care, especially with their horses and dogs.
Really Only Monitor The Amish?
I think that’s very disgusting and irresponsible too, Shame on Him! However before we “blame the Amish” again, how about the 100+ dogs found dead in a California No Kill Rescue recently! I know a few bad Amish breeders I wouldn’t deal with, I know a few bad “English” breeders I wouldn’t deal with, and I personally know a lot of good Amish Breeders that are going above and beyond in their breeding program (including holding monthly meetings to hold each other accountable and to help each other better themselves) and same with the “English”. Same as everything else, good and bad of all kinds. Unfortunately, there were a lot of bad cases in the early 2000’s and I sure am glad they got addressed but unfortunately some of those same pictures are being used today to make cases sound worse than they actually are and there’s proof for that! And unfortunately, as with every other thing, some breeders or people didn’t learn from it and will have to learn the hard way.
Good breeders?
I’ve seen this before, more times than I can count. It’s a cultural phenomenon. Nobody I know does it right. Someday I’d like to meet a dog breeder that cares for his animals in a humane way. Even the licensed facilities I’ve seen are awful. The dogs don’t belong in a crate all day. It breaks your heart.
It’s a bigger industry than you think. With many puppies coming in from all over the world. Anyone care to guess how many puppies are sold in the USA every year?
Think about it, and then you can wonder why there are not more breeders! It’s a really big number. That is why we need more uniform laws and better enforcement.
Amish Dog Breeders
I have gotten 2 beagle puppies from the Amish that I grew up around in Maryland. They were loving owners and the puppies were great. They passed a physical that they had right after I got them. The Amish are no different then anybody else. There are bad breeders everywhere, not just the Amish. Cut them some slack!
Sweet little Rosie
What a heartbreaking story! I’m hoping that Rosie finds a wonderful home where her pet parents will take good care of her. As for the owner, well let’s just say if he ever had an injury, I hope his caregiver will wait 2 months to have him see a doctor and let him see what an amputation feels like.
Typical Amish Mindset
For Amish everything has to earn it’s keep. The Amish lack compassion and refuse to put money into anything. Planning to breed a crippled broken leg dog and deny even minimal vet care is genuinely criminal. Judging by the dogs coat quality and overall poor body score she has not been fed properly from the start. If he had immediately humanely euthanized the injured dog I would have more respect for the Amish. But to allow prolonged suffering with plan to exploit the dog indefinately is monster level cruelty.
Hold themselves accountable
I think the only way you will stop horrible breeders like this, is for them to be held accountable within their own community. Their church, community and bishop should force them to either quit breeding dogs inhumanely or face consequences.