BOYCOTT Lancaster County Products

Round of applause for Whole Foods, who is refusing to buy products sourced from puppy-mill convicted farms.

Lancaster County, PA is the "Puppy Mill Capital of the East". It is also, coincidentally, where I was born and raised. Unlike many who discuss this topic from a philosophical viewpoint, I've spent many years in close contact with the Amish & Mennonite religious extremism.

While most people want to view the Amish lifestyle as quaint, idyllic, enviable, the reality of Amish & Mennonite values may not be something most people share.

Most Mennonite & Amish view all animals as for their use. Care provided for the animals is only enough to keep the animal's welfare from interfering with its function. Animal functions are breeding, draft, milk, egg, or meat production.

It is not uncommon to see open sores from pressure placed on a draft animal by ill-fitting harnesses, or overwork. These sores are often covered with flies.

Horses pull buggies in traffic, on regular roads, in ALL weather: rain, snow, sleet, extreme heat, etc. While many stores frequented by Amish provide a place to tie the horses, and a few even provide horses shelter, absolutely NO WATER is offered.

Amish & Mennonite are words that some people associate with "hard-working". This is not untrue. However, many people are shocked that this work is not demonstrated in care of animals or property. Most Amish & Mennonite farms have a distinctive unkemptness. Their livestock are frequently extremely dirty, diseased, and of poor conformation.

Amish & Mennonite ideas of breeding livestock reflect their own tradition of in-breeding, a practice which has been responsible for serious health problems. The study of genetic problems often includes Amish communities for this reason. If you are capable of breeding, you should. Doesn't matter if you are risking your cousin-children's health.

The Amish, particularly, value forgiveness. In application, this means that you can do whatever you want. Drug and alcohol problems are serious, especially among the youth.

Puppies are rarely, if ever, seen on an Amish farm. If you pass on foot, you will occasionally hear barking from a barn with no windows. "De-barking" is critical to prevent discovery. While many people think of "de-barking" as a surgical operation, Amish "debarking" is ramming a rod down the throat of the dog to destroy the vocal chords. No painkillers are administered.

Breeding dogs, sick dogs, and otherwise unsaleable dogs, along with all urine & feces are permitted by law as acceptable fertilizer for farm fields. Horse manure is dropped wherever a horse happens to be when it drops. This includes roadways, and even hospital parking lots!

I don't have a problem with the Amish & Mennonite beliefs. Freedom means that you can believe whatever you want. I don't have a philosophical problem with healthy horses and draft animals doing hours of work. I eat eggs, and I drink milk.

Freedom doesn't mean that you can DO whatever you want. I do have a serious problem with the practices that include the acceptability of failing to provide adequate animal welfare. The PA Dept of Agriculture has the ability to prosecute many of these practices, but until Lancaster County, PA stops being a desirable tourist destination, not much is going to change.