Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
FINALLY!-ALMOST HEAVEN IS NO MORE!
Just got the call .....Skip Eckhart's appeal was denied for the last time this morning and at 12:00 this afternoon HSUS was there with the Bureau Of Dog Law Enforcement, Emmaus law enforcement, volunteers, trucks, triage tents and a court order to seize dogs........ As I type, they are in the process of seizing 250 dogs .....Almost Heaven is out of business for good in PA!....The dogs are being treated in an emergency shelter located at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg and will be with various rescue organizations in the area to be placed for adoption. Some will be available for adoption within the next week.........Please keep in mind that whille yes justice is finally served, this does not prevent Eckhart from relocating to another state,applying for a USDA licence and starting all over again.....Check out the news tonight and tomorrow morning for details.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bev and WILLY on
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Thank goodness!
But, I just went online and they still have a web page and are offering puppies for sale! I can't imagine why they are allowed to stay in business. They also have birds and cats for sale!!!
http://www.almostheavenkennel.com/
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Permalink Reply by Jacquie Yorke (DRC) on
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link to new video
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=6880466
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Permalink Reply by Tricia, Shiloh, Fenway & Tessie on
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Hi Jacquie! I just watched that video, so so so sad! I can't believe that they found dead dogs in his freezer last time and still left these dogs there, not feeling to good about the law enforcement officers!
Fenway is awesome! Any word on if I will be able to get in touch with the families that have his brothers?
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Permalink Reply by Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles on
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In fact, law enforcement officers gave him clean inspections for years, up to a few months before the initial raid. This is just one of the MANY examples of why ALL puppy mill breeders need to be exposed by regular folks. Those who are taxpayer paid can also be bribed. Laws need to change.
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Permalink Reply by HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08 on
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Today's News from The Morning Call:
Derbe ''Skip'' Eckhart's troubled and defiant run as a kennel operator ended abruptly Tuesday when state investigators raided his Upper Milford Township property, seized 211 ''scared, dirty and matted'' dogs and put him out of business.
The authorities, who have targeted Eckhart and his Almost Heaven Kennel for months amid mounting complaints of neglect and mistreatment, swarmed the property at 4202 Chestnut St. around noon. They said they found underweight and unhealthy dogs, some with skin and eye infections, living in filthy conditions and breathing in an overwhelming ammonia odor created by a buildup of urine.
All but 25 of the animals -- Eckhart is allowed to keep that many -- were taken away in an air-conditioned trailer and other vehicles to a shelter in Harrisburg. They'll be examined, fed and treated before being released to shelters and rescue groups across the state that will make them available for adoption.
''It's about time,'' Nancy Heiser, 76, who has owned the property across from the kennel for 23 years. At times, she said, she and her eight tenants have lived with ''terrible, terrible'' odors and the sound of barking dogs. ''I never thought it would end,'' she said. ''It's sad.''
Related links
250 dogs removed from the Almost Heaven kennel Video
State authorities remove almost 300 dogs from Almost Heaven Kennel Photos
Oct. 2, 2008: 56 sick animals seized from 'horrible' pen The state Department of Agriculture, which runs the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, has been gearing up for months to shut down the business. Investigators could swoop in Tuesday because Eckhart had exhausted appeals of his 2009 kennel license denial.
Eckhart's attorney, Kevin Fitzgerald of Olyphant, Lackawanna County, previously said he would appeal his client's case to Commonwealth Court. It was unclear why that appeal wasn't filed within a required 30 days after Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff upheld the denial.
Fitzgerald did not return phone messages seeking comment. Eckhart wasn't on the site when four state police cruisers, state agriculture department officials and 10 members of the Humane Society of the United States Puppy Mill Task Force converged on the property. But he later showed up to hear the news that the animals were being taken.
He did not return a phone message.
Jordan Crump, a spokeswoman for the humane society, based in Gaithersburg, Md., said the animals were kept primarily in a pair of barn-like buildings 50 feet by 20 feet. Most of the dogs had access to the outdoors.
She and other humane society workers said the conditions weren't unlike those at six other kennels the group has raided across the country over the past six months, netting about 1,300 animals.
Chris Ryder, a state agriculture department spokesman, said the conditions were ''what you would expect for a large, not properly [operated] kennel. The animals were scared, dirty and matted.
''It's a kennel that has had its troubles,'' Ryder said. ''We're glad that this will put an end to it.''
He said Pennsylvania's dog law, revised last year, allowed the state to shut down the kennel sooner than it could have in years past. ''The process may have played out for months or years'' under the previous law, he said.
Ryder said the state will continue to monitor activities at the property and ''we will be back'' if there is evidence that Eckhart is operating illegally.
Eckhart may have 25 dogs without a kennel license under state rules, but only a half-dozen under township regulations.
''We intend to act on that as soon as we're told the situation is clear,'' said Harry Kleiner, Upper Milford's code enforcement officer and assistant zoning officer. ''Obviously, we can't act on anything until we .. .make sure everything is legal.''
Eckhart's downfall began in May 2008 when the Pennsylvania SPCA filed a complaint about unsanitary conditions and ailing animals at the kennel. His troubles intensified last October when an inspection showed ''significant'' state dog law violations, according to the state.
Because of those violations, Eckhart was denied an operating license in January. Wolff later upheld the denial.
Under the terms of a license refusal order, Eckhart could keep the dogs he had at the time of the refusal, but he couldn't bring new animals to the kennel.
Since that order, violations have continued to pile up, according to the state. Just last week, a state dog warden charged Eckhart with breeding a boxer at the kennel in violation of a cease-and-desist order. The dog, named Marci, had four puppies on May 13, according to a complaint filed at District Court in Emmaus.
Last month, Eckhart was charged with bringing 30 dogs from New York to the kennel. Inspectors also found a number of records violations and an unacceptable amount of feces in a dog pen during an April 23 inspection.
A court hearing in both cases is scheduled for July 17.
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Thank you for the update Denise...
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How are they going to monitor him when he went to N.Y. and got 30 dogs and brought them back here. He has to have dogs spread all over, that most do not know of in other states...so it won't be long and he will be back in business...
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Those 30 dogs came from Syracuse.....They are Skip's dogs.....Bred by him and transported to the kennel of a former Almost Heaven employee for "safekeeping"...(what a joke).....This is what this man does ....There are probably several hundred more dogs of his that are being kept at other facilities across PA, NY, NJ and other states.....
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Now that Skip is officially "done" in PA I can post freely...This is what I posted on Bill White's blog...Feel free to post in the discussion...He will have a live discussion on the subject Thurday at 12:00 PM that you can all participate in...
http://blogs.mcall.com/bill_white/2009/06/heavenly.html
Bill, as you know we have been actively involved in the case against Eckhart and I myself have a Labradoodle rescued from Almost Heaven 2 years ago as do several of our volunteers, we have been feeding the bits of information that we do get through our network of associates to the HSUS and PSPCA.
We have learned recently that Eckhart is planning to relocate to another state and set up shop again and that is why he neglected to follow through on his appeal. Over the last few months he has been removing dogs to other locations and has several hundred additional dogs scattered throughout PA, NJ and NY. These kennels and "breeding facilities" are owned and operated by his "friends" and "associates", one being in Syracuse NY owned and operated by a former employee of Almost Heaven.
So you see, this will be an ongoing battle...This man will never stop breeding dogs..He will just keep moving from state to state and will fall under the jurisdiction of those states...There is no Federal law to prohibit him from doing so....
I would also like everyone to be aware that it is alleged that Skip Eckhart is in collusion with several county animal shelters across PA...He voluntarily surrenders to them whenever he is about to be raided..(Someone at the PA Dept of Agriculture or PA Dog Law Enforcement was informing him of pending raids days before)....Those county shelters in turn charge rediculous adoption fees for Eckharts surrendered Labradoodles and Goldendoodles..Some fees are as high as $400...unheard of at a county facility!...It is alleged that part of those fees were being filtered back to Eckhart.....This has been going on for years..."
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