He’s finally behind bars! Yes…Derbe Eckhart was sentenced to six months to nearly two years in prison for animal cruelty. Is it enough jail time?
To answer that question, let’s look at the entire picture of Derbe Eckhart. He has been in the commercial kennel (puppymill) business for the last 22 years. He has been convicted of animal cruelty and has spend a small amount of time in jail for it in the past.
As I stated he had been operating his former business, Almost Heaven Kennel, which I always referred to Almost Hell Kennel near Emmaus for a long time with many people knowing the deplorable conditions these dogs were forced to live. Unfortunately, Eckhart was able to stay in business even though the conditions were known by the proper authorities. Why ..is beyond my comprehension.
But it finally came to an end when a nearly astounding 800 animals were removed from his property in 2008 and his kennel inevitably shut down.
I had been to numerous hearings for Eckhart where he was no-show many times. Eckhart knew how to work the system. Finally, Eckhart had to face a trial.
He was found guilty of animal cruelty and has now been sentenced.
Before Eckhart was sentenced yesterday, he stated the following:
“I have learned my lesson. My business is gone. My way of life is gone. I know I let my love of animals get out of control and I took on too many animals. I’m a broken man.”
May I add that he pleaded with the judge through tears not to be sent to jail. In addition to jail time, Eckhart received 3 years probation and is not allowed to have any more animals than the ones he still has for nearly five years. Ok..I’m shocked that he would ever be allowed to have any animals.
Eckhart must also attend mental health treatment. A psychologist appointed by the court said Eckhart was “trying to save the world” by taking in all of these animals in which he was trying to fill voids in his life.
Sounds like a case of hoarding to me except he made a HUGE profit off of these innocent animals.
I agree that Eckhart must have some sort of mental health issue if he truly thinks he was “saving the world”. But, this was clearly a shrewd man. I think he is sorry……sorry that his life has been turned upside down. He told the court that he will probably not get back into the commercial kennel business in another state. He can no longer hold a kennel license in the state of PA.
So is this a fair sentence- six months to nearly two years? For me, it is not enough time for all of the crimes he committed against poor, defenseless animals. However, it is a start that animal cruelty is finally being taken seriously in our state. I don’t think anyone has received this long of a jail term for this type of crime.
Hopefully this will send out a message to all commercial kennel owners, many of them known as puppymills in the state of PA. If you fail, you go to jail.
Do you think the sentence was fair?