Today in District Justice Donna’s Butler’s courtroom located in Emmaus, Derbe “Skip”Eckhart who finally showed up with a lawyer, waived his hearing. He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing at the end of September.
Eckhart, pictured below, leaving today’s hearing, was met by protesters. I am one of the many who needs to see this man go down for the horrific acts of animal cruelty he inflicted on his puppymill dogs at his Almost Heaven (Hell) Kennel.
However, my trip to the District Justice’s office was delayed and I arrived after everyone had left. Channel 69 was still on the scene upon my arrival. I spoke with a woman inside the District Justice office who told me there were quite a few people who showed up today but wasn’t aware if they were protesters.
According to Ginger Kessler, the woman who bought a puppy from Eckhart five years ago and was interviewed in the Ch. 69 News video, she told me Eckhart’s only ally in the courtroom was his partner, Bryan Smith. When I attended a hearing at the Lehigh Valley courthouse earlier this year, the room was filled with quite a few supporters. Has the tide changed for Eckhart? One sure can dream, can’t they?
I met Ginger at one of Eckhart’s other hearings and she told me she will see this entire process with him through to the end. And she informed me she told Eckhart the same thing. Eckhart just doesn’t seem to care about that. The man is so arrogant and brazen, he believes he is above the law. But then again, I guess I would too if I was allowed to continue to operate a puppymill even though I was convicted of animal cruelty.
I, too, will see this process to the end. Let justice prevail, once and for all in this case!