Shown is Turkey Hill Kennel in East Earl, which state officials say could lose its license unless the owner fixes deficiencies noted in recent inspections.
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By GIL SMART, Associate Editor
State officials could close one of the biggest commercial dog kennels in Lancaster County by mid-July if the owner fails to correct violations, including an odor problem that earlier this year was so bad that inspectors had to wear ventilators.State officials say the owner of Turkey Hill Kennel, Marlin Zimmerman, of East Earl, has made “tremendous efforts” in the past weeks to solve problems identified during inspections Jan. 28 and March 10. But a follow-up visit by officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Dog Law Enforcement Bureau on June 17 — apparently triggered by a rising tide of indignation among animal activists — resulted in another failed inspection.If Zimmerman does not make “additional ventilation improvements and flooring modification,” the state could revoke his license, said Nichole Bucher, acting press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.A message left with a woman who answered the phone at Zimmerman’s residence Thursday was not returned.Turkey Hill Kennel’s license permits it to sell 501 or more dogs per year. According to court records, Zimmerman has been cited by the state nine times since Nov. 9 for violations. In November, the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement filed four citations against Zimmerman, with Magisterial District Judge Rodney Hartman, of New Holland, charging Zimmerman with four counts of failure to have a dog or cat vaccinated for rabies. He was found guilty on one charge — paying fines and court costs of $92 — and not guilty on the other three.Following the Jan. 28 inspection, state dog law officials charged Zimmerman with three counts of failing to keep his kennel in a sanitary and humane condition; Hartman dismissed all three.Then, following the March 10 inspection, dog law officials filed against Zimmerman two more charges of failure to keep a kennel in a sanitary and humane condition. He pleaded guilty to both, paying a total of $492 in fines and court costs.Zimmerman’s kennel has angered animal activists, who have taken to the Internet to publicize the conditions documented in state inspection reports and to demand that the facility be shuttered.There’s even a blog devoted to the kennel and its violations, turkeyhillkennel.blogspot.com. Other activists have circulated emails and accounts of the inspections, particularly the one conducted Jan. 28, to elected officials and media throughout the state and country.According to state kennel inspection reports, that inspection turned up a number of violations, including dirty food and water dishes, accumulated cobwebs and rodent droppings, rusted fencing and dogs with “dental disease [and] eye and ear infections.”But it was the smell noted by inspectors that sent many activists reeling.In the Jan. 28 inspection report, inspectors noted that there was “a strong presence of ammonia emanating from the adult dog building … where the dogs were being housed.” The odor “was so strong making it hard to breathe and causing our eyes to burn that wardens walked out and retrieved respirator masks from our vehicles so we could proceed with the inspection.”The odor was still strong enough during the March 10 follow-up inspection that inspectors once again wore respirators, according to the report.By June 17, the kennel “still had air flow problems,” Michael Pechart, executive secretary to Agriculture Secretary George Greig, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Nonetheless, Pechart said, Zimmerman “has made tremendous efforts in the past month.”Pechart, Dog Law Enforcement Director Lynn Diehl and the agency’s chief counsel, John Howard, accompanied inspectors in the June 17 review — prompted, the Inquirer reported, by the growing outcry over the kennel.After the June 17 visit, five dogs were ordered to undergo veterinary evaluations, and Zimmerman was told to replace screen flooring he’d placed over plastic-coated wire flooring he was using in dog enclosures. While the screen prevented dogs’ paws from passing through the wire — a violation for which he’d been cited earlier this year — the screen did not permit waste to pass through.Bucher, the Agriculture Department spokeswoman, said that Zimmerman “is being cooperative and has made great strides in moving his operation toward compliance.”Inspectors have not yet scheduled a follow-up inspection, but “we expect that to occur in the next three weeks,” Bucher said.Jenny Stephens, who runs North Penn Puppy Mill Watch, shakes her head at the way she said state officials have given Zimmerman chance after chance to correct conditions she calls “shocking.””I think [state inspectors] will go out again and will say, ‘It’s fine.’ But will it be fine?” she asked.”We’re waiting and watching, but we’re not expecting much,” she said.One missive being circulated via email to legislators, TV stations, state officials, humane groups and even “Dateline NBC,” and posted on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, asks: “What the hell is going on at Turkey Hill Kennel? … Despite the fact that humans cannot breathe the air inside the kennel, there are still 300+ dogs inside [with much smaller lungs] that are expected to somehow inhale it, without respirators.”Let’s let everyone know what is going on at Turkey Hill,” the plea continues. “If there is still no response after basically every state official has been notified, then it [suffices] to say that something here is definitely amiss and that our representatives are not working for us, but for the puppy mill lobbyists.”According to published reports, Zimmerman’s kennel sells about 600 dogs a year, many to pet stores. During the March 10 inspection, 344 dogs were on the property.New regulations under the state dog law are due to go into effect July 1, including a requirement that all kennels have approved temperature and ventilation control systems in place. But some kennels — including Zimmerman’s — have received waivers, meaning they don’t have to comply by that date.Zimmerman’s waiver gives him until October 2012 to comply with the new rules.
Gil Smart is associate editor of the Sunday News. Email him at gsmart@lnpnews.com, or phone 291-8817.Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/411790_Local-kennel-has-animal-activists-howling.html#ixzz1QVDGUaTh