Please Help Shut Down PA Dog Breeder!
Update November 21, 2007: The West Hempstead Township Zoning Board has continued High's hearing again. It appears he has withdrawn his request for a special exception to operate his stud service
with up to 25 dogs at his residence and may be challenging the earlier citations as described in the report below. Stay tuned to Animal Law Coalition and North Penn Puppy Mill Watch, http://www.nppmwatch.com/HighActionAlert.html for more details.
Update: The West Hempstead Township Zoning Board has granted High a continuance until November 20, 2007 for the hearing on his request for a special exception to operate his "stud service" with up to 25 dogs at his residence.
At the hearing on October 9, United Against Puppy Mills ("UAPM") attempted to offer its opposition to the special exception. The opposition was prepared with the help of North Penn Puppy Mill Watch and Animal Law Coalition. See the attachments to this article for copies of Animal Law Coalition's analysis and the UAPM report.
The Zoning Board, however, refused to allow UAPM or the Humane League of Lancaster County to speak, despite an ordinance that requires the input of humane groups and despite that the Humane League has spent substantial sums caring for dogs seized when High's puppy mill was shut down earlier this year.
For more information and how you can help stop this "stud service", go to http://www.nppmwatch.com/HighActionAlert.html and take action now! Attend the hearing or write or call the Zoning Board and ask them to deny the application of Elvin High for a special exception. Or, insist that the Zoning Board require High to comply with the requirements for a special exception under Sec. 1005.3 and urge the Board to impose conditions for operation of this business like unannounced inspections and better living conditions and veterinary care for the dogs. Use Animal Law Coalition's attached analysis for talking points!
Original report: Elvin High operated his puppy mill at his residence in West Hempstead Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for the past 20 years without complying with the zoning requirements for West Hempstead Township. Yet, he represented to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement that he had met all local zoning requirements for the operation of his puppy mill.
It wouldn't be so bad if that was the worst thing High did.
During routine inspections of this mill on April 3 and April 24, 2007, however, the Bureau found multiple violations of law. The animals in his care were found in terrible conditions in dilapidated, too small kennels, laying in their own feces and urine and in desperate need of medical care. High also conceded he had performed illegal surgeries on the animals, cropping the dogs' ears. During the inspection by the state authorities, High actually hid dogs from them in a tractor-trailer. North Penn Puppy Mill Watch, which has been following this story, reports, "'One dog, a Neapolitan Mastiff, had to be euthanized after he was seen paddling his front legs and moving his eyes in a circular motion thereby indicating a brain injury; the dog was emaciated and dehydrated and vets estimate that he had been in this condition for weeks.'"
The authorities revoked High's state kennel license and levied fines that exceeded $1600 but could hardly be called substantial. To review the state inspection reports, click here. http://www.nppmwatch.com/High/HighInspectionReports.pdf
High faces charges in Lancaster County Court for performing the illegal surgeries and animal abuse thanks to a complaint filed on behalf of the Lancaster Humane League.
To read more of North Penn Puppy Mill Watch's report, click here. http://www.nppmwatch.com/HighActionAlert.html
But despite such awful cruelty to animals and his disingenuous if not dishonest misconduct, High may well be allowed to operate a "stud service", breeding up to 25 male dogs. In the wake of the revocation of his state kennel license, West Hempstead Township seems poised to give High a special exception to operate what is essentially a dog breeding business, even as he faces criminal charges for animal abuse.
Did I mention he was convicted of animal abuse in 2002? That wasn't enough for the state to revoke his kennel license then, and apparently that with the findings by the state inspectors this year, the revocation of his kennel license and pending criminal charges, is still not enough to bother West Hempstead zoning officials. Never mind that his neighbors probably don't appreciate the noise, noxious odors, lack of sanitation, and possible danger to the water supply, area food crops and the health of humans and other animals from dog waste that is not disposed of properly. The town officials don't seem to want to check into any problems this business has created or might in the future. They seem content to allow what has been an illegal, poorly run, unsanitary business that has left animals suffering terribly.
North Penn Puppy Mill Watch and United Against Puppy Mills have joined to oppose High's application for a special exception. Animal Law Coalition has provided them with information to oppose the application and if the special exception is granted, conditions the town should demand for operation of this puppy mill business. You will find Animal Law Coalition's analysis attached.
The hearing is scheduled before the Zoning Board on Tuesday, October 9, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. EST at the West Hempfield Township Municipal Building, 3401 Marietta Avenue, Lancaster, PA 17601.
Go to http://www.nppmwatch.com/HighActionAlert.html and take action now! Attend the hearing or write or call the Zoning Board and ask them to deny the application of Elvin High for a special exception. Or, insist that the Zoning Board require High to comply with the requirements for a special exception under Sec. 1005.3 and urge the Board to impose conditions for operation of this business like unannounced inspections and better living conditions and veterinary care for the dogs. Use Animal Law Coalition's attached analysis for talking points!
ELVIN HIGH
THIS MAN JUST DOES NOT GIVE UP...STUD SERVICE...WHO IS HE KIDDING? He is still breeding dogs and he is hiding them very well. I hope that everyone who reads this will do everything that we can to put this man behind bars. He needs to be locked up because he will not stop. He is all about the money and what is really sad is that his wife is a very sweet woman. Why she tolerates this cruel heartless behavior is beyond me. There are so many people who know him and knows what he has done since he moved to West Hempfield. And why would the twp allow him to have Gaboon Viper snakes in his pet store? The latest news is that the man he allowed to live in the kennel is being blamed for everything. Wouldnt you just figure????? I am telling you that this man isnt going to go away quietly. He will do everything he can to keep the money coming in no matter how he gets it he will keep on trying. He is a despicable excuse for a human being.
ELVIN HIGH
JUST A NOTE...IT IS WEST "HEMPFIELD" TWP...NOT HEMPSTEAD! This horrible excuse of a man lives directly across the road from my parents home. I have turned him in so many times and the dog law enforcement officer and the West Hempfield cops warned him ahead of time and he cleaned up. I know so many people who have been in his facility which is A HUGE METAL BUILDING that was supposedly built for his excavating equipment. For years my parents could not sit on their front porch for the stench eminated across the road from his kennels. My mother would cry at night hearing the animals screaming in pain...the sounds coming across the road into her bedroom window. There is a man living in the metal building. NO human should be living in such conditions either but then Elvin doesn't care about anything but his ALMIGHT DOLLAR! He should be locked up and let feces and urine run over him and let him lay in that filth with sores all over his body and see how he likes it. There is also a groomer who used to work for the pet emergency and she used to crop the tails of some of his dogs...she could not enter the building the stench was so strong. She also has taken dogs home and tried to heal them back to health for Elvin. She should be one of the witnesses at this hearing. There are so many things that I could write about but that is enough for now. Pray that this poor excuse of a human being gets what he deserves. Also there is a woman who lives on Horizon Drive, Mt ville that has Neo Mastiff puppies that are skinny and sickly and said that they are Elvins dogs. He has people taking dogs for him to sell. He will never get out of the dog business unless he is locked up in jail. Even that is too good for him. I do not know the address of this woman but I do know her name is ROXANNE. I will get her address. I know someone who went there to see the puppies and she told this person that these are Elvin's dogs and that she had 3 and he has 3 puppies in his possession. This was a few months ago. It is such a sad situation but hopefully with everyone pulling together we can put this man behind bars where he belongs.
Thanks....Beth K.