JUST DOIN’ HER JOB! This week we received three (3) citations amounting to over $900 in fines from Dog Warden Kristen Penn stemming from the December 10, 2014 inspection. The citations are for “unlawfully’ accepting three separate litters of puppies which were under eight (8) weeks of age, allegedly in violation of code §459-603(b). Although we initially passed the inspection, after consulting with Director Donmoyer, Warden Penn sent an email later in the week notifying us that she was failing the inspection because the word “orphaned” was not used in the veterinarian’s terminology notated on the health certificate. Therefore, they did not consider these puppies orphaned. According to the Department of Agriculture we should have refused these motherless puppies and sent them back to where they came from because the word “orphaned” was not used. Here’s the law: §459-603 Selling, bartering or trading dogs (b) Illegal to transfer ownership of certain puppies.--It shall be unlawful to barter, trade, raffle, sell, auction or in any way transfer ow nership of a dog under eight weeks of age, unless the dog has been orphaned and it becomes necessary to transfer ownership of the orphaned dog to a nonprofit kennel, or from a nonprofit kennel with approval by a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine. Here are the facts: One of the litters of puppies came to us with their mother. The mother and her puppies were all listed on the health certificate. Oops, guess this was just another error on the part of Penn and Donmoyer who are not held accountable for any of their errors, although, ironically are attempting to revoke our license due to “paperwork errors”. The other two litters of puppies both had written approval by a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine, documented on the health certificates, which is what the law requires. One of these litters was pulled from a high-kill shelter where they were turned in without a mother. The other litter was left on a porch in a box on one of the coldest nights in November, with no mother. We complied with the law as it is written. Nowhere in the law does it state that the word “orphaned” has to be included on the health certificate. The law only states that the puppies have to be orphans. By definition an orphan is any puppy which is too young to take care of itself without a mother. In both of these cases, the puppies had no mothers to take care of them and without help would have died. In the last year leading up to this inspection, we have been inspected numerous times. Many of these inspections involved the acceptance of puppies under the age of eight (8) weeks, without mothers. All of these puppies were accompanied with documented approval by a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine. None of the documentation which we received specifically stated the word “orphaned” and yet we passed these inspections without incident. Now suddenly, it is an issue? This latest failed inspection and frivolous citations are yet another example of the ongoing attack against Molly’s Place by Warden Kristen Penn and Director Kristen Donmoyer. During these inspections, which we now refer to as “raids”, when a legitimate reason to fail us cannot be found, one is merely invented by twisting their interpretation of the law to suit their purpose. Of course, Kristen Penn is “just doin’ her job”. Needless to say, we are pleading not guilty and fighting these citations. This results in squandering more tax payer dollars, tying up the court system, wasting everyone’s time and energy, and our valuable financial resources that would be much better spent on saving homeless pets. What does it take for someone to start looking into and investigating the Department of Agriculture’s actions? Exactly what has to happen to make it any clearer that these corrupt agents of the state are abusing their position and authority in their endless endeavor to shut down a non-profit pet rescue that has saved thousands of animals? (Citations and health certificates are available for review upon request.)
Posted on: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 19:43:52 +0000
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