Posted: August 10, 2009, 5 a.m. EDT
Pennsylvania dog wardens recently removed more than a dozen dogs from what officials say was an illegal kennel operation in Tioga.
According to the state department of agriculture, Bear Creek Kennel owner Scott Fay had his kennel license revoked nearly two years ago after he failed to maintain sanitary and humane conditions. On July 10, state dog wardens discovered 33 dogs at the property, which constitutes a kennel under Pennsylvania law according to state spokesman Chris Ryder.
Fay was served with a cease and desist order that included instructions prohibiting him from euthanizing any dogs. Ryder said such instructions are a precautionary measure designed to prevent dog owners from resorting to killing the animals rather than having them seized by the state.
Dog wardens returned to the property on July 23 and removed 18 dogs. Ryder said Fay and his two associates were each left with five dogs as per a consent agreement they had signed in 2008 when Fay was again facing illegal kennel charges. Otherwise, they each would have been able to keep up to 25 dogs without a kennel license, he said.
The state agriculture department’s Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement filed 57 summary citations on Aug. 6 against Fay, including operating without a license; failure to keep the kennel in good repair; failure to obtain veterinary checks when ordered by wardens; failure to license individual dogs and failure to vaccinate dogs against rabies.
Each summary citation carries a minimum fine of $100 and a maximum fine of $500.
“Mr. Fay has scoffed at the law for years, placed his dogs in unacceptable situations and sought to profit from his illegal actions,” Jessie Smith, the state’s special deputy secretary for dog law enforcement, said in a statement. “We have no tolerance for illegal, unlicensed kennels and will continue working to close these kennels and protect the dogs involved.”
Most of the removed dogs were taken to Stone Creek Kennel in Hesston, Pa. Other dogs were placed with the Ruth Steinert Memorial SPCA in Schuylkill County, the Humane League of Lancaster County and Main Line Animal Recue in Chester County.
Fay could not be immediately reached.