Dog Breeders Claim They Were Maligned

PHILADELPHIA (CN) - Six dog breeders say the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals "maligned" them by accusing them of running "puppy mills," and they say the agency did it to boost its fund raising. The dog breeders call the defendants PSPCA and Main Line Rescue "multimillion dollar animal activist groups" which "knowingly sought to file baseless misdemeanor and summary animal cruelty charges" against them.

"Despite being informed by attorneys with the office of the District Attorney for Lancaster County that their proposed charges lacked any probable cause, PSPCA and MLR filed charges against the plaintiffs and trumpeted their actions in the media in hopes that their activity would cause people to donate to their cause and to malign individual commercial breeders engaging in the sale of dogs to the public," according to the complaint.

The breeders seek nominal, compensatory and punitive damages for privacy invasion, conspiracy, malicious prosecution and other charges.

Plaintiffs Nathan Myer, Stevie Stoltzfus, Ella Mae Zimmerman, James Zimmerman, Loren Nolt and John Fisher are represented by Leonard G. Brown III with Clymer, Musser, Brown & Conrad.

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