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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Dog breeders sue animal protection groups

LANCASTER, Pa. (CN) — Six dog breeders say they were publicly vilified after the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Main Line Rescue Inc. filed baseless animal cruelty charges against them. All the cruelty charges involved "dental disease ... tartar and gingivitis, maladies affecting every member of the human population," the breeders say.
The district attorney's office told the PSPCA and Main Line that their charges lacked sufficient evidence but the PSPCA "filed summary criminal charges on its own," according to the complaint in Lancaster County Court.
The commercial dog breeders say the reasons the organizations and their officers filed charges "were to directly malign plaintiffs and raise money for MLR and PSPCA."
The defendants' charges centered on 12 dogs that allegedly were found to have worms and oral tartar after being purchased from the breeders at an Ohio auction.
The PSPCA eventually withdrew the charges, but not before issuing a press release that brought a storm of outrage directed at the breeders, according to the complaint.
The breeders seek punitive damages for conspiracy, malicious prosecution, and privacy invasion. They are represented by Leonard Brown III with Clymer, Musser, Brown & Conrad.

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