Meet Merlin Schmucker, 26,of Clyde and Jonathan Eicher, 19, of Lyons, Wayne County, NY. These two Amish “men” have been charged with animal cruelty after admitting to killing 9 puppies and their mother when Schmucker couldn’t sell pups.
In mid January, the remains of some of the pups were found along a highway in a ditch by road workers.
Saying that killing dogs under such circumstances is accepted among the Amish, Eicher admitted to shooting the dog and pups with a .22 rifle after Schumacker asked him to when he couldn’t sell the Australian red heeler puppies.
Both have been charged with animal cruelty and will be back in court later this month.
Sadly, what Eicher admitted to, that killing dogs that they can’t sell or use for breeding or for any reason, is perfectly acceptable, is not something new. In puppy mill country in Pennsylvania it was very common and not against the law until the law changed not all that long ago. One of the final pushes was when two brothers killed 80 dogs rather than care for them and clean up after them after they’d received poor inspection reports. That’s just one of the many instances and obviously even now the horrific custom continues…
Scum of the earth but yet they think they are holy …. yeah right … greed just plan greed…. as my door is always open for those that need help …
I agree wholeheartedly, Katrina. In the early ’90′s an Amish fiend went on a barn burning spree in Bucks County, PA. In all over 180 innocent, HELPLESS animals, including horses, cows, pigs, sheep and goats were burned to death. One fireman at the scene who tried desperately to reach some of the trapped animals, broke down saying it was just so hard to watch these animals in agony and not be able to save them. He got 10 years in prison. His name (which I’ll NEVER forget) was Darvin Peachy. The article was included in an issue of People magazine. Polly Klass was on the cover. The Amis have no regard for animals. They consider them nothing but tools and “cash crops.” They run their buggy horses into the ground and then take them to New Holland to extract the last few dollars from them as they are sent to slaughter. Nice, God-loving people, huh?
Both of you are so right. These people are a joke. Supposed to be God fearing, but how they treat animals is abominable.
I am a huge believer in payback.Please supply these psycho religious nautters contact details.An eye for an eye.Amish psychos are the filthest scumbags of the planet.
Funny, I think I read the same bible they do, and mine says nothing about committing atrocities to animals, it says we are the guardians of them.
If in fact God;s eye is on the sparrow, then these s sub humans will live to pay the price. The amish are terrible people when it comes to animals as they do not care how they suffer or die. They are a cash crop, nothing more. I have nothing but contemp for them.
I know the way forward for these 2 and all Amish people if they have no respect for animals but it is so bad it will never be printed or permitted here. Just know that you are the lowest forms on this earth. As for your god – well why the hell didn’t he stop you if he is so powerful,
merciful, kind etc. etc. etc. etc. but then again – look how much he has done with the rest of the suffering around the world.
The Amish hide behind there religion they are heartless morbid animal abusers they should be sent to prison and let them live in cages like they do to all the poor dogs in there puppy mills
Couldn’t they then have GIVEN them away?!
You people have no idea who the amish are they are good people but let me say this they are just like everyone else some are good and some are bad and asfor God he is good all the way around and on top of everything else its ok to kill unborn babies but so you are saying animals have more rights then people you all need to repent .
your logic is faulty and your premise false. the mother dog that was killed could have been spayed while she was pregnant without legal ramifications. it is permissible by law to terminate an animal’s pregnancy- just as it is legal to terminate a human’s pregnancy. murdering already born humans and animals is a crime. the difference– killing animals has considerably fewer consequences and in some cases, if performed by an authorized agent, is allowed and sometimes government sanctioned. now– please tell me how animals have more rights then people.
They are hypocritical POS!
If a man can treat animals like this, think how he treats people.
I also believe there is good and bad among everyone, but to kill innocents just because can’t “sell” them is very wrong and they should pay for what they did to those innocent babies and their mother. YES, ANYONE THAT CAN HARM AN ANIMAL CAN AND WILL DO THE SAME TO A HUMAN. Dog is GOD spelled backwards, so to me kill a dog and your killing God, kill what he put on this earth for us to care for and love is spiritually wrong in my book and no i am not religious but i do believe in God.
These laws have got to change to protect the animals.
using electricity is wrong but shooting animals because you can’t sell them is ok. makes perfect sense.
I don’t believe all Amish would condone this. That is stigmatizing them. There is bad in every culture. I definitely don’t condone what they have done but they do need to be punished separately from their culture. Throw the book at them!!!
Believe it. The Amish are behind many of the puppy mills in OH, PA, etc. They collectively treat animals TERRIBLY and see them as only good for working to death, for entertainment, and for making money. And those are fairly universal Amish beliefs. Statistically *all* Amish may not condone this, but rest assured that the *majority* of them have no problem with it. Google “amish puppy mill” and see how very little they care about being stigmatized over this issue.
Hey Snow man, ‘unborn’ says it all. These puppies and these mother dogs were ALIVE and had already been born. Bringing the abortion argument into this is just plain disingenuous. It adds NOTHING to the discussion and it doesn’t relate to the animal cruelty issue in any way. Oh, and may I say as someone who has had to face the abortion issue head-on, as a ‘man’, you have NO idea what the abortion debate is all about.
It is not the religion…it is the 2 people…..these 2 are BAD..they need to be treated like criminals and pay for their crime like anyone else
And so maybe it was cruel, maybe these men should have been taught differently, etc. But to label them the Scum of the earth, when you yourself are filled with contempt, hatred, bitterness and vengeance?? These cruel additudes that Kill , Steal and destroy relationships etc , are the wreckage of our race. These dark manifestations reveal a coldness of heart that probably is a greater problem to society than a thoughtless man Putting a dog to sleep that he cant afford to feed .
These people have puppy mills all over the place, and the amish do think of the pets as they our nothing but work things they don’t think they have a soul. I feel every animal that can breath and as a heart, and can have babies they feel about there puppies and cats and all wild life and exspecially the horses they have feeling too.
God give these animals for us to take care of , Not use them only for profit and gain, These amish people use these animals to make money, and they put it under there mattress and they get rich off of them, The dogs get puppy all the time, they don’t get out to run and play all they do is keep breeding them, Dogs have rights too. dogs love people and they look for people to take care of them and give them a good home, and they need fed and watered reach and every day, they need play time and showed love and They are there for you, they love you and they will protect you and they are there when your not feeling well, Dogs are companions to people, and ITs time they have better lifes and taken care of the way they should be,and stay out of amish barns who sell them for greed, Any animal need a proper place to live and to keep warm and have proper living places and keep them clean,
There is no other way. If you can’t take care of your animals and love them like they should be them stop raising them to sell, and If you can;t afford them . Take them to were there going to be protected and fine good homes for them., There are people who care about animals, and in Gods name we must come together to protect these animals that are being killed because they can’t get sold,
I feel the amish people need to put there dogs where they are loved and protected, They are not just breeding animals for your gain, God put these animals on our planet to take care of them like we would take care of our families, and All people are made equal and men are not more them your wifes, When you take a women to be your wife you become one person.
And being cruel against anything or anyone is a crime, and I feel when you hurt something thats living and alive your a sinner against God. and the Law. And should need to pay the crime for doing these horriable killings to these poor defendless animals who could of been put where people would of love them and took care of them,
People should stop these places where they sell and breed for profit. and check every barn in the amish farms, They coulld of give them away to people who would love these precious puppies and even the mother dog who could of got fixed so she couldn’t breed anymore and been a house pet with people who show love, and know these animals are so loving and need good homes,
Please stop these animal mills for good, Before more people kill they dogs when they can’t feed them, Or Can;t sell them, Or have to many they can’t take care of.
They should of give them away. By putting a sign up and said for free puppies when they were old enough to take from the mother,
This was a slaughter not no mercy for these poor innocense mother Dog and her puppies.
This was a crime done and should get punish for this, They took lives of these innocense animals who were killed because they were born and they didn’t want them, Plus the mother who had them, This is so Terriable,
Animals have exactly the same rights as “humans”. For anyone who thinks otherwise….may you rot in hell.
For all the people who are saying that Amish are nothing but bad people. You should do some research and get to know some. In every culture there are good and bad people just because these two couldn’t make the right decision in everyone else’s eyes doesn’t mean that there whole society is bad. They messed up. And Amish as a whole shouldn’t be based for it. There have been plenty of people from all around the world and right were you call home that have made mistakes and done things they shouldn’t. For instance my cousin a couple months ago for some reason went to go rob a store of some sort and the owner shot him in his chest. Then some how and for some reason the owner shot him in the back of the head. Does my cousin doing that make me a bad person? I think not!!! So why do the same to the Amish.
@Friendly Reminder…..while I give you the benefit of the doubt–there are good and bad people everywhere, how do you mitigate the Amish belief that animals have no souls and that most of the puppy mills proliferating in Pennsylvania and Ohio are owned by Amish? They treat these poor dogs like cash crops. They breed the females until they are so depleted of nutrients that the dogs literally begin to break down. Then….they sell them at the big Ohio animal auction. Good people? You’re going to have to show me examples of compassionate, merciful Amish to animals.
a life is a life and in this case ten lives, apparently…how can anyone look at a puppy and shoot it??? something so small and vulnerable? we’ve got battle hardened soldiers on the front in Afghanistan desparate and determined to save the pups they encounter and bring them home (check out Puppy Rescue Mission) What-these guys never heard of an animal shelter??? their only choice was to KILL them? this is Amish culture? “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” …the Great Humanitarian Mohandus Ghandi
We need to encourage everyone we know NOT TO BUY puppies from the amish!! We are saying it’s ok to have the puppy mills!! I would NEVER buy from an amish.. As a matter of fact I would never buy a dog/cat. I believe in rescue!!! from shelters!!!
This is so heartbreaking.
I live in Ohio, tons of Amish. True there are good and bad everywhere. However the Amish are hugh in Animal abuse. They run tons of puply mills, responsible for the hugh dog auctions. The ones that arent sold are killed or left behind in crates to starve. Rescuers I know have been able to retrieve some of these left behind. So those of you saying what great people the Amish are need to resdarch and see that they regularly profit from animal explotation and dispose of surplus. They dont treat each other very well either.
Saying that the Amish culture encourages evil deeds is not the same thing as saying that all or most Amish people are evil. Like it or not we are all defined to some extent by our cultures. There are good and bad people in every group, but some groups make it a lot easier to do bad things.
This sort of thing needs to be brought out into the open for many to see, just as it is happening here. Widespread negative publicity, economic boycotting and stricter laws can do a lot to change a situation like this one.