Candlelight vigils to remember 80 dogs shot to death by two Amish farmers late last month were held both in Lancaster, Pa. and in Seneca Falls recently. At the Pennsylvania memorial, animal advocates left 80 chrysanthemums and 80 dog biscuits next to Elmer Zimmerman's tractor in memory of the 70 dogs he shot to death and the additional 10 dogs that his brother, Ammon Zimmerman, shot.

The two brothers were owners and operators of large scale breeding kennels (puppy mills).

Many newspapers and TV stations covered the killings including the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Reading Eagle and Lancaster Online. I received many e-mails recounting the killings.

“These were dogs with no names. These were dogs that none of us ever knew,” said Jenny Stephens of North Penn Puppy Mill Watch. “These were dogs who never knew the kindness a human hand can offer and these were dogs who died a violent and terror-filled death with no one to comfort them.”

After a July 24 inspection of his kennel, Elmer Zimmerman faced several citations for poor kennel sanitation and maintenance, and was ordered to seek veterinary care for 39 of his 85 dogs.

Jessie Smith, deputy secretary of the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, said Elmer Zimmerman told the inspecting dog warden that he planned to close his kennel, but he did not want to surrender his dogs to an animal rescue organization or shelter as the warden suggested.

The shootings shocked the world of animal advocates, as well as state officials endorsing House Bill 2525, which proposes sweeping changes to state laws governing breeder dogs who spend their lives in the state's hundreds of large-scale commercial breeding kennels.

“The decision by commercial breeders to kill healthy dogs instead of paying to repair a kennel and seek veterinary care is alarming and will likely outrage many people,” state Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff said in a statement released after the killings. “Until our state's outdated dog law is changed, kennel owners may continue to kill their dogs for any reason they see fit, even if it is simply to save money.”

“It absolutely sucked the wind out of me when I heard,” said Libby Williams of New Jersey Consumers Against Pet Shop Abuse. “Is there no end to the depravity of these people? I do think it was spite. But they did the state a favor. People are now learning the truth about the ‘gentle' Plain people. And this has been in every newspaper across the country.”

“It's not uncommon for puppy millers to shoot or drown their dogs instead of spending money on medical care,” said Howard Nelson, CEO of the PSPCA.

Author, psychologist and animal welfare advocate, Jana Kohl, whose family founded Kohl#'s department stores, has vowed to wage war on Pennsylvania's Amish tourism industry by exposing inhumane treatment of breeder dogs by the Amish and Mennonite communities. “Two thousand of the country's 10,000 commercial breeding kennels are owned by Amish and Mennonites,” Kohl said earlier this month.

“One of the ways to impact (this industry) is to shame and embarrass them by putting up billboards and ads in as many places as possible. ”A lot of people with a lot of money and resources are prepared to venture into a campaign like this,“ she said.

”It's going to be a bigger and more embarrassing campaign than people expect, and it's going to shock.“

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell spokeswoman Teresa Candori, said #“The governor is very, very upset by this.

“He is a dog lover, and he's outraged by this news. He believes this is evidence that House Bill 2525 is desperately needed.”

Central New York is also home to many puppy mills owned by Mennonite and Amish farmers.

Judy Vorreuter is the founder and director of Animal Advocates of the Finger Lakes. Contact her at judy@cayugaanimaladvocates.org