UPDATE! The list of contacts below in this alert are being barraged by emails and phone calls.
The Tuscarawas Prosecutor’s Office has responded, stating that these complaints fall under the jurisdiction of:
Ohio Department of Agriculture
Dr. Tony Forshey (State Veterinarian)
Phone: 614-728-6220
tforshey@agri.ohio.gov
After speaking with this agency, we also suggest:
Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board
8995 East Main Street
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
livestockstandardsboard@agri.ohio.gov
James Zehringer (Chairman of the Board)
administration@agri.ohio.gov
So, please continue with these two.
Here’s the response from Tuscarawas County Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Styer.
Join Animals' Angels to put a stop to atrocities against horses and other animals auction at Sugarcreek in Ohio.
You have read reports here on Tuesday’s Horse about Sugarcreek Auction and the atrocious acts of cruelty committed against horses. Horses, of course, are not the only ones who suffer at the hands of Sugarcreek Auction, owned and operated by Leroy Baker.
Animals’ Angels state:
- After four years of solid work at the Sugarcreek Auction, Animals’ Angels current investigations show that the conditions remain unacceptable:
- Typically upon arrival, investigators find emaciated, injured, lame, sick, infected, blind, heavily pregnant and dead horses; horses subjected to extremely rough handling, hitting horses with full force across the face; extreme overcrowding, and horses being trampled to death – due to ignorant and cruel handling. Virtually without exception auction veterinarians refuse care.
Animals’ Angels ask you to help bring Baker to justice and put an end to his shameful enterprise.
- Animals’ Angels is currently filing new complaints at state and federal levels. To be as effective as possible, Animals’ Angels is asking you to help push these efforts to the next level. We have damning evidence against Baker and you can make Baker’s cruel history roar and resonate more in the ears of authorities.
Will you help us raise our voices to say no human being can continue to accept this cruelty and ignorance?
Thank you for making a difference and for being there for these animals!
Please contact:
Sugarcreek Mayor
Jeremiah Johnson
Phone: 330-852-2271
Jeremiah.Johnson@VillageofSugarcreek.com
Tuscarawas County Visitors Bureau
124 East high Avenue
New Philadelphia, OH 44663
Phone: 330-602-2420
Fax: 330-602-2433
info@ohiotimelessadventures.com
County Commissions of Tuscarawas
Chris Abbuhl, Kerry Metzger, Jim Sheldenright
125 East High Avenue
New Philadelphia, OH 44663
Phone: 330-365-3240
Fax: 330-602-7483
commissioners@co.tuscarawas.oh.us
Sugarcreek Police
Chief Kazzar
202 Fairview Rd
Sugarcreek, OH 44681
KKSugarpd@neohio.twcbc.com
Tuscarawas County Humane Society
6895 Dover-Zoar Rd
Dover, OH 44622
330-343-6060
contact@tuschumanesociety.org
Tuscarawas Chamber of Commerce
1323 4th Street NW
New Philadelphia, OH 44663
Don Hoffman (Iterim President/CEO)
donh@tuschamber.com
Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board
8995 East Main Street
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
livestockstandardsboard@agri.ohio.gov
James Zehringer (Chairman of the Board)
administration@agri.ohio.gov
Ohio Department of Agriculture
Dr. Tony Forshey (State Veterinarian)
Phone: 614-728-6220
tforshey@agri.ohio.gov
State Representatives
Ohio Senate
State Senator Joe Schiavoni, D. (33rd District)
Senate Building, 1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus,OH 43215
Phone: 614-466-8285
SD33@maild.sen.state.oh.us
State Senator Jason Wilson, D. (30th District)
Senate Building, 1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus,OH 43215
Phone: 614-466-6508
SD30@maild.sen.state.oh.us
Ohio House
State Rep. Al Landis, R. (96th District)
77 S High Street, 11th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: 614-719-6996
district96@ohr.state.oh.us
Contact the above individually OR compose a message suitable for all of these individuals and send it out in a single email.
Copy and paste the following into a new email message:
To: Jeremiah.Johnson@VillageofSugarcreek.com
cc: info@ohiotimelessadventures.com, info@ohiotimelessadventures.com, commissioners@co.tuscarawas.oh.us, KKSugarpd@neohio.twcbc.com, contact@tuschumanesociety.org, donh@tuschamber.com, administration@agri.ohio.gov, tforshey@agri.ohio.gov, SD33@maild.sen.state.oh.us, district96@ohr.state.oh.us
Baker owes back fines of $162,800.00 to the USDA for abuse violations, and those are the fines we know about.
EVIDENCE
– Animals’ Angels Video
http://www.animalsangels.org/media-center/video.html
Warning! Graphic!
– Animals’ Angels Leroy Baker and Sugarcreek Auction Violation Compilation Reports Obtained through FOIA
http://www.animalsangels.org/the-issues/horse-slaughter/foia-requests.html
Got to remember these are Amish and they do stick together!
From what I can gather from the Sugarcreek community website, they are dependent on the Amish for part of their economy, so small wonder they look the other way no matter what they do to their animals. Of course they are not the only ones, but a big contributor it seems.
I have been to several Amish farms in PA over the years. I do Saddlebred rescue and have received a few Saddlebreds from one particular farmer we work with before the Saddlebreds go to auction.
I have seen firsthand how they treat and take care of their animals. They do their own shoeing which is horrible and do not give any kind of shots to their horses.
I have since instructed this one Amish farmer that he has to give some protection to the horse or it will come back on him if the horse becomes sick after it is placed.
The Amish are big into Saddlebreds, Standardedbreds and now Morgans.
They do not look at their animals the way we do. They are a commodity, nothing more.
One only has to take a look at the puppy mills run by the Amish.
Everyone I have talked to about this is shocked that Anything like this could happen in Amish country. It is way past time for the lightof day to shine on this religious community and its dealings with their animals.
Their livelihoods depend on the willingness of these horses to serve them. They are much stronger and could bolt… or revolt… at any time.
Vivian: The Amish do depend on their animals as they have refused to embrace the modern technology. This is what perplexes me – how can they live with themselves as loving members of a spiritual community? What do the tenets of their rules say about compassion? These people have lived respected and looked up to just because of their commitment tob their beliefs – BUT what are those beliefs? How are the Amish organized? Is it a church or a group of churches. I really don’t know but need to find out because as has been revealed by first hand accounts – this is a group of sick mofos. Sorry – tired and disgusted. These people need some intervention! I saw a video of an Amish boy working at an auction and he was kicking a baby calf (soldd as veal, so it had been kept in a box) and could not stand, was hobbling down an aisle and this boy kicked this baby to make it crawl. I cannot go there but my voice can. Now I am learning this was not an exceptional event. Thank youall for sharing your stories. I feel the outrage. We’ve got to keep the pressure on SugarCreek – shining the light on all the dirty deeds and those who do them!
As I believe I said in an earlier post – being religious seems to have nothing to do with animal respect when it comes to the Amish. Their image of love, kindness, God-loving and heartfelt forgiveness falls short of animal empathy and compassion. Most importantly it goes against their fundamental beliefs in the true sense of the word.
“It is in the battery shed that we find the parallel with Auschwitz….To shut your mind, heart and imagination from the sufferings of others is to begin slowly, but inexorably, to die. Those who close their minds and hearts to the cause of animal welfare, and the evils it seeks to combat, are ignoring the Fundamental spiritual teachings of Christ himself”
–John Baker, Bishop of Salisbury
Jane – very powerful. And so we have it.
Not sure if everyone knows that you are not allowed to photograph any of them.
When I went to the farm to photograph any of the horses I had to be sure I did not include any of the family.
The girls only wear dresses and do all of the gardening with hand tools. The boys wear their shirt and pants with suspenders and straw hat and do more of the heavier farm chores. They have two sets of clothing, one set for church on Sunday.
The Amish use an overcheck when they drive and some cruel bits. Some of our rescues have had their teeth missing and at one time a broken jaw. I surmise this would happen when they slip and fall on the hard road.
No electricity, no phone although they now usually have a public phone they can go to if needed. If any of their children die they are washed by the Mother and buried within a day or two. No public records are rquired by the town.
Hard to grasp that this still continues in the U.S. today.
Part of their lifestyle appears to be no respect for animals, something to be used and thrown away. From what I understand from someone who has worked with several Churches (what they call their groups) across the country, there are leaders who do not approve of animal abuse and do not tolerate it. The leaders do not interfere with what other leaders do with their Churches. So you must appeal to the leaders of individual groups, or Churches. That is not easy of course. They do not take kindly to outside interference as I am sure you know. Are they above the law? Do they ever get arrested? It appears so. I googled “amish arrested” and they have their problems just like the rest of society: drinking, drugs, running a stop sign, sex crimes. So why are they not prosecuted for animal abuse in Sugarcreek? Is it because of the Amish, Leroy Baker, or because they don’t care about animals?
The Answer is all three mentioned ………………………No one or One Group should be above the Law in animal abuse, these people are abusers, they work for Leroy Baker who is a monster among men , I have no respect for this Beast, and what has done to Horses since 1985…. Leroy Baker will stop at nothing, and he enjoys his cruelty to Horses, The only way to get him is in his pocket and make him pay for those monstrous cruelties he has inflected on those Magnificent Horses, he owes $164,00.00 the case is in the OHIO Justice ADM>>>> I just traced to here…..the authorities in Sugarcreek all believe they are above the Law, In Sugarcreek there is something going on with all the Officials there…………………..I have talked to them all there…..They refuse to make this Monster Stop …………………………………
I applaud Animals’ Angels for the great documentation they have done. But Sugercreek Auction has apparently not even paid the $162,000 fine and keep getting buy with abusing and killing horses. I have written all of the offices listed above, and only one answered back, saying the Ohio Department of Agriculture can act. They apparently are useless, as is the USDA when it comes to animal welfare.
I just hope more and more people turn up the heat on the abusers until they are forced to stop, hopefully after really having to pay big fines and, we may wish, do jail time.