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YOU CAN HELP HOLD PUBLIC OFFICIAL ACCOUNTABLE WITH OHIO’S NEW POWERFUL PUBLIC RECORDS LAW.

Under the new Ohio Public Records law, anyone WITHOUT HAVING TO IDENTIFY HIM OR HERSELF can walk, write or call a public office and ask them to provide you with copies (with certain exceptions, e.g., medical data, police officer’s addresses) of any public record they are required to keep, or make on their own. YOU CAN NOT BE DENIED, and they cannot require you to identify yourself, sign any forms, or the like  A public record includes personnel files, discipline records, training records.  Any type of record (paper, notes, e-mails, you name it).  CLICK ON THE LINK AND SEE THE LAW FOR YOURSELF.  IT IS ONE OF THE MOST CITIZEN ENABLING LAWS IN THE COUNTRY.

Contact the county commissioners’ office (by mail, in person, by phone) and ask them to make copies of these records:

  1. Personnel records of the county dog warden
  2. Personnel records for each of the county commissioners
  3. Personnel records of dog warden deputies
  4. Copies of all inspections of dog kennels in Holmes County for the last three years.


They can charge a reasonable fee (usually 5 cents per page).  Tell them to have them when you want them, where to send them, or just stop in to pick them up.  If for any reason you are denied, stalled, intimidated call the state attorney general’s office and file a formal complaint.
 
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Puppy Mill Country

The purpose for this site is to heighten public awareness of the activities in Holmes County Ohio pertaining to the mis-treatment of dogs and companion animals and their sale thru "Dog Auctions". 

Claims have been made by the puppy mill profliferators that the puppy business is a 9 Million Dollar per year industry for Holmes County but yet when you look at the County statistics this isn't reflected in published reports.  Why?  Not only are these "Millers" mis-treating their animals; they are making a reported 9 Million Dollars per year at the dogs expense. 

 It's a booming business in Holmes County, Ohio and it's PUPPY MILL COUNTRY

Holmes Co. Info

"In Holmes County alone this industry brings in over 9 million dollars a year, not to mention the surrounding counties and the rest of the state" - Ervin L. Raber President, Ohio Professional Dog Breeders Assocation

Holmes County Fact Sheet  Read "Employment and Wages by Sector" Page 5

Who also supports this Industry? The County Commissioners

Joe Miller, Chairman

Ray Feikert, Vice-Chairman

David Hall, Holmes County Commissioner

Read their open-letter dated 10/9/2007

Latest Inspection Report

Read the latest inspection report on Ervin Raber

Show Me The Money!

Business of selling and/or breeding domestic dogs in the state of Ohio:
 
The Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) section 5701.03(A) defines “personal property” to include “every tangible thing that is the subject of ownership, wether animate or inanimate, including a business fixture, and that does not constitute real property***”.
R.C. section 5739.01(YY) defines “tangible personal property” for purposes of the Ohio sales tax, as, “personal property that can be seen, weighed, measured, felt, or touch, or that is otherwise perceptible to the senses.”  Under these definitions, dogs are tangible personal property in Ohio.
 
R.C. section 5739.01(B)(1) indicates that sales tax is to be applied to “All transactions by which title or possession, or both, of tangible personal property, is or is to be transferred, or a license to use or consume tangible personal property is or is to be granted.”  Sales of dogs are therefore; subject to Ohio sales tax unless the purchaser has some claim of exemption.
 
As a vendor of tangible personal property, you are required to register as a vendor, collect the proper amount of sales tax, maintain complete records of all transactions and timely file and pay tax returns. http://codes.ohio.gov/orc
 
 

Contact Us Via Mail

Advocates of Holmes County Exposed

PO 218154

Columbus, Ohio 43221

Interesting Info

Definition of "Kennel Owner"

According to the Ohio Revised Code, section 955.02, a kennel owner is a "person, partnership, firm, company, or corporation professionally engaged in the business of breeding dogs for hunting or for sale." When a person breeds dogs avowedly as a hobby, "but permits sales to become such a factor that he advertises for sale" the breeding activity and dogs, that person "is professionally engaged in the business of dog breeding" and should be registered as a kennel.

The term "kennel" means any pack or collection of dogs, over the age of three months, kept together for the purposes of hunting or for sale. Ohio Revised Code 955.04 

 

Auctions Exposed

 

 

Regulating Breeders

U. S  Department of Agriculture regulating “commercial dog breeders” under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA)
 are inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal Care program.
 
Those facilities that breed and sell their animals to pet stores, brokers, or research facilities are covered under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and are inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal Care program.  Because the focus of the AWA is on commercial dog breeders and wholesale dealers, the law specifically exempts most retail pet stores from Federal regulation.  This includes facilities that sell dogs directly to the public.
 
USDA inspects all regulated (licensed) dog breed facilities.    Breeders and dealers must employ either a full-time veterinarian or arrange for a veterinarian to visit their business regularly.  An outside veterinarian employed by the facility must establish a written program of veterinary care and submit it to APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) for review.
 
In order to engage in regulated activities, the animal breeder or dealer must first apply for an AWA license from APHIS.
 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_welfare/content/printable_version/faq_animal_dealers.pdf

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