Barbara A. Littler's Page
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- About me:
- I am 54 and the operations manager of a trucking company. I am the mother of 3 grown children and the grandmother of 6 granddogs. My children have followed in my footsteps to rescue and spread the word.
I have been involved in rescue since I found my 1st schnauzer as a stray along a rural road at an illegal dump site. She changed my world in an instant.
I belong to a schnauzer rescue group and most of my fosters and transports have come from Amish Country in Ohio. I have catalogue each pitiful soul that I have cared for even if it was to give them their first grooming and bath before they are transported to their foster homes.
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What my fear is, mothers and fathers like Gracie Girl, McGee, Maggie, TC, Daisy, Snowball, Tyler, Sophie, Julie, Macy, Roxie and Rosie and the many many more that I have had the pleasure to meet but not foster will die from a bullet or drowning and never experience the love of a warm bed, good food, proper medical care and loving arms.
I truly hope my worry is for nothing. As it is, more are destroyed than make it to rescue. Hug your furkids and be thankful they made it out.
There were approximately 70 people in attendance in support of the bill and another 20 (mostly Amish) apposing the bill. I called my friend Mendi on the road and told her that I really wanted to speak before the Senate Committee. She reminded me to keep my cool and don't get arrested and not drop an F-bomb....LOL
I was the last of 8 speakers to address the Senate. The speakers were represented by: a representative of All Tails Rescue (who submitted 500 letters of support), Holmes County Dog Warden, Holmes County Humane Officer, Tuscawaras Humane Officer, Mr. Raber (the notorious Buckeye Dog Auction owner and mill breeder), Kellie DiFrishchia (who co wrote the bill), a crazy dog breeder that made fool of herself and last but not least me. All had prepared statements for the committee and visual aids.....all I had to offer was a scared heart from being broken so many times by the lives these dogs had to live and I told the committee just that.
I addressed the committee as a farmer, small business person and rescue....and as a farmer, raising dogs like you would a grain of corn or wheat is not farming as Amish would like to see themselves. I can't remember all I said, but I do remember seeing several of the Senate Committee members shaking their heads in agreement with what I had to say and I was not asked to clarify as was many of the speakers.
One Senator was under the impression that Holmes County was the only county in the state and felt the local government should handle the situation. That was another point I brought to the Senate Committee's attention. I named 15 counties that have problems with substandared puppy mills and not all mills are ran by Amish. I made a point that milling is a state wide problem and local authorities do not have the resources or the power to do anything about it.
Mr. Raber made the mistake of rattling on and on and I took excerpts from is narrative and put it back at him....but with tact....He complained that his vet bills for 2007 totaled $3000.00. I told the Senate Committee that the average mill dog has a vet bill of $400 and as a farmer I am well aware of vet costs in farming and Mr. Raber was not adequately vetting his dogs....nor did he mention how many dogs he had.
Mr. Raber boo hooed about how his community was being harassed. His own community was represented and said the mill operations were hurting the economy of Holmes county. He even brought several little Amish kids, I guess to get sympathy votes....who knows.
When it was said and done, the hearing was over about 6:00pm, people were shaking my hand and telling me what a wonderful job I did and Kellie DiFrischia and a lobbyist asked that I stay a bit and talk with them. My heart was beating so that I think I forgot to breath for a moment.
They are hoping the bill passes before the end of the year.....there may be another hearing. In the mean time, Ohioians are urgently encouraged to contact your Senators and ask for their support of this bill.
The rush of days events had me wired.....I just hope it helped.