It’s Amish vs. animal lovers as Winona County cracks down on dog breeding

UTICA, MINN. - Trouble is brewing in the rolling fields and wooded thickets of the Amish farms here.

Farmers in the area breed and sell dogs to local residents and nationwide pet outlets alike. Their business has drawn the attention of animal lovers who say the Amish are running puppy mills — fast-paced breeding operations that produce sickly or psychologically disturbed canines.

Amish farmers say their operations are misunderstood and the dogs are treated better than people.

The Winona County Board is weighing in on more than a decade’s worth of debate with a proposed ban on future dog breeders and more stringent requirements for existing breeders. The board has voted several times over the past year and a half to pursue more regulations, but those efforts stalled as county staff was shorthanded and didn’t address potential solutions until the start of 2024.

Then last month thefive-member board voted 3-0 with two abstaining to pursue a ban on future dog breeding permits, with the abstaining members concerned they hadn’t received prior notice about the proposed ban. The board later voted 3-2 to order county staff to create new licensing rules and inspection processes for dog breeders, which is expected to come back before the board later this month.

“The treatment of the dogs is bad,” Winona County Commissioner Greg Olson said. “Although they’re physically taken care of, they’re emotionally and mentally abused.”

Not so, according to the farmers: Dogs are let out at least twice a day, get plenty of exercise and socialization with children, and are well taken care of. Amish breeders say they follow all guidelines and regulations set before them.

A number of farmers applied for local permits in 2015 after they were told it was required to operate breeding kennels. They voluntarily cut down on the number of dogs they kept; most kennels have about 50 breeding dogs, with the biggest kennel at close to 100 adults.

“We love them and we take care of them,” said Henry Yoder, one of 10 Amish licensed dog breeders in the St. Charles and Utica area.

Several farmers said they don’t typically speak up at public meetings or try to correct what they say are falsehoods that activists share. The Amish believe in nonviolence and they prefer not to encourage conflict. But they say the ongoing attention can be frustrating.

There are 12 licensed dog breeders in Winona County, most of whom are related and have bred dogs for years. Activists say more unlicensed breeders could be in the area. The concentration makes Winona County the “puppy mill capital” of Minnesota, they say.

Animal activists have taken issue with the operations for more than a decade. The Twin Cities-based group Animal Folks filed animal cruelty complaints in 2012 against one farm with close to 300 dogs and puppies after U.S. Department of Agriculture investigators found several sickly dogs that were emaciated, had dental issues or vision problems. No formal action was taken against the farm.

Protesters held up signs and shouted chants in 2016 along County Road 33 in Utica near several farms as Winona County gave local permits to the Amish kennels. On Christmas that year, the extended Yoder family gathered at Henry Yoder’s farm — and protesters followed suit, gathering outside the house.

“We didn’t even have dogs here at the time,” Yoder said.

Although some Amish farmers said they tried to speak with protesters, families eventually agreed not to talk to outsiders about their operations. They remain cautious about letting people into the kennels, including a reporter on a recent visit, though some have welcomed Winona County commissioners to take tours.

Those commissioners say the facilities they toured were up-to-date and followed ongoing veterinary recommendations.

“The current kennels that I’ve observed do not have wire cages,” Commissioner Marcia Ward said during the Feb. 13 meeting before she abstained from voting on new permits and voted against more breeder rules. “They have in-floor heat. They have ventilation. They have fresh water, accessible at all times, they have food, they have outdoor running areas, they have indoor spaces that are controlled and they have a lot of human touch.”

But the inspection process is complex and flawed, according to animal rights advocates. Inspectors can at times miss psychological warning signs, and issues may not be publicly reported. Minnesota inspections aren’t made public and advocates say federal reports may classify serious issues as “teachable moments” instead.

“The inspection reports may not reflect everything that’s going on in a kennel,” said Ann Olson, founder and director of Animal Folks.

Lawmakers are considering making state pet breeder inspection reports public. Minnesota inspectors found 47 violations among state-licensed breeders in the past five years, but It’s unclear who those breeders are and whether they have repeat violations.

Federal inspections in the past decade have turned up minor issues at some farms, including a kennel that was cited twice in August after temperatures inside an enclosure grew hotter than 85 degrees for several hours. But there have been no serious violations.

Other reports have shown a small number of dogs with dental issues, too little weight or cleanliness concerns. Local animal shelters have taken in some dogs from Amish kennels in recent years, but almost all of them have been physically healthy — though some displayed psychological problems and had issues with anxiety or socialization.

Shanna Ferguson, canine director at the Winona Area Humane Society, said the bigger concern is paying to keep, treat and train animals from local kennels.

“That is all a cost on our facility,” Ferguson said.

She’s also concerned about what happens to older dogs once they age out of breeding. Ferguson said her shelter has seen younger dogs from area kennels, but not older ones.

Both measures passed by the county board last month will require public hearings before it makes them official. Even then, commissioners will have to weigh how much further inspections and enforcement will cost.

“This is a work in progress,” Winona County Administrator Maureen Holte said.

Supporters of the kennels argue that establishing more regulations than required by state and federal law unduly burdens local dog breeders. They also say the measures don’t prevent more troublesome breeders from moving their business elsewhere.

“Banning isn’t going to solve it, it’s going to move it,” Commissioner Josh Elsing said last month. “It’s not going to help anything.”

But Olson, who has advocated for stiffer regulations since 2016, said last week it was important to address the issue in the area.

“We can’t solve all the problems,” the commissioner said, “but we can prevent them from getting worse.”

Advocates like Ferguson say they want to partner with more Amish farmers to help take care of the dogs. She’d like to see a potential grant program to address care for dogs coming from local kennels. as well as more open communication with farmers.

“It comes down to, they’re not going anywhere,” she said. “So we kind of all have to work together.”