Harrassment of Faithful But Forgotten Friends Animal Rescue and Placement, Inc.

[Curios]

Is this not work the police officer's time to look into or persue?

UPDATE: THINGS HAVE WORSENED. THE DOGS ARE BEING POSIONED AND SPRAYED WITH SOMETHING THAT CAUSES THEIR SKIN TO PEEL OFF. ONE OF OUR GROUP MEMBERS WAS SHOT AT AND THE SHOT MISSED BY 15 FEET. THE NEXT DAY THE MEMBER'S HOUSE WAS SET ON FIRE. THE MEMBER AND HER FAMILY DONATED THE USE OF THE KENNEL BUILDING TO THE RESCUE. THE MEMBERS ARE THE REAL TARGET OF AGGRESSION, BUT THE ANIMALS ARE BEING HURT IN THE PROCESS OF THE TERRORISTS AT WORK. PLEASE CONSIDER THE ADOPTON OF ONE OF OUR COMPANION ANIMALS SO THAT WE CAN CLOSE THE KENNEL AND MOVE AWAY. WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE AND SO DO THE ANIMALS. WE ALSO NEED PEOPLE TO COME AND SIT AT THE PROPERTY AT NIGHT TO WATCH. PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING WITH THE WATCH OR THE DAY WORK.

[bubbles]

Curios wrote:

Is this not work the police officer's time to look into or persue?
UPDATE: THINGS HAVE WORSENED. THE DOGS ARE BEING POSIONED AND SPRAYED WITH SOMETHING THAT CAUSES THEIR SKIN TO PEEL OFF. ONE OF OUR GROUP MEMBERS WAS SHOT AT AND THE SHOT MISSED BY 15 FEET. THE NEXT DAY THE MEMBER'S HOUSE WAS SET ON FIRE. THE MEMBER AND HER FAMILY DONATED THE USE OF THE KENNEL BUILDING TO THE RESCUE. THE MEMBERS ARE THE REAL TARGET OF AGGRESSION, BUT THE ANIMALS ARE BEING HURT IN THE PROCESS OF THE TERRORISTS AT WORK. PLEASE CONSIDER THE ADOPTON OF ONE OF OUR COMPANION ANIMALS SO THAT WE CAN CLOSE THE KENNEL AND MOVE AWAY. WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE AND SO DO THE ANIMALS. WE ALSO NEED PEOPLE TO COME AND SIT AT THE PROPERTY AT NIGHT TO WATCH. PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING WITH THE WATCH OR THE DAY WORK.

what are you talking about?

[jackie]

i ccalled you to adopt one of hospice ani. dancer or granny paula did not get back to me. but then we really had phone trouble. took a while for verrizon to fine it .tonight i see they are longer available. i see you need help im familiar with aggression and having my house set on fire. can't understand why hate against animals . gods creatures ask nothing of us but care. i will call you agin to see if i can help. i have 6 rescued animals now. two on i'v once a day the rest on medication also. have you tried other agencies to take the animals under your special circumstances. thanks jackie....

[Devastated]

This is surreal.

[also in hibbs]

Devastated wrote:

This is surreal.

Who are you? What do you know about what has gone on?

[nickey]

Curios wrote:

Is this not work the police officer's time to look into or persue?
UPDATE: THINGS HAVE WORSENED. THE DOGS ARE BEING POSIONED AND SPRAYED WITH SOMETHING THAT CAUSES THEIR SKIN TO PEEL OFF. ONE OF OUR GROUP MEMBERS WAS SHOT AT AND THE SHOT MISSED BY 15 FEET. THE NEXT DAY THE MEMBER'S HOUSE WAS SET ON FIRE. THE MEMBER AND HER FAMILY DONATED THE USE OF THE KENNEL BUILDING TO THE RESCUE. THE MEMBERS ARE THE REAL TARGET OF AGGRESSION, BUT THE ANIMALS ARE BEING HURT IN THE PROCESS OF THE TERRORISTS AT WORK. PLEASE CONSIDER THE ADOPTON OF ONE OF OUR COMPANION ANIMALS SO THAT WE CAN CLOSE THE KENNEL AND MOVE AWAY. WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE AND SO DO THE ANIMALS. WE ALSO NEED PEOPLE TO COME AND SIT AT THE PROPERTY AT NIGHT TO WATCH. PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING WITH THE WATCH OR THE DAY WORK.

Can you give us an update or more information

[Neighbor 22]

This place is out of business. It was closed down by authorities. The people who operated it were always claiming they were under attack...but who knows?
The owners of an animal-rescue shelter in Fayette County said they will close the shelter after state agents removed more than 200 dogs from their Luzerne residence.
"We're closing the kennel," said Rollin Barber, who operates Faithful but Forgotten Friends and Best Buddies in the village of Hibbs with his wife, Paula.
State humane agents said animal cruelty charges will be filed.
"On a cruelty scale of one to 10, this is a 10," said humane officer Reba McDonald of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "The kennels were in poor condition. In some cases, there were 10 to 12 dogs in one pen. The dogs were very thin and some were suffering from mange or dermatitis. Others were showing signs of aggression.
"There definitely was a lack of care," she said. "There definitely was a lack of sanitary conditions. There definitely were skin problems. There definitely were malnourishment problems. It was just out of control. "
The animals are being evaluated by veterinarians at society shelters in Clarion County, Centre Hall and Philadelphia.
Barber said humane agents and officials of the state Department of Agriculture arrived Thursday with a search warrant "filled with all sorts of probable cause." Barber said they voluntarily surrendered the animals, which were placed into horse trailers.
"We embraced the search warrant," Barber said. "They were not seized. We turned them over voluntarily. We wanted to close the kennel."
Barber said his wife and stepdaughter are ill, and he is 75 and can no longer care for the animals. He said veterinary bills cost them $25,000 a year.
"We simply couldn't do the work," Barber said.
McDonald said agents removed 215 of 250 dogs.
"A lot of them were puppies," Barber said, because people often abandon pregnant dogs at the shelter.
The other 35 animals Barber described as family pets and old dogs.
He denied that the dogs were mistreated or neglected.
Barber said muddy conditions in the kennels were caused by recent rain. He admitted some dogs did have skin ailments because they came to the shelter in that condition.
"These were rescued dogs. It takes awhile to straighten them out," he said.
Barber, who has been embroiled in a zoning dispute during the past several years over his kennel and shelter, said neighbors have complained about the operation.
The Barbers applied for a special zoning exception in 2005 and 2006 to operate the shelter, but Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board denied those requests. They admitted last year at a zoning hearing that they operated the shelter for several years without a license.
The shelter's Web site claimed it was state-licensed and operated foster homes in West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey and Maryland.
Barber teaches sociology at California University of Pennsylvania. His wife, Paula, 46, is a former attorney, who was suspended for two years in 2004 for professional negligence, according to records of the Disciplinary Board of the state Supreme Court.
Paula, who practiced law under the name of Paula Lappe, accepted retainers from two clients, did little or no work on their cases, and then abandoned her practice, according to the records. She failed to respond to the charges against her, didn't show up for a disciplinary hearing and failed to comply with a subpoena for her financial records.

[U need to check it out]

The neighbors have complained of constant barking by the dogs which I have observed personally. They have no problem with the Barber's, only the noise of barking dogs and their concern for the well-being of the dogs. Most of them are owners of pets including dogs, cats and other animals.
Even though it was stated that they were closing the shelter after the State's action to this day they have a large number of animals on the property some of which are running loose and crossing the road onto neighbors properties.

[Neighbor 22]

U need to check it out wrote:

The neighbors have complained of constant barking by the dogs which I have observed personally. They have no problem with the Barber's, only the noise of barking dogs and their concern for the well-being of the dogs. Most of them are owners of pets including dogs, cats and other animals.
Even though it was stated that they were closing the shelter after the State's action to this day they have a large number of animals on the property some of which are running loose and crossing the road onto neighbors properties.

I don't know these people, I just reposted the article. I only know what I've read about them in the newspapers and on the Internet (their own web site). I was going to go there to see an animal, but the 4 page disclosure about how they were "under attack" from the local people kind of made me wonder what type of folks I'd be dealing with!

I bet it was the owners of this "shetler" who started the post. They are always trying to get the word out that everyone is attacking them!

I personally think it's time to crack down on these "private, no kill" shelters. Most are just a guise for animal hoarding, and many are overrun with diseased and undernourished animals. We've had 3-4 here in the last 6 months shut down due to horrific conditions (this being one of them).

I also don't understand why these people were allowed to keep 35 dogs after they were "shut down." They were referred to as "family pets." OK, 3 dogs maybe but 35?

If the neighbors are/were upset, I don't blame them. No one needs 35 dogs. I was only too happy when the folks next door to me moved out and took their four little crappy barking dogs with them!

[Beth Miller]

I got my dog from them. Thank God she is safe. They did seem a little strange but nice enough. I think anyone who devotes their time to animals has to be a good person but sometimes they do not realize they are doing more harm then good.

[thank god]

We got our dog from the shelter and it was a hell on earth.

[Linda Downingtown PA]

I got my dog from them a year ago and my mom adopted a beagle from them a little more than a year ago. It seemed a strange set-up, but they traveled clear across the state to deliver them, and I attributed it to that. I think their hearts were in the right place, but that they were overwhelmed - trying to save too many pets maybe?

[Thank god its closed]

Two years ago I adopted my dog from them. The place is in fact hell on earth. I believe it was actually a front for a puppy mill. I think the Lappes are evil liars.
The same line of bunk she has on the website is the same line she told me way back in 2005.

[wouldnt u know]

i know paula because i know she is now working with another shelter. if anyone has any information, like if she is still taking in animals... please let me know...

[glad its over]

I also got my dog from them a little over a year ago. After taking him to the ER the first night we had him, I knew something wasn't right. I contacted the ASPCA as well as the attorney generals office regarding their operation. I was in close contact with the local dog warden who told me they were already being investigated. I am sooooo glad they were shut down and stopped from hurting these poor animals. What angers me the most (other than the cruely of course) is the fact that they tried to make you think they were helping these animals.

[our story]

I read all the reports and found these news shocking. We adopted our lab mix from this shelter. paula and her daughter used to come to the ing of Prussia, PA Petco. That's where we got ours. We signed papers and paid money to get the dog and every thing seemed ok. We still have the dog (3 years now) and she is fine except for some bitting on two occasions. I suspected that dog was abused in the past but Paula told me that it was born in the shelter. Her daughter is quite nice and appears to love animals. We even used her services to keep pur dog while we were travelling abroad. when we came back, wehad to drive to Hibbs, PA quite a place! we visited the place and she showed us around. The dogs seemed fine and the cages were clean. The place looks shubby but reasonable for folks who live on this business. Paula did complain about harrassement including from a sherrif or a fire marshall (I can't recall). She claimed that her neighbors did not like the kennel and her presence there. We were surprised. The only thing I regret is that she told us that the puppy was a mix of a lab and australian shepperd when it was in fact a mix of a lab and a pittbull. Thankfully, she is grown up now and she is fine. She is a little teritorial but very fun. At that time she told us that they were buying a place in New Jersey to open another kennel, so we promised to come and help when we can. she also complained about peole dropping cats and dogs at night and she would find them in the morning near her property. I am a little disapointed by all of this.

[U need to check it out]

It is still in operation! An some of the animals are still allowed to wonder the neighborhood.