Alleged Puppy Mill Found in Mt. Airy

MOUNT AIRY - October 24, 2007 (WPVI) -- Authorities have discovered an alleged puppy mill in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia.

The apparent mistreatment of dogs includes airedale terrier puppies appearing to have their tails docked or amputated without pain medication or antibiotics.

"These puppies are really in horrible condition. They have gangrene on their tails and all their tails are badly infected," veterinarian Ravi Murarka said.

However, there are dogs in worse condition. SPCA investigators found more than a dozen dogs inside a home on the 71 hundred block of Boyer Street in Mt. Airy.

One puppy was dead in a trashcan. Investigators say conditions inside and outside the home are deplorable.

"It's like a junkyard back there with leaves and dirt in it," SPCA investigator Wayne Smith said.

Investigators say David Pippen ran the puppy mill. A woman and a young man who identified themselves as Pippen's wife and son talked to investigators outside the home, but they refused to answer questions from Action News.

SPCA board members Jodi Goldberg and Harrise Yaron helped bring Pippen to justice and this isn't the first time. In 2003, after answering an advertisement for airedale terriers and doing their own legwork, the two women helped convict Pippen of animal cruelty. Now, he's charged with a second offense and that could bring jail time.

"I guess it was 4 years ago. We told him the worst day in his life was the day he met us," Goldberg said.

The SPCA says airedale terriers sell from around 750 dollars to 15 hundred. Pippen was allegedly selling his dogs for 300 hundred dollars. The SPCA says to be wary of a deal that appears too good to be true.

(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights Reserved.)

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