Pa. kennel owner sentenced on cruelty charges stemming from 2008 raid that found sick animals

Pa. kennel owner sentenced on cruelty charges

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A former Pennsylvania dog kennel owner will spend six months to nearly two years in prison for animal cruelty.

Almost Heaven Kennel owner Derbe Eckhart wept as he was sentenced Tuesday in Lehigh County Court. A jury convicted him in March on a pair of animal cruelty charges but acquitted him on four other counts.

Eckhart was charged with cruelty after a 2008 raid of his Allentown-area kennel by animal welfare workers and the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement.

Prosecutors say scores of animals found at the kennel suffered from severe, painful matting and a variety of skin, eye and upper respiratory ailments.

Eckhart told the judge he let his love of animals get out of control and took on too many.