12 Pa. kennels in Humane Society's list of 100 worst puppy mills
Only Missouri had more.
A dozen kennels in Pennsylvania are among the 100 listed in the Humane Society of the United States's 2017 report on problem puppy-breeders.
Seven of the 12 are in Lancaster County.
The society has published the list for the past five years to inform the public about common, recurring problems at puppy mills.
Missouri had the greatest number of problem breeders, 19, for the fifth year in a row. Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kansas followed with 12 each. New Jersey had one.
This year the society said its efforts were hampered after the U.S. Department of Agriculture in February removed all animal-welfare inspection reports and most enforcement records from the its website.
The society said it had some records from the USDA before the agency purged the online reports and that it also used state inspection records, court records, consumer complaints and media reports to compile the list.
Read the report here.