Stereotypes and Bigotry Have No Place in Our Business

By Ed Frawley  |  Last modified: October 17, 2017

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From time to time, we receive e-mails from people expressing their hatred of the Amish. The commonality between these messages is that after reading a few articles on the internet about some members of the Amish community operating puppy mills, they are no longer willing to purchase products from Leerburg. The below letter is my response.

Unfortunately, this is a letter that I am forced to write a few times per year.

For starters, Leerburg is the sole source of employment for an entire family of Amish harness makers. We source our leather from one of the top tanneries in the United States. We then have it delivered to their shop where all our leather equipment is cut and sewn. Before working with Leerburg, our Amish harness makers were chicken farmers. They also operated a small leather shop. They are now able to support 3 households with 5 members of the family working solely on Leerburg's leather products. They have a 3-legged dog that was rescued after a car accident in front of their house. They also own a few horses for farming. Which I might add, are very well taken care of. Other than that, they do not own any animals. I can guarantee they do not operate a puppy mill or abuse animals.

I would caution you from using the Internet as a reliable source of information to cast stereotypes on an entire group of people. You may be surprised what you find out there about groups that you would identify with. If you read an article about a person operating a puppy mill and they happen to be Amish, you should discriminate against them for owning the puppy mill. Not for being Amish. Racist propaganda is a dangerous and slippery slope.

With that, every group of people has bad apples. I'm sure there are Amish people out there who own puppy mills. And I have absolutely nothing but disdain for them. I feel they should be punished to the full extent of the law. I would go as far as to say the punishment is not severe enough. However, there are also rednecks with puppy mills, NFL football players, Democrats, Republicans, Catholics, Muslims, gays, lesbians, white people, black people, Asian people, truck drivers, schoolteachers, lawyers, etc. I would be willing to bet someone in your hometown is operating a puppy mill. Long story short, Leerburg does not discriminate against an entire group of people based on the actions of a few bad apples.

Regardless of where people come from or what groups they identify with, I choose to judge them on their character and their actions. I do not base my judgments on stereotypes or the actions of others. I do not know every member of the Amish community. But I will vouch for the moral character and integrity of those who we work with every day.

I truly hope that you can understand why racial and religious discrimination has no place in my business. I hope you understand my reasoning for continuing to support a family who I have the utmost respect for. If not, I would agree you should purchase your training products elsewhere.

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About Author

Ed Frawley

Ed Frawley is the founder and owner of Leerburg.com and has been producing professional dog training videos since 1982. Over the years, he has collaborated with some of the most respected dog trainers in the country. His body of work includes 194 full-length training DVDs and 95 comprehensive online courses. In addition to these, he has produced and published over 4,000 short training videos available free of charge on Leerburg.com and across the company's social media platforms.

Ed and his wife, Cindy—also a professional dog trainer—bred working-line German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois for more than 35 years. Although they retired from breeding in 2009, they had produced over 300 litters by that time.

Ed also served as a K9 handler for the local sheriff's department for 10 years, working in partnership with the West Central Drug Task Force. During his time in law enforcement, he handled multiple narcotics and patrol dogs and conducted more than 1,000 K9 searches. If you want to learn more about Ed, read about his history here.

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