Every year thousands of tourists clog the country roads in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to admire the lush, neat farmlands nurtured by the Amish farmers of that region. The Amish sell their beautiful quilts, home-grown/home-preserved foods, hand made furniture. Driving down the roads in their black horse-drawn rigs, wearing their eighteenth century “plain” clothes, rejecting all modern conveniences, the Amish have become icons of a simple, devout, community-based lifestyle.

But Amish country is home to more than quilting bees and barn-raisings. If you’ve driven through this area in the past year, you will recognize huge billboards with pathetic pictures of dogs inviting both residents and visitors to be on high alert and on “Puppy-Mill Watch.” Why?

Lancaster County and the Lehigh Vall…