ELKHART COUNTY — Imagine you and your family are looking for a new puppy. You comb the classifieds, the internet and local pet stores. Once you've picked out the perfect puppy, how can you be sure you know everything about it?

In a six-week undercover investigation with the Humane Society of Elkhart County, WSBT found what's believed to be one of the biggest puppy mill operations in our area.

“It was just cage, after cage, after cage, after cage,” described Elkhart County Humane Officer Eric Durcinka.

Our undercover cameras discovered up to eight puppies per cage on a rural Amish farm. Durcinka estimated the farmer had 60 adult dogs and around 40 puppies in a very small space. All were pure-bred to make a profit.

“My view of a puppy mill is anything that's designed to mass produce puppies,” Durcinka explained. “And I would say that qualified as a puppy mill.”

The investigation began when the Elkhart County Humane Society received an anonymous complaint alleging the farmer breeds dogs excessively. The report also claimed the farmer shoots the runts of each litter.

Our undercover cameras went with officers as they questioned the farmer and inspected the puppies’ living conditions.

“I take care of my dogs,” the farmer said to humane officers.

He also said he spends two to three hours each day cleaning cages. He said he’s been breeding for three years. Durcinka estimates it’s one of the largest puppy mills in our area. With 7-10 breeds of small dogs, it’s worth an estimated quarter to half a million dollars.

The farmer keeps the puppies in cages behind a privacy fence on his property. He even built a sewage system to drain their feces and urine into a nearby field.

“There was obviously some interest put in to make sure there was health and welfare at some level for the animals,” said Durcinka. But definitely it was a concern.”

The farmer wasn't arrested and the Humane Society didn't take away his puppies. Even with an estimated 100 dogs, he wasn't breaking any state laws.

Durcinka said law requires food, water and shelter, and the farmer was providing all those.

But WSBT found out he is violating an Elkhart County zoning ordinance. That law requires a special permit to run a kennel. The ordinance defines a kennel as more than four dogs, cats and other domestic animals over four months in age; or when more than two domestic animals are kept for breeding or sale.

But there is no specific law against breeding dogs in Elkhart County.

“It’s something we have brought forth and been proposing for quite a while,” said Durcinka. “And hopefully you know, over time we'll see it.”

County Commissioner Mike Yoder said he’s willing to look at the issues involved, but he’s sure a breeding ordinance would be controversial — especially because unemployment has hit the Amish community so hard.

“If we're really talking about this kind of dollars, one of the things we'll have to decide is this is an income for a farm family, for an Amish family,” Yoder said. “And if the dogs are being treated humanely, I guess it would be a difficult thing to discuss.

One reason it’s difficult is because humane officers are trying to do their job.

“By law he doesn't have to love these dogs. He can treat them like a serviceable product,” said Durcinka.

It’s also difficult because the puppy mill we found is putting food on the table for the Amish family we encountered.

“I just wonder why people are so against [other] people breeding dogs,” the farmer’s wife told WSBT.

The farmer who breeds the puppies said he's already building an area for more cages so he can give his dogs more space. When WSBT checked with Code Enforcement late last week, they said they had not received any complaints about that particular Amish farm.

If they do get a complaint about it though, Code Enforcement said they will likely send the farmer a letter, asking him to comply with the Kennel Law. From there, he will probably have to go to the Board of Zoning Appeals to ask for a kennel permit.

Elkhart County Humane Officers say they will continue to follow up with the farmer to make sure he improves the puppies’ living conditions.