City Republican Committee Chairman Russ Miller said the signs must have hit Gray's sore spot -- by early Sunday evening, most of them had already been torn down or stolen.

"It's a hot-button issue," Miller said. "I think the opponent is concerned about it. It's an issue of character. Frankly, (Gray) has the opportunity to pick and choose who he represents. If I was approached by a puppy mill owner, I'd say, 'I'm sorry. I can't represent that client.' There is a significant pattern of him taking animal cases."

Gray on Sunday night agreed -- saying the pattern also included sitting on the board of Humane League of Lancaster County and defending the league free of charge in lawsuits. He said it's the Republicans who are running scared, and their move with the sign campaign is proof.

"I think it's cute," Gray said of the signs, which show a cartoon dog and cat framing his name in giant letters. "I'm glad they made the 'Rick Gray' so big."

"The signs don't upset me," he said. "We assumed it was coming. It's a sign they think they're in real trouble, and they are.

"I am absolutely going to do something about it. We're going to continue to talk about the failed Smithgall administration and continue to discuss positive solutions for problems city residents face."

As for his past, Gray does not deny representing Joyce and Raymond Stoltzfus, who own Puppy Love, but he said client confidentiality prohibits him from discussing the cases in detail.

"It's very easy for people to do the guilty-by-client bit with defense attorneys, as if you condone the acts your clients are charged with," Gray said. "That's the most I can say about that."

Meanwhile, incumbent Mayor Charlie Smithgall Sunday night at first said he knew nothing about the sign campaign launched by city Republicans, but he wouldn't have been part of it even if he had.

"I don't deal in negative politics. I try to stay out of it," Smithgall said. "This is something I wouldn't use in my campaign, but I guess (the City Republican Committee) thought it was important."

Just an hour after making that statement, however, Smithgall, having checked with his sources, endorsed the puppy mill sign campaign launched by city Republicans.

"I totally agree with the concept now that I talked to them," Smithgall said.

Still, Smithgall has never publicly addressed the county's puppy mill issue in eight years as mayor of Lancaster city. He said Sunday he wasn't sure why he never publicly addressed the issue, although he occasionally responds to e-mail from people saying they wouldn't visit Lancaster County because of its burgeoning mill industry.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, puppy mills are breeding facilities that produce purebred puppies in large numbers that are sold to the public, brokers or pet shops.

Documented problems at puppy mills include overbreeding, inbreeding, overcrowding, minimal veterinary care, poor-quality food and shelter, lack of socialization and the killing of unwanted animals.

"I haven't been involved with (discussing the issue) all at. I don't know why. I can't answer that," Smithgall said. "Nobody ever asked me about it or talked to me about it."

Gray didn't buy that Smithgall was unaware of the campaign.

"He's not telling the truth -- although he might be because he doesn't know what goes on in his administration so he might not know what's going on in the city Republican party," Gray said. "But do you really think they would go ahead and do this without asking the mayor? If they did, they have no respect for him."

The signs appeared in time to punctuate Saturday's upcoming "Dogs for Smithgall Rally." But Smithgall said that rally had long been planned because he devised plans for the popular dog park located in Buchanan Park during his tenure as mayor.

Miller said Smithgall wasn't asked to be part of the puppy mill sign campaign against Gray, but committee members thought Gray's past was so important, it needed to be brought to the voters' attention. He then accused Gray's campaign of alerting the media to the presence of the signs.

Gray's campaign did not alert the Intelligencer Journal to the presence of the signs.

"It's not something that's been sponsored by the mayor's campaign," Miller said of the sign campaign. "It's been paid for by the city committee. The mayor has a responsibility to be above these types of things."

Miller said the puppy mill issue is not out of bounds for city politics, even though puppy mill ordinances rarely, if ever, have come to the city government level, and it's unlikely any mills operate within city limits.

"The issue is that Rick Gray made money defending puppy mills," Miller said. "I don't think it's negative campaigning. It's about character issues. It's an important issue that people need to consider."

Gray didn't see it that way and quickly recalled the Republicans accusing him of negative campaigning following a spring poll his own committee conducted.

"(Smithgall) doesn't know anything about this, and yet he's having a Dogs for Smithgall Rally?" Gray said. "They accused me of negative campaigning, but they put up signs that don't even mention their own candidate's name?

"They ought to be ashamed of themselves."

Susan Lindt's e-mail address is slindt@lnpnews.com.

"I think it's cute. I'm glad they made the 'Rick Gray' so big."