What's Happening in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has proposed sweeping legislation designed to improve conditions for dogs kept and sold in Pennsylvania's large scale commercial breeding facilities. In spite of exempting many groups (small hobbyist breeders, sporting dog clubs, etc.) from the legislation and focusing solely on large commercial breeders, Governor Rendell continues to receive stiff opposition from special interest groups. Lobbyists for commercial breeders are using scare tactics and misinformation to convince small hobbyist breeders and sportsmen that they will in some way be affected by the proposed legislation, which is not true. Many people wonder how any group of dog enthusiasts can claim to love their own dogs and care about their welfare and yet fight to block legislation that will help millions of dogs exploited by Pennsylvania's mass dog breeding industry?
MLAR urges you to contact your representatives and ask them how they feel about improving the lives of these animals. Legislators and State Representatives must understand that there are more people who love dogs in Pennsylvania than people who breed large quantities of puppies for sale. We must use our votes to help dogs imprisoned in our state's puppy mills. Call or write your representatives today and tell them that you will be following this matter closely and you expect them to support the proposed changes to the Pennsylvania's Dog Law. Urge them to do everything they can to stop their suffering. Find your local representative: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/index.cfm
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is currently introducing legislation that:
- Would provide dogs interned in Pennsylvania’s puppy mills with double the amount of cage space indoors, and access to outdoor runs. Presently, dogs in many of Pennsylvania’s largest factory farms are never taken out of their cages to exercise. Many of these dogs face a lifetime of pacing and spinning, never knowing what it is like to walk on grass. Many have never spent a minute in sunlight.
- Would eliminate wire flooring in puppy mills and require the provision of solid flooring. The overwhelming majority of dogs in Pennsylvania’s breeding facilities stand and sleep on wire, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This is unbelievably painful and often their feet and legs fall through the wire and are injured. This practice would be prohibited.
- Would prohibit the stacking of cages in commercial breeding kennels. Ten years ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer described dogs stacked in cages, high on top of each other, the feces and urine from the dogs on the top running down on the dogs below. Stacking hundreds of dogs in cages in dark barns makes it extremely difficult to see if the dogs on top are in distress. Thousands of dogs now spend their entire lives three, four or five feet above the ground.
- Would prohibit keeping puppy mill dogs in excessive heat or severe cold.
- Would deny kennel licenses to individuals convicted of animal cruelty.
- Would greatly increase the penalties for operating a kennel without a proper license, and broaden the ability of wardens to determine whether license requirements are being violated.
- Would limit to licensed veterinarians the ability to administer rabies vaccinations, perform Cesarean Sections, de-bark or euthanize dogs. Farmers who mass produce dogs in Pennsylvania often perform these procedures themselves, without skill or anesthesia. Rescue organizations routinely rescue breeding dogs with broken jaws and cracked teeth (from de-barking) and dogs who have endured caesarean deliveries by farmers. Unsold puppies and breeding females who can no longer produce puppies are often shot or left to die without food, water, or medical care.