An amendment to create a "Canine Health Board" (already being referred to as the "Canine Mafia") plus a one year delay in implementing the new laws, along with a loophole Waiver that will permit many commercials breeders to avoid complying with the new laws for a three year period of time, could mean that some commercial breeders won't have to lift a finger for a total of four years. For some breeder dogs, four years is a lifetime and some canines in the mills won't benefit one iota from House Bill 2525.
Who came up with these amendments that severly limit the bill's content and scope and are geared toward usurping the legislation that was voted on and passed, largely unamended, by the House of Representatives? Meet the Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee:


Madigan Punt Kitchen Logan Wozniak
House Bill 2525 passed the House of Representatives with 181 affirmative votes and all unfriendly amendments soundly defeated.
Almost two years in the making, the legislation that would finally regulate conditions in Pennsylvania's large
commercial breeding kennels, an effort that is supported by tens - if not hundreds - of thousands of constituents, was severely compromised by the above ten senators who chose, instead, to sympathize with approximately 900 breeders who may be affected financially were it to pass unamended.
Indeed, the pressure from constituents and dog lovers across the country was heard loud and clear by our state's General Assembly although the above elected officials chose to ignore that sentiment. Quoted in a September 25 Penn Live article, Senator John N. Wozniak attempted to placate out-of-state travelers who have written off the Keystone state as a tourist destination in lieu of its reputation for deplorable kennels and poor care of those canines trapped in the mills. Wozniak said: "Please come to Pennsylvania now and spend your money, because we did what you wanted us to do." But they haven't.
When will our elected officials get it? There ARE more dog lovers in Pennsylvania than there are breeders and come November, few will forget who has done what with House Bill 2525 and 2532.
Finally, don't be fooled by members of the House who only rode the coattails of other representatives once it was clear that the legislation would pass.
|
|