March 2006

Rendell pledges to amend dog laws

He has formed a panel to come up with recommendations to end the state's reputation as the East's puppy-mill capital.

By Amy Worden

Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG - For almost 25 years, hundreds of large, commercial dog breeders have thrived in Pennsylvania , producing tens of thousands of puppies each year - sometimes in filthy, crowded conditions.

Enactment of state laws and promises by past government officials to correct such problems have failed to slow the growth of these controversial operations, also called "puppy mills" by a growing number of individuals and groups speaking out against them.

Now, Gov. Rendell is pledging to find a way to end the state's reputation as the puppy-mill capital of the East.

"I am not satisfied that we, as a state, are doing all that we can," he said.

In an interview Thursday, Rendell said he also has begun to make administrative changes that might include "a shake-up" of the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, and will push for legislation to improve animal-welfare laws.

Rendell said he would dismiss the 14-member Dog Law Advisory Board, which advises the secretary of agriculture on dog issues, because it has not been "proactive enough."

He is the first governor since the advent of the commercial dog-breeding industry in the state to take such a personal interest in the issue, according to Dotsie Keith, the legislative chair of the Pennsylvania Federation of Dog Clubs.

Earlier this year, Rendell formed a working group to address the issue. The panel will issue a report on its findings and, in the meantime, has made recommendations that Rendell is considering, including one that would give dog wardens the authority to follow up in cases where kennel licenses have been revoked by the state.

Rendell said such a provision would have likely stopped Michael Wolf, a Chester County kennel owner whose license was revoked in 2004 but who continued to operate until last month, when the county SPCA seized his 337 dogs, of which many were sick.

"People say we lay down on kennels, but here they did the right thing, and the guy goes back in business, and we never know about it," Rendell said. "Once we close a kennel, we should go back and do spot checks."

• 

The state Department of Agriculture issued operating licenses to 2,446 kennels in 2004. These include boarding, breeding and research facilities that have 26 to 500 dogs.

It's impossible to say how many substandard puppy mills there are in the state, but Bob Baker, an ASPCA consultant and a member of Rendell's committee, said he considered the 438 licensed commercial breeders who keep more than 100 dogs to be puppy mills.

"The size and the fact they have multiple breeds of dogs are good indications," he said.

Baker, a former chief investigator for the Humane Society of the United States, said he believed there were many more unlicensed operators.

Although the puppy-mill problem is not unique to Pennsylvania, several national groups, including the ASPCA, the Humane Society of the United States, and Last Chance for Animals, have made eradicating puppy mills here a priority.

"It's one of the states we hear about most often," said Stephanie Shain, who runs the anti-puppy-mill campaign for the Humane Society of the United States. "We need better laws, better enforcement, and a more educated public."

The large-scale commercial dog-breeding business was introduced in Pennsylvania more than 20 years ago when Amish farmers in Lancaster County began to raise dogs.

Today, Lancaster County, with 243 kennels housing close to 27,000 dogs, is the epicenter of puppy production in the state, serving pet stores in the Northeast, Internet customers, and drive-in purchasers.

In the last year, animal-welfare groups have targeted the county to persuade people looking for a dog to adopt or purchase one elsewhere.

"I cannot believe, in this day and age, that we cannot do better for our companions," said Josette Aramini, a member of the Lancaster group United Against Puppy Mills.

Part of the trouble, advocates say, is that the two most comprehensive laws addressing the welfare of companion animals are enforced by different governmental entities that lack uniform powers.

The state law requiring that animals be kept in clean facilities is enforced by 53 dog wardens in the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement. They have the power to enter private property.

The state's animal-cruelty statute, by contrast, is enforced by county SPCA humane officers, who might not be able to enter private property without a warrant.

A third entity, the Attorney General's Office, enforces the "puppy lemon law," which requires a dog seller who knowingly sells a sick animal to refund the price to the customer.

But advocates say the laws, combined with a lack of enforcement, have allowed the puppy-mill industry, with its inbreeding and disease-plagued animals, to continue.

Baker, who helped write Pennsylvania's 1982 dog law, said that if the existing statute were adequately enforced, there would be "an 80 percent improvement" in kennel operations.

Officials with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, which counts dog breeders as among its members, say they believe that the regulations are consistent with U.S. Department of Agriculture requirements.

"We feel the requirements are pretty strong and pretty reasonable," said John Bell, a government-affairs representative.

Rendell would not go as far as to say the laws were not being enforced, but admitted that dog wardens were "not doing effective jobs using the regulations that we have."

He said individual dog wardens who take cases to court are often "outgunned" by legal teams representing breeders and can face uninterested district justices.

For the governor, the issue of animal abuse is personal.

Rendell - who has been known to slip treats from the table to his two golden retrievers - said he wanted to change the way agency officials, justices and lawmakers view companion animals.

He called the humane treatment of animals a "moral-values" issue that many people care deeply about. Until something changes, Rendell said, the state "is getting a black eye across the country."

Recommendations of Dog Task Force

Gov. Rendell's task force on dog abuses is made up of representatives from the Attorney General's Office and the ASPCA, and a veterinarian and citizens. Recommendations it has made to Rendell include:

Bringing in the state inspector general to investigate the most egregious violations of the dog law.

Hiring a special prosecutor to oversee major animal abuse and neglect cases.