Once again, the dogs in PA need our help. House Bill 39 which in its original form would outlaw non-medical personnel from performing invasive surgical procedures such as debarking and cesarean section on dogs in PA. This bill passed in the House.
However, it has remained in the Senate Ag Committe. Why, you ask? Because Julian Prager heading up a handful of hobbyist breeders wants to reverse an already existing law forbidding anyone but a licensed veterinarian from cropping a dog’s ears and hope to accomplish this by adding an amendment to the new cruelty bill. This would WEAKEN House Bill 39 if it were to pass.
The hobbyist breeders from the AKC want to do the actual cutting of of the dog’s ears? WHAT??? Their claim is that their vets don’t know how to crop ears properly. Are they kidding??? The cropping of ears must be done under general anesthesia by a licensed vet only. This is how the law stands now.
Why the hobbyist breeders want to put dogs at risk is beyond my comprehension!! If this should happen, then the Amish and the Mennonites will be allowed to do it as well. We CANNOT let this happen!!!!
I was sent this info by Helen Ebersole from United Against Puppymills and Mainline Rescue and they are asking all of us, once again, to speak for these dogs. They want us to tell our legislators that noone but a licensed vet should be able to crop ears, perform c-sections, dock tails (after five days of age) or debark a dog!
They are also requesting that we need to tell our legislators that state dog wardens in counties that do not have cruelty officers (in the more rural parts of PA) should be able to charge breeders with animal cruelty.
Contact your state senator and ask then to pass House Bill 39 without amendments. Both the AVMA and the PA Veterinary Medical Association are opposed to the amendments and feel only a licensed vet should crop a dog’s ears- with anesthesia in a sterile environment/surgery.
The members of the committee are as follows:
Michael W. Brubaker (R) Committe Chair mbrubaker@pasen.gov
717-787-4420
Michael L. Waugh (R) Vice-Chair mwaugh@pasen.gov 717-787-3817
Michael O’Pake (D) Minority Chair opake@pasenate.gov 717-787-8925
Joseph b. Scarnatti III (R) Ex-Officio jscarnati@pasen.gove 717-787-7084
Majority (R)
John H. Eichelberger jeichelberger@pasen.gov 717-787-5490
Robbert D. Dobbins rrobbins@pasen.gov 717-787-1322
Elder A Vogel Jr. evogel@pasen.gov 717-787-3076
Gene Yaw gyaw@pasen.gov 717-787-3280
Minority (D)
Andrew E. Dinniman andy@pasenate.com 717-787-5709 Shirley M. Kitchen ktichen@pasenate.com 717-787-6735 John N. Wozniak wozniak@pasenate.com 717-787-5400
The dogs of PA need our voices. Please share this information with your friends, families and colleagues. This cannot happen to these dogs!!!