The House of Representatives will meet today and tomorrow to prepare for the vote on the new legislation concerning puppymills this Wednesday, September 17th.
Rep. James Casorio , primary sponsor of House Bill 2525 is cautiously optimisitic if not more than that
Let me remind you that House Bill 2525 will allow for the following:
Double the minimum cage space. Have you seen how these dogs live their ENTIRE lives?
Will require access to an exercise area twice the size of the cage. Puppymill dogs spend their entire tortured lives inside these small cages – not ever touching grass, never walking or running around outside of the cages. Look at the size of those cages – the size of rabbit hutches cramped with other dogs. This is horrific.
Some dogs are placed in gerbil-type wheels to get exercise. Is this too much to ask- to allow them to have exercise?
The bill would require them to have solid flooring instead of wire flooring. Dog’s paws get splayed from the wire flooring. Dog’s paws are chewed off by dogs in the cages below them. I recently heard of a puppy whose two back paws were chewed off in this manner. Feces and urine falls into the matted hair of dogs below.
This bill will offer the dogs veterinary care which is not required by the current laws. It would also mandate veterinarians be the only ones to humanely euthanize dogs in a commercial breeding kennel. I don’t need to remind anyone what happened with the 80 who were shot and killed this past July by the puppymillers- Elmer and Ammon Zimmerman.
This bill would limit the stacking of kennels. Some kennels are stacked so high that inspectors can’t see the dogs.
This bill would establish daily cleaning standards and set temperature , lighting and ventilation standards for kennels. Many kennels are kept outside and dogs die from the heat and freeze from the cold because there is no protection.
The dogs will have free access to fresh water. Many have dirty, filthy water or no water at all.
House Bill 2525 allows for a better life for these dogs. There is no luxury involved. The breeder dogs live their entire lives without human companionship or love, a toy or treat. They go crazy and become aggressive towards the others. For me and many animal advocates, it is a crime the way they live.
We need this bill passed. Watch Governor Rendell’s press conference he held last month in Philadelphia to urge legislators to pass the bills. (I was there but arrived late due to traffic problem on I-76.)
Governor Rendell has stated that these bills have generated more public interest and has received more feedback than almost any other bill.
Let’s be the voices for these puppymill dogs. Call your legislators today. I know I sound like a broken record but we don’t have much time. If you know someone who doesn’t have access to a computer, have them call the State Agriculture Department to locate their legislator at 717-772-2854.
These dogs are depending on us ! Let your voices be heard!
But the bottomline is up to us as consumers. Don’t buy from pet stores. The majority of pet stores buy their puppies from puppymills. You can ask the store to see the origins of the puppy through papers. If the papers state the puppies have come from any of the following states: Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas and the Puppymill capital of the East Coast- Pennsylvania ~ the puppy has most likely come from a puppymill. Don’t believe them if they tell you that it comes from a beautiful kennel as they told me.
No reputable breeder will sell to a pet store. Don’t buy your puppy from a pet store or the internet. I know PetSmart in Wyomissing adopts pets from different rescue organizations. There are a few decent pet stores – the ones who don’t SELL pets but allow you to adopt, but very few. Be careful when searching through classified ads. Many puppymilllers advertise there as well.
ADOPT from a shelter or rescue organization. Each year 6-8 million animals enter shelters with approximately 1/3 purebred pets. And each year 3-4 million wonderful pets are euthanized. Adopt and save a life and take the business away from the puppymills. And tell your friends about the horrors of puppymills!