Senate Bill 1329 aka Daniel’s Law, passed unanimously in the Senate last week : a step closer to banning the use of gas chambers in animal shelters in PA. While many advocates saw victory, the new language has left others puzzled and/or outraged.
The new language in the bill states that the remaining shelters who use these death chambers would NOT have access to drugs (sodium bentobarital) to euthanize the animals. In other words, each shelter would have to hire a licensed veterinarian to euthanize animals with this barbituate drug.
The controversary stems from the fact that the last few remaining shelters used gas chambers because they couldn’t afford a veterinarian. The old language stated there would be training of euthanasia technicians in these shelters. That is out and the new language is part of the bill that passed last week.
Not only was that language removed and confusing but another area of concern to me and others is the section which exempts “normal agricultural operations” from this bill. Hmm….why the confusion? Puppy mills have been listed under this title and this has the potential to be a loophole for commercial kennel operators to kill their dogs once again.
Our new dog law, Act 119, clearly states they are not allowed to perform these acts. Similar wording was in the original SB 1329 bill. I was on the phone on a consistent basis with Senator Dinniman’s legal advisor to get this portion removed. In the end, success was reached and the language was removed.
It appears SB 1329 has been changed considerably and appears troubling. I have been in contact with Senator Dinniman’s office, once again, to ask about these changes.
I was informed that Governor Corbett is the one behind these changes. Dinniman clearly didn’t want this but they had no choice. If they didn’t agree, the bill would have been as good as dead. Since they want to see the end of gas chambers in shelters, SB 1329 passed last week.
So what about these two sections and their language? When asked, Martin Indars, legislative director for Senator Dinniman, told me they are working on the veterinarian issue with an animal organization so it won’t pose a financial problem for the shelters involved. He stated that if the bill becomes law, they will have this situation under control and each of these shelters will have a veterinarian on board and ready to go once the bill becomes law. I was very encouraged by his message.
As to the exemption of “normal agricultural operations”, Indars stated that Act 119 (Section 207) will supersede the wording in SB 1329 and no commercial kennel operators will be allowed to kill their dogs.
After having an interesting conversation with Mr. Indars, I asked if he would give me his word that these two sections would be resolved and not present a problem. He answered with an emphatic “Yes.”
Mr. Indars wanted me to relay this information because he stated alot of misinformation is floating around in cyberspace. I want to thank Senator’s Dinniman’s office for keeping me up-to-date on the latest news about this bill. They are working diligently to see this important piece of legislation get passed and ban the use of gas chambers in PA.