PA Dog Legislation On Chopping Block

Both Sides Play Political ‘Russian Roulette’ As Clock Runs Out

by JOHN YATES

American Sporting Dog Alliance

http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org

asda@csonline.net

HARRISBURG, PA – Legislation to regulate dog ownership and kennels was stalled off July 5 by a series of political maneuvers in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. These maneuvers might have killed the legislation for this year, but the November election could turn this situation into a high-stakes game of Russian roulette for both sides in 2009.

HB 2525 was bottled up in committee before the Legislature’s summer recess. It can be considered again only during an expected brief fall session, which convenes September 15. The fall session may last only two weeks before the Legislature adjourns again for election-year campaigning. Leaders from both parties have promised not to call a “lame duck” session after the election.

This means that H.B. 2525 must pass both houses of the Legislature during a brief but busy two-week session in September, or it is dead.

Some observers believe that the delaying tactics have effectively killed H.B. 2525, as a two-week session is not enough time to work through more than 100 floor amendments in the House, followed by Senate committee hearings and expected amendments, Senate floor debate and possible amendments, and House concurrence with the results. The Senate, with a Republican majority, is expected to resist some parts of the legislation.

Moreover, legislators and senators may not want to face this inherently divisive and controversial issue only a few weeks before the November election. Elected officials who represent Pennsylvania farm country or areas with a lot of hunters are expected to catch a lot of heat from the voters if they support this legislation. We believe this issue alone has the potential to decide some close political contests in November, and we will be making House and Senate voting records on this legislation known to more than 50,000 Pennsylvanians on our database.

Some representatives of dog owners’ groups are quietly claiming victory, in the belief that the legislation is dead in the water. Gov. Ed Rendell, who strongly supports the legislation, reportedly has expressed outrage over the political maneuvering in the House that derailed it. The Governor is refusing to compromise.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance believes that both views are counterproductive and very risky. We view the next month as an ideal time to forge a fair and honest compromise between both sides that will result in good legislation that protects both the dogs in “puppy mills” and people who own dogs and kennels.

We also see great risks for both sides of this issue if they fail to forge a good compromise before September, because the outcome of the November election could reshuffle all of the political cards in the Legislature. If the Republican Party wins majorities in the state House and Senate, it is likely to end any chance of doing anything to help dogs in large breeding kennels for at least two years. On the other hand, if the Democrats maintain control of the House and win a majority in the Senate, next year’s legislation could impose a far more radical animal rights agenda on dog ownership in Pennsylvania.

We are urging all Pennsylvania dog and kennel owners to play an active role to encourage a workable compromise before the Legislature reconvenes in September. If efforts to seek a fair compromise fail, we have no choice except to urge the House and Senate to completely reject this burdensome and dangerous legislation.

It is vital to contact legislators and senators from both political parties over the coming month. We are urging contacts in person or by phone, followed up by “hard copy” letters. Emails are the least effective form of contact. Links to contact information are provided below.

It is also important to contact legislators who support Rendell’s position, including co-sponsors of H.B. 2525, as their support for fair amendments is critical. In real life politics, “support” sometimes boils down to “non-opposition” to allow the clock to wind down without pushing the legislation to a vote. Thus, please ask supporters of H.B. 2525 to either change it to make it fair, or let it lie dormant until time runs out.

Rendell has only himself to blame for the de facto strategic defeat of HB 2525 in the House.

He caused the defeat through a campaign for the legislation that relied on deceit and did nothing to dispel legitimate concerns of dog owners about the true intentions of several parts of the legislation. Thus far, he has refused to compromise.

Rendell claims that the legislation affects only large commercial kennels (“puppy mills”), but that’s simply not true. Speaking through Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolfe and Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement Deputy Director Jessie Smith, Rendell has attempted to conceal the fact that much of HB 2525 applies all kennels and dog owners.

The Governor also erroneously claimed that existing regulations cannot prevent the horrors in Pennsylvania “puppy mills” that were depicted in a recent televised report on the Oprah Winfrey Show. In fact, anyone who has read current state and federal regulations knows that all of the horrible situations shown by Winfrey already are illegal under existing kennel and animal cruelty laws.

Rendell’s credibility also was hurt when it became clear that state officials worked in collusion with Winfrey and animal rights activists to exploit the inhumane conditions shown in the report as a political tool to paint all kennel owners in the worst possible light. A reading of current laws makes it clear that those “puppy mills” have been deliberately protected by the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement and animal rights groups. These bad kennels have been allowed to continue to operate for cynical public relations purposes to gain leverage for the legislation. Innocent dogs have paid a horrible price for this underhanded politicking by Rendell and the animal rights groups.

Those few bad kennels could be shut down immediately, but instead are being protected in order to stir up public sympathy for animal rights legislation.

Several animal rights groups in Pennsylvania jumped on the bandwagon by releasing numerous reports of animal cruelty arrests in order to depict dog and kennel owners as greedy, irresponsible and cruel. These groups deliberately launched a fabricated smear campaign against all kennel and dog owners  to create political support for new laws, when in reality their reports proved that existing laws work: the defendants were found guilty and the animals were protected.

Actual court cases for animal abuse and kennel law citations show that existing laws can be very effective if they are enforced. Further proof lies in the fact that there was a 600-percent increase in kennel law citations in 2007, and more than 20 noncompliant kennels were shut down.

In a state with a million dog owners, it is easy to find a dozen bad apples. That is just what the animal rights groups did, in order to lever political pressure to pass unfair new laws that really are aimed at putting good kennels out of business.

These unethical tactics of political deception and dishonesty have created a climate of mistrust that has caused dog owners to fight for their lives against any new legislation that is supported by Rendell. He has violated our trust, and those kinds of wounds are not easy to heal.

As a result, needed improvements in the law probably have been delayed at least until next year.

Some dog owners’ groups see this as a victory, because of the many bad things in H.B. 2525.

We don’t.

We think good legislation should be passed this year.

Pennsylvania has been in turmoil over this issue for two years, and it’s time for trust to be restored and healing to begin. It’s time to do something constructive to help the dogs in large commercial kennels to live better lives. Those dogs deserve better than to wait another year for Rendell to get the message that the vast majority of Pennsylvanians do not want laws that treat conscientious and caring dog owners like criminals.

Both sides on this issue also face substantial risk by waiting until next year. The November election has the potential to alter the balance of political power in the Legislature, as many state political candidates may live or die on the coattails of the two candidates for president.

We also believe that the majority of Pennsylvania’s senators and legislators want to do something now to help dogs in large commercial kennels, as long as it is fair and just to dog and kennel owners.

The Rendell legislation is not the answer, and this fact is becoming increasingly apparent to many senators and representatives.

In the current political climate, we expect H.B. 2525 to pass the House in close to its present form, after substantial and time-consuming debate on the 100-plus amendments. We then expect it to stall in the Senate as time runs out on the 2008 legislative session.

There is a better way.

That way is to make the needed changes now. It would take leaders from both sides of the aisle to introduce an amendment gutting the entire bill, and then replacing it with compromise legislation. An ideal scenario would be for Rep. James Casorio (D-Westmoreland) to join with Rep. Robert Bastian (R-Somerset) to co-sponsor the required amendments. Casorio introduced the legislation for Rendell, and Bastian (a licensed veterinarian) has played a major role in attempting to amend it to protect dog and kennel owners. The American Sporting Dog Alliance will be approaching both of these legislators about the potential for a compromise.

Several changes are needed to assure that H.B. 2525 is fair to dog and kennel owners. These include:

• Following the recommendations of the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association in regard to housing requirements for dogs in large commercial breeding kennels. We believe that veterinarians are best qualified to determine humane housing requirements. Please keep in mind that the purpose of a law is to set a minimum acceptable standard. It is not to set an ideal standard.

• Protecting the ability of all kennel owners to continue to give their own rabies vaccinations. Eliminating this practice is seen as purely punitive, in that it would multiply kennel owners’ costs and demands on time tenfold, while accomplishing no valid purpose. It has been 12 years since rabies was found in any kennel in Pennsylvania. The current law is working.

• Requiring all dog and kennel license fees to be stated in the legislation, as has been the practice for many years. This will protect dog and kennel owners by requiring the full legislature to vote on any increases. It also will reduce the possibility of a de facto spay and neuter policy through exorbitant license fees for unsterilized dogs. In other states, some municipalities impose license fees of up to $300 for each dog that is not spayed or neutered, and we believe this is a hidden agenda of the Rendell Administration through the current version of H.B. 2525.

• Protecting pet “day care” providers, which are defined as boarding kennels. H.B. 2525 counts every day that a dog is in day care as a separate dog. If a single dog is in day care for five days, it becomes five different dogs on paper. If one dog is in day care five days a week when its owner is at work, it becomes 260 different dogs on paper over the course of a year!  This means that anyone who provides day care or dog sitting services will have to pay very high license fees, as if they own a very large kennel. A teen-ager who gets paid $5 a day to watch a dog when its owner is at work, suddenly could face a $1,000 kennel license fee! A small commercial business that provides day care to 10 dogs a day, would be licensed as a 3,000-dog kennel when the year’s total of “paper” dogs are tallied! Dog sitting and day care are rapidly growing home businesses in modern America that greatly enhance the welfare of companion animals. People who do this valuable work would be driven out of business, and dog owners who need these services would be harmed.

• Maintaining the current fine for failing to license a dog at $25.  The Rendell legislation would increase this to a fine ranging from $50 to $300. These fines also would be imposed for people who fail to report a change of address, or who put down incorrect information on a dog license application. This is unnecessarily punitive for an offense that most often is the result of a simple oversight, and the money is not needed by the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, which has a budget surplus approaching $15 million. In addition, any increase in license fees should be closely tied to actual budget requirements to operate the Bureau.

• Modifying a complex and overlapping combination of fines and penalties for kennel owners, which could amount to thousands of dollars a day for even minor or technical infractions. Fines should remain at current levels for a summary offense citation, except when dogs are actually endangered by a violation, when higher fines for a misdemeanor are appropriate. Substantial civil penalties are added to fines in H.B. 2525, but these are appropriate only for willful and deliberate noncompliance with the law. There is no need to impose extreme penalties on kennel owners who are taking significant steps to come into compliance. Bringing kennels into compliance is the important issue, not punishment.

• Removing a requirement for kennel owners to be available for inspection within 36 hours notice (this was changed from 24 hours in the original legislation). Not being available would result in license revocation. While this may be fair for many full-time commercial breeding kennels, it is grossly unfair to the vast majority of Pennsylvania’s 2,700 licensed kennels. Almost all kennels are part-time or purely personal ventures, and the owner holds an outside job. These working people often cannot be available at a dog warden’s convenience. Some people may lose their jobs if they miss work on short notice. Others may have important meetings that cannot be canceled. Still other people may not even be in Pennsylvania when a dog warden arrives, because of business travel or vacations. Professional trainers and handlers may be traveling away from home for field trials, shows or training. The solution is to require dog wardens to work occasional evenings or weekends to inspect these kennels, or for kennel owners simply to provide a schedule of days and times when they are available for an inspection. This schedule would not interfere with the concept of unannounced inspections. If, for example, a kennel owner is home from work at 4 p.m., that allows 365 days a year for unannounced inspections after 4 p.m.

• Requiring the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement to follow constitutionally required procedures for searching private property and seizing dogs. H.B. 2525 trashes constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. A search warrant could be obtained as part of a general administrative plan, rather than requiring a dog warden to convince a judge that there is probable cause to believe a violation of the law has occurred. The legislation gives dog wardens 24/7 access to search private property, even though there is no proof of a violation of any law. Dogs also could be seized before their owner is found guilty of any offense, and the owner would have to pay high costs to have dogs returned even if he or she is found to be completely innocent of the charges by a court of law.

• And assuring that any future regulations are subject to complete legislative oversight. A lack of trust of Rendell’s intentions has become the single most significant issue in this legislation for dog owners. Legislation introduced a year ago was so severe that not one kennel in Pennsylvania could have complied, and most would have been driven out of business. Subsequent regulatory proposals issued this past December and January were somewhat improved, but still would have forced most kennels to spend several thousands of dollars for unnecessary work to comply, and forced many of them to close. Those two sets of terrible regulatory proposals have caused dog owners to have good reason to believe that Rendell’s true intentions are to close most of Pennsylvania’s kennels. The only way to restore trust while Rendell remains in office is to assure that the entire Legislature is required to approve any regulations in the future.

We encourage all dog owners to read the actual legislation for themselves. Here is a link to H.B. 2525: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2007&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=2525&pn=4068 .

The names of the House cosponsors are listed at the top of the legislation. We ask every dog owner to contact at least one of the cosponsors and ask him or her to support needed amendments to the legislation, or to vote against it. Here is a link to each member of the House of Representatives: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/representatives_alpha.cfm .

Please use that link both to contact cosponsors and also your own legislator.

Also, please contact your state senator now, as things will move quickly when the Legislature reconvenes in September. Here is a link for every senator’s contact information: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/senators_alpha.cfm .

Most senators and legislators will be working out of their district offices during the summer recess.

Later this week, we will issue a report on another crucial piece of legislation, H.B. 2532. This bill affects tail docking, dewclaw removal, ear cropping and other procedures under animal cruelty laws.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, hobby breeders and professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting. We are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights of dog owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships between dogs and humans maintains its rightful place in American society and life. Please visit us on the web at http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org. Complete directions to join by mail or online are found at the bottom left of each page. Our email is ASDA@csonline.net.