A victory for PA... now when is it going to be Ohio's turn??

PA: Victory--Puppy Mill Reform Bill Passes!

PA HB 2525

ASPCA Position: Support

Update, 10/10/08:

Governor Rendell signed HB 2525 into law the night of Thursday, October 9. There is expected to be a bill-signing ceremony sometime next week. The rules regarding euthanasia went into effect immediately—meaning that it is no longer legal for people to shoot their own dogs in Pennsylvania.

Congratulations, Pennsylvania—you did it! At approximately 3:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 8, the Pennsylvania State Senate passed HB 2525, the puppy mill reform bill, in a landslide vote of 49 to 1. Because there were amendments, the bill had to return to the House of Representatives for concurrence, but the House acted swiftly, passing the final version by a vote of 183 to 7 at around 7:00 P.M. Rep. Art Hershey, an outspoken foe of HB 2525, excused himself from voting at the last minute.

Although we are not pleased with some of the amendments that were added to the final bill, HB 2525 will still require commercial breeders to double the cage space required for dogs. It also prohibits wire flooring and the stacking of cages, mandates exercise for all dogs, requires that ALL dogs receive veterinary care every six months, and requires that animals be humanely euthanized by licensed veterinarians. This legislation will have an enormously positive impact on the lives of tens of thousands of dogs in Pennsylvania’s puppy mills.

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I high lighted the key points to this bill. Not allowing cages to be stacked is HUGE! Requiring vet care means SO MANY puppy mills will probably shut down because they don't want to pay for that. Do you have any idea how expensive that is going to be for them. WOOHOOO!!!

Humanely euthanizing dogs, again a HUGE expense that they are not going to do. The only bad thing about that is they may just dump the dogs at shelters or on country roads.

Oh this is great news! It is going to take a while for this to really impact the puppy mills but lets hope that people inforce this bill and we should see that change even faster!

WOW! I dream of such things in Ohio!