State Is Going To The Dogs
SHAMEFUL PUPPY MILLS HAVE TO BE SHUT DOWN
GOV. RENDELL has taken on possibly one of the most volatile and emotional issues of his tenure: puppy mills.
These despicable places, where dogs are bred and raised in unsanitary, crowded and disease-prone conditions, flourish in Pennsylvania, specifically in Lancaster County. Known for lush farms and its Amish population, the county and its more than 240 puppy mills have helped make Pennsylvania "The Puppy Mill Capitol of The East."
It's a shameful reputation. Rendell, a dog-lover himself, wants to change that. And we support him.
Puppy mills are not pretty places. And innocent families eager to purchase a new cute puppy may not be aware that even dogs bought at commercial pet stores may have been breed at a mill.
Often, the evidence doesn't appear until years later: respiratory infections and other sicknesses, genetic defects caused by indiscriminate breeding. A dog may not be able to socialize with humans because it's been cooped up so long.
And the breeding dogs, often called "brood bitches," are caged up and forced to breed continually until their usefulness runs out.
The state's system, which is supposed to reduce this animal abuse, is seriously broken. Rendell, who researched this subject for several months, last week received informal recommendations on what might be done to fix the system and protect canines.
It'll take steps from the Legislature, changes in administrative policy and in regulations. More dog wardens, with greater enforcement power and more responsibilities, are needed. So too are prosecutors whose specific job is to handle these and other related cases. Perhaps even an animal-control version of a SWAT team that can quickly swoop down on mills and take breeders who are violating the law into custody.
But these changes won't come easy.
Puppies are viewed in some corners as a cash crop. Breeders may see such moves by Rendell as an attack on their way of life. Farm owners may see the crackdown as a harbinger to increased governmental oversight of their chickens or other animals.
Some supporters may want to get rid of puppy mills altogether. And pet-store owners are sure to cry foul.
Nothing gets the emotions flowing quite like the fate of our pets. Gov. Rendell, with no political gain to be made, appears up to the task.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/14210887.htm