From the Philadelphia Inquirer (todays):
Rendell to name puppy-mill regulator
The governor also will propose legislative changes, including stiffening the penalties for animal abuse.
By Amy Worden
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG - Seeking to end the inhumane treatment of dogs in commercial breeding operations, Gov. Rendell is expected to announce today the appointment a career state prosecutor to lead the embattled office charged with regulating 2,500 kennels across the state.
Jessie Smith, a 20-year veteran of the Office of Attorney General and a former board member of the Harrisburg Humane Society, has been named special deputy secretary of the Bureau of Dog Law, according to administration sources.
Rendell, who pledged in March to take action to improve conditions in the state's "puppy mills," also is expected to announce the appointment of Jeffrey Paladina, a former assistant district attorney, as special prosecutor for dog law enforcement and the establishment of a four-member enforcement team that will be dispatched to problem kennels.
"This is the first step toward a long-term solution to the puppy-mill problem in Pennsylvania," said Bob Baker, an ASPCA consultant who served on a working group that made recommendations to Rendell early this year. "This sends a strong message to breeders to straighten up or there will be action."
Animal welfare groups say the bureau has been unable to stop the worst offenders because it had rarely used its power to suspend or revoke kennel licenses. "The excuse it gave was that it didn't have an attorney to handle that," Baker said.
Rendell also is expected to announce the 16 new members of the Dog Law Advisory board, which is expected to meet next month to consider regulatory changes to the dog law. Last spring Rendell fired the entire board, saying it had not been "proactive" enough.
Smith, former chief of torts litigation in the Attorney General's Office, will serve as liaison between the bureau, which is part of the Department of Agriculture, and the Governor's Office, animal welfare groups, and breeders. Paladina most recently served as assistant district attorney in Beaver County.
Rendell also is to present a package of proposed legislative changes, including stiffening the criminal penalties for animal abuse, requiring revoking the kennel licenses of convicted of cruelty, and giving the bureau authority to issue civil penalties for dog law violations.
There are 216 breeding operations that each have more than 250 dogs in Pennsylvania, a number that has increased during the last 25 years. Conditions in the breeding facilities, which supply pet stores in the Northeast, have been the focus of national animal welfare groups for years.
Many young dogs produced in puppy mills and sold to unwitting consumers have been found to have genetic conditions and fatal diseases. Many of the breeding dogs spend their lives without socialization, crammed in wire cages stacked on top of one another.
An ASPCA undercover investigation last spring found almost all of the 17 kennels visited in Lancaster, Chester and Berks Counties had dog law violations, such as dogs living in undersize cages, feces-coated pens, dogs with badly matted coats, and dogs suffering from eye diseases, Baker said.
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Hopefully it'll pay off and be of a benefit.
