Today Pennsylvania 's puppy mill dogs were dealt a crippling blow by Governor Rendell, Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

As many of you know, Governor Rendell is attempting to weaken our hard fought new dog laws by permitting commercial breeders to continue keeping their breeding dogs on painful wire flooring. Wire flooring was outlawed in 2008. Many of the waivers issued to the breeders expire in October of this year, so the Department of Agriculture decided to circumvent our new dog laws with a regulation in an attempt to once again protect the commercial breeders rather than the dogs of Pennsylvania .

Even though, legal authorities agree, you cannot trump an existing law with a regulation, today PA's Regulatory Review Commission passed the harmful regulation at the urging of the Rendell Administration, and Russell Redding is now permitting the breeders to expose their pregnant and nursing mothers to harmful chicken wire flooring. Secretary Redding also (by policy) is allowing breeders to not provide their breeding dogs with access to outdoor runs. Access to outdoor runs is also required under our new dog laws, but Secretary Redding, Special Secretary Jessie Smith, and Director Sue West don't want the breeders to have to obey this law either. Better that breeding dogs spend the entirety of their lives trapped inside.

Basically, the Rendell Administration is gutting every important aspect of our new laws - laws designed to improve living conditions for hundreds of thousands of dogs over the next twenty years. This is a governor we applauded and praised for his efforts on behalf of PA's puppy mill dogs. Not sure why he and his staff have flipped, and are now hurting the very dogs he promised to help. It is a sad time in Pennsylvania .

Please contact Jessie Smith, Russell Redding, Sue West, Agriculture Legal Counsel David Kennedy (addresses below), and let them know just how disappointed you are. Then contact your family and friends and ask them not to visit or spend money in Pennsylvania - our puppy mill problem is far from being solved. And the dogs will continue to suffer.

Bill S.
Main Line Animal Rescue

rredding@state.pa.us

jlsmith@state.pa.us

suewest@state.pa.us

dkennedy@state.pa.us