SB 1150: PA Senate Judiciary Committee Temporarily Postpones Action

The Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee was going to consider Senate Bill 1150 (the "Pigeon Shoot bill") on 3/19/08, but has decided to extended debate on the bill. Senator Pat Browne (R-Lehigh), the bill's sponsor, requested Committee Chairman, Senator Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery) to reschedule SB 1150 for the next meeting of the Committee, at which time Senator Browne believes the bill will be approved by the Committee. Please send Senator Brown a note or make a phone call thanking him for introducing SB 1150 and for his continued efforts to achieve committee approval and final passage of this bill.

Details from HSUS:

"As we saw this past week when the NRA tried to thwart our efforts to pass SB 1150, through email alerts from a variety of humane and animal advocate groups around our state and nationally, for the first time since this issue has been in the legislature we were able to surpass the opposition calls and emails to legislators generated by NRA efforts! You can help to sustain this momentum by helping to increase our numbers to be able to generate calls and emails at a moment’s notice. Please forward this message to other animal advocates and encourage them to take action and to join our email alert list."

House Bill 1065 - "The Dog Tethering Act" - Press Conference

Coordinated by PLAN (Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network), a press conference supporting HB 1065, legislation limiting the tethering of dogs, was held on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 10:00 am in the Rotunda of the Capitol. Animal advocates gathered to show their support of this important legislation for dogs. There were two formerly tethered and neglected dogs at the press conference.

Speakers:

Representative Mario Scavello, (R-Monroe), HB 1065 Sponsor
Howard Nelson, CEO of Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA)
Tammy Grimes, Founder, Dogs Deserve Better
Adam Goldfarb, Issues Specialist The Humane Society of the United States
Amy Kaunas, Executive Director, Humane Society of the Harrisburg Area

The majority of calls from the public that humane societies/SPCAs receive are about neglected tethered dogs.

Humane agencies need to have HB 1065 passed in order to better serve the community. Chained dogs are often given minimal attention and suffer from sporadic feedings, overturned water bowls, extreme weather conditions, inadequate veterinary care, are rarely vaccinated and hardly ever spayed or neutered. Dogs tethered in the same spot day after day are forced to eat, sleep, urinate, and defecate in a single confined area. Tethered dogs also suffer fleas, ticks, and parasitic infestations.

There is no law regarding the chaining of dogs in the state of Pennsylvania.

Visit our Legislation page for ways to help get HB1065 passed!