Lancaster County has a national reputation -- and not just for Amish buggies and acres of picturesque farmland. Thanks to a recent episode of the Oprah Winfrey show, in which she did a long-overdue report on puppy mills, we're back in the headlines. From puppy mills to factory farms, from toxic farm runoff to the continued greedy development of farmland and open space, we've got a lot of work to do to make Lancaster County and all of Central PA a better place for ALL creatures to live in.

On Monday, April 21st, at 7 pm, our regular monthly meeting was open to the public -- and featured a great speaker. Humane Officer Keith Mohler talked to and with us about legislation and regulation that's needed, and the laws and rules that are currently on the books but not enforced -- and give us ideas for how every citizen of Lancaster County can help make things better for animals, the environment, and the human population, too.

Due to the success of this meeting, we'll be having more public meetings of this nature throughout the year -- possibly once per quarter. Stay tuned for more information!

by Brenda Haar

One of the members of the League of Humane Voters Central Pa Chapter, Lori McGowan, has been transporting and fostering dogs for some time now. While attending a recent LOHV event, I asked her about what she does and how I could get involved. After following up with email and adding my name to the list of other volunteers for the network, I quickly received an email requesting help for an 8-dog transport, in which my leg of the journey would go from Harrisburg to Allentown, Pennsylvania. Gina Austin, the coordinator of the transport, had the enormous task of gathering all of our information and formatting it into a two-day trip in which these dogs would go from car to car, each leg taking at least one to two hours, allowing time for potty and water breaks, making overnight accommodations for all, a weekend journey that would take these pups from Tennessee all the way to New Hampshire to their safe and forever homes!

Sunday was an anxious day for me, but Lori helped me with all the details, including having fresh water and treats, carrying an extra collar and leash (just in case!), and bags for cleanup after the potty break. There is so much to be prepared for! Fortunately, the experienced transporters were wonderful, and helped us out in organizing who took which pack of dogs. A group of us, those who transported to Harrisburg, and those of us who were transporting to Allentown, had the dogs out on leashes for water and some exercise before the next trip. While in the break area, we received much attention from restaurant patrons, who came over to see what all of the hullabaloo was. I spoke with one woman, there with her husband and son, who told me that they have a yellow Lab like the one I was walking. She said “they are such sweet dogs!” I told her that these dogs were all rescued animals that volunteers were helping to get to a home, because they would have been euthanized otherwise. She couldn’t believe it, saying “but these are pure-bred dogs! How could they be at a shelter???” I always forget how little people know about shelters and how millions of animals are euthanized every year, and the plethora of breeds and mixed dogs and cats are available at all times! I was glad that I could tell their story, and educate people about adoption being the best way to add a new furry family member to your home.

We ended up with two big, wonderful female yellow Labs and one younger Shepherd mix pup. They were all happy and vivacious, and couldn’t give us enough kisses! My dad rode "shotgun" on the trip, holding the pup on his lap most of the journey. As he calmed the puppy, the puppy ended up working his way to the back of the cargo area with the two girls, and they all snuggled and kissed each other, plopping down to take a snooze.

During the ride, we enjoyed the interaction with the dogs, who made us laugh the whole way to Allentown. When we arrived, we met up with the other driver (Heidi) from Harrisburg at our designated meeting place, and the three of us worked together to get all of the dogs refreshed and ready for the next leg of the trip home. While we waited, a woman actually came over to Heidi and asked her if we were selling the dogs! She had the chance to explain to her what we were doing as well, so one more person was educated about our expedition and the dogs’ plight.

This is just one more way we can help our animals to find a home and a family, where they will be loved the rest of their lives. One more opportunity to educate others about humane treatment of our animals, those who we co-exist with, and what we can do to help them. I hope others will participate in this sort of work. If you'd like to receive an email from us when such a transport is in need of volunteer drivers, send us an email.

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