Two Years After Oprah's 'Puppy Mill' Show Aired, Animal Advocates Will Gather in Philadelphia to Urge Governor Ed Rendell to Once Again Help Puppy Mill Dogs

PHILADELPHIA, April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two years after Oprah Winfrey exposed Pennsylvania's puppy mills on her world-wide television show, animal advocates in Pennsylvania will hold a candlelight vigil in the East Falls section of Philadelphia to shed light on the ongoing plight of puppy mill dogs.  Hundreds of people are expected to attend the event in an effort to urge PA Governor Ed Rendell and legislators to stop thousands of breeding dogs from continuing to stand on painful and dangerous wire flooring in commercial kennels throughout Pennsylvania.  Rendell and the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate control five of the nine-member panel which will vote to reintroduce wire flooring after Rendell's new dog law banned wire or similar flooring in favor of solid or slatted flooring in 2008.  "No one understands why the governor, who controls the majority of the votes on the board, would allow this to happen?" said Bill Smith of Main Line Animal Rescue.  Animal advocates were told when the Canine Health Board was created that the new dog law would not be weakened by the board because Rendell controls the majority of the votes.  Many see this move by commercial breeders as a crisis and a clear threat to the welfare of countless breeding dogs throughout the Commonwealth. 

Members and former members of the governor's Dog Law Advisory Board  were outraged to learn that flooring manufacturers will be present and promoting their products at the April 27th Canine Health Board meeting. Many feel that anyone who has anything to gain financially should not be  allowed to promote their products before the Canine Health Board, and the only consideration in creating new regulations should be the health and welfare of Pennsylvania's dogs. 

The leadership of the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association has also come under fire in the past for supporting the commercial breeders' desire to continue using wire flooring in their kennels - which is cheap and allows them  to avoid cleaning their kennels every day as required by law.   Advocates and rescue organizations have rescued thousands of dogs from PA's puppy mills with splayed feet from spending years living on painful wire.   As well as dogs missing feet and legs after the dogs' limbs became entrapped in the wire flooring of their hutch-style cages.  The PVMA, which shares a lobbying firm with Amish breeders who house up to 700 dogs in  their kennels, refuses to state publicly whether or not they approve of  the flooring samples submitted to the health board by the breeders; flooring designed primarily for hogs. 

Many feel that the PVMA's members should remember that often a large part of their practices involve treating dogs in rescues, or pets owned by people opposed to dogs spending their lives standing on wire in PA's puppy mills.  "The leadership of the PVMA represents 2200 vets in  Pennsylvania; vets we pay to care for our dogs - and we're not going to be happy if their leadership does anything to undermine our new dog laws," said one rescue volunteer.  Animal welfare organizations urge their own vets to support solid or slatted flooring in commercial kennels and encourage vets  throughout Pennsylvania to take a more active role in the positions  adopted by the PVMA leadership. 

Many animal advocates are already angry that Rendell's Special Secretary of Agriculture Jessie Smith and Director of the Bureau of Dog Law Sue West recently issued 81 waivers to as many commercial dog breeding kennels exempting them from Rendell's new dog laws - some kennels now have up to three years in which to comply with the new laws.  "Almost half of the commercial  kennels in PA are now exempt from the new laws thanks to Jessie Smith and Sue West, and some of these kennels have up to three years before they are required to provide their dogs with larger cages, twice yearly veterinary exams, and access to outside exercise runs.  Some of the dogs in these facilities  won't be alive when these kennels are finally in full compliance with the new dog law," said Bill Smith.  "And now they want us to compromise further on flooring?  No. We must stop this from happening or never again claim that Pennsylvania has the toughest laws in the nation."

Those who wish to attend the protest this Sunday night, April 18 (7:00-9:00 p.m.), are asked to contact Main Line Animal Rescue for details, [email protected] or call  610-933-0606.  Please provide MLAR with contact info in case of rain.   A rain date is scheduled.  Members of the press should also call  610-933-0606.  Volunteers from United Against Puppy Mills, MLAR, North Penn  Puppy Mill Watch, Peace For Puppies, and Puppy Mill Awareness Day will be  in attendance, as well as students from local schools including Great Valley  High School.  Vaux Street near School House Lane in the East Fall section  of Philadelphia will be closed on Sunday night to accommodate those attending  the vigil.  Another demonstration will be held in Hershey, Lancaster  County, in August of this year.  Details will be available at a later  date. 

SOURCE Main Line Animal Rescue