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But one dog stole the show when her human, Gov. Ed Rendell, rallied loudest for H.B. 2525, which faced a series of potentially devastating amendments Monday in the state House. The amendments were defeated, and the bill is expected to pass the House today.
"There are a lot of special-interest groups in this building fighting to defeat this legislation," Rendell said on the Capitol steps during the noon rally, which drew animal advocates from around the country.
"What does it say about us that we allow people to shoot and kill dogs?" he asked the crowd.
In the works for two years, H.B. 2525 has become a lightning rod for some breeders and for legislators who support breeders' business interests.
The bill gained momentum in August, when the state's Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement announced that two Berks County breeders had shot and killed their 80 otherwise healthy dogs after inspectors ordered 39 of them to be checked by veterinarians for flea bites.
And now, with only a week's worth of voting days left in the legislative session, the rally marked a loud, final push to move H.B. 2525 through both chambers. Otherwise, it must face reintroduction in January.
On Tuesday, though, the bill seemed to have plenty of support from legislators, who lined up behind Rendell at the podium.
Rendell introduced Maggie, a small retriever he adopted from Chester County's Main Line Animal Rescue after she was rescued from a Lancaster County puppy mill. Rendell said Maggie's ticket to freedom was that her third litter was stillborn, making her unprofitable to the kennel operator. He said she's small for her breed because she lived in a rabbit hutch for two years before being rescued."You can see she's very happy now. At this point, Maggie wakes up every morning and says, 'Thank God I'm not pregnant,' " Rendell told an audibly amused crowd.
Rendell said the bill still faces a fight in the Senate, so he urged people to contact their state senators to encourage their support.
"Go to your senators and tell them this is an issue they should vote on," he said before Maggie cut him off with sudden, persistent barking. "Tell them you're not going to apologize for being a single-issue voter. … "
Rendell turned the podium over to Maggie when he again was cut off by her barking.
"I'm upstaged by my own dog … ," he said. "Maggie thanks you, as well I do, and the many canines who don't have a voice of their own."
Speaking at the rally, Janet Wall, vice president of Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the bureau supports H.B. 2525, which would double the required minimum floor space for kennels, require annual vet checks for all kennel dogs, ban wire floors for kennels of adult dogs, require that dogs have access to outdoor exercise areas twice the size of their kennel enclosures and eliminate the stacking of cages.
"Abusive breeders should be put out of business immediately and permanently," Wall said at the rally. "Our voices must rise up as one — pass House Bill 2525 now."
Also speaking Tuesday was Main Line Animal Rescue's Bill Smith, who lobbied for Oprah Winfrey to cover the issue on her daily talk show in April. Smith said Winfrey will feature the issue again in an upcoming segment and that People magazine has a story on Pennsylvania's puppy mills in this week's issue.
(403) (226) (177) (118) (94) (62) (55) (39) (37) (36) (29) (19) (11) (8) (8) (6) (6) (4) (3) (2)Stephanie Shain, director of the Humane Society of the United States' campaign to end puppy mills, said the bill has met opposition, but that it's not meant to end dog breeding.
"This is not a radical bill, despite what its opponents say," Shain said. "This is a modest bill to set basic standards of living for dogs who spend their entire lives in cages. This is not an anti-breeding bill, and that's why responsible breeders support H.B. 2525."
Author Jana Kohl, a Chicago animal advocate touring the country with her own puppy-mill rescue dog, Baby, told the crowd Tuesday that the bill has bipartisan support.
"The country is watching today. … This is a no-brainer. Pennsylvania is sadly earning the reputation as the puppy mill capital of the country. Pennsylvania legislators have the wonderful opportunity to change that and show that Pennsylvania is a humane state," Kohl said.
For state Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf of Bucks and Montgomery counties, who watched the rally unfold, H.B. 2525 is the culmination of more than a decade of his own effort.
Greenleaf, a Republican, was behind the original legislation to regulate breeding kennels that passed more than 15 years ago.
"It's a long process because Pennsylvania is an agricultural state," he said. "Dogs are not livestock. They're companion pets. You don't have to have a dog to know how dogs depend on us and how they just gravitate to us and become part of the family."
E-mail: slindt@lnpnews.com
