State lawmakers made some significant changes to proposed legislation designed to improve the lives of Pennsylvania's thousands of breeder dogs.

After overwhelming support in the House last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday added several amendments to House Bill 2525.

Several of the amendments would lessen the financial burden for breeders who must comply with structural and procedural changes proposed in the bill.

One amendment would allow some kennel operators three-year waivers to make structural upgrades required by the proposed legislation. The eligible kennel operators would have to prove they've made "substantial structural improvements" to their kennels and haven't been cited for dog-law violations in the past three years.

Another amendment calls for the creation of a Canine Health Board made up of veterinarians who would serve four-year terms. Three of the board members would be appointed by the governor, while the rest would be selected by minority and majority chairs of the House and Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committees.

Other amendments to the bill remove specifics of kennel condition requirements, such as lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation standards and charge the Canine Health Board to establish these standards.

An amendment calling for slatted flooring with spaces of no more than half an inch also was added. The bill originally required that adult dogs no longer live on wire flooring.

The flooring issue became such a sticking point that even the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association opposed the bill, in part because it required solid flooring in kennels.

One requirement that remains unchanged in the original bill states that only veterinarians may euthanize dogs — a provision stemming from the high-profile shooting and killing of 80 dogs by their Berks County kennel operators after inspectors ordered they get vet checks for 39 of the dogs for flea and fly bites.

Also intact is the requirement that all kennel dogs get annual vet checkups or examined by a vet every time they get pregnant.

Jessie L. Smith, the state's special deputy secretary for dog-law enforcement at the Bureau was unavailable for comment Wednesday. But Thomas G. Hickey Sr., also a member of the Dog Law Advisory Board that wrote H.B. 2525, said he's not entirely opposed to all the Senate amendments.

"I don't want to sound the alarms that we're in trouble because I don't know that to be true yet," Hickey said. "But if we read these amendments and they are devastating to the bill then we need to come up with a way to convince legislators that Pennsylvanians want these dogs protected, and they won't let politics get in the way of that this time."

Hickey said the three-year waiver is too long, although he acknowledged some responsible kennel operators may take a financial hit to meet the proposed legislation's standards.

Hickey said he preferred that the law set standards for kennel conditions such as lighting, heating and cooling rather than leaving the issue to be determined by a Canine Health Board.

"I'd prefer to have the standards in the law that say if you want to do business in Pennsylvania, you have to adhere to those standards and if you can't, you can't do business in Pennsylvania," Hickey said Wednesday. "But if they can get people together who truly care about dogs, I think I could live with that."

Not so with North Penn Puppy Mill Watch's Jenny Stephens.

"We do not accept these amendments," Stephens said Wednesday. "These amendments undo the amendments that were so soundly defeated in the House last week. So it's like a second bite at the apple."

Stephens said the most untenable of the amendments was the three-year waiver.

"If you look at the kennels that were raided over the summer, they all had pretty much clean inspection reports until their last inspection," Stephens said. "So those kennel owners wouldn't have to implement any of these provisions based on that."

Stephens also said delaying the effective date of the law's requirements means more dogs continue living in horrid conditions.

"This is guaranteeing that hundreds of dogs freeze to death this winter and die of heat exhaustion next summer," she said. "And that is shameful."

Stephens said she didn't like the Canine Health Board concept, saying it adds an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.

"It's a way for the Senate to avoid making decisions for which they would be held accountable," she said. "They have ignored the wishes of their constituents just to please a very small special interest group."

If the Senate passes the amended bill in two weeks, during its final three days of work this year, the bill would go back to the House, which plans to meet for seven days in November. If the House agrees to the Senate's changes, the bill would go to Rendell's desk for signature.

E-mail: slindt@lnpnews.com