Art Hershey of Chester County is the ringleader of the movement to quash the puppy mill legislation that is pending. In good old Harrisburg tradition, he is trying to bury the legislation with inane amendments - some say over 100 at this point. The bottom line is this: any breeder or veterinarian or farmer worth their salt should have NO problem with the puppy mill bills. And they are hardly discriminating against the Amish and Mennonites. All it is is seeing that domestic animals are treated humanely. Check out www.stoppapuppymills.org and www.mlar.org and www.aspca.org - Contact Art Hershey and tell him he is an old punk:

ahershey@pahousegop.com
Home Page: http://www.arthershey.com

Hon. Art Hershey
3157 Limestone Road
PO Box 69
Cochranville, PA 19330
(610) 593-6565
Fax: (610) 593-7041

Hon. Art Hershey
202 Ryan Office Building
PO Box 202013
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2013
(717) 783-6435
Fax: (717) 705-1868

With shootings in mind, Rendell touts kennel bill
He took his own dog, Maggie, who was rescued from a puppy mill, to the Center City news conference.
By Amy Worden
Inquirer Staff Writer

With his puppy-mill-rescue dog by his side, Gov. Rendell made an impassioned plea to the legislature yesterday to pass a bill that aims to make sweeping improvements in the state's commercial kennels.
Rendell said the "brutal killing" of 80 dogs at two licensed kennels in Berks County had shed light on the horrible but legal practice of euthanizing dogs by shooting them.

"Dogs who live in this type of kennel are valued only for the sale price of their offspring," he said at a news conference at a Center City dog park. The owners "would shoot the dogs rather than pay for vet care."

Sometime between July 24 and July 29, Elmer and Ammon Zimmerman of Kutztown shot their small-breed dogs - most of them poodles, cocker spaniels and shih tzus - and threw them in a compost pile after veterinary exams were ordered on 39 animals for fleas, according to officials with the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement.

Elmer Zimmerman said in an interview last week that he felt he had no choice because the warden had told him the state was trying to close down commercial kennels, an assertion the bureau denies.

"The warden said to them that if they would like to surrender dogs, we would make arrangements with the Animal Rescue League to surrender those dogs," bureau director Sue West said.

The case has stirred public outcry to ban the killing of dogs by gunshot. On Friday night, about 200 people turned out for a candlelight vigil organized outside Elmer Zimmerman's dairy farm by animal-welfare groups including North Penn Puppy Mill Watch, Main Line Animal Rescue, and Lancaster County's United Against Puppy Mills.

House Bill 2525 would make it illegal for anyone but a veterinarian to euthanize a dog in a commercial kennel housing 60 or more dogs a year. First-time violators would face a maximum fine of $500 and up to 90 days in jail.

The bill also would increase cage sizes, ban wire cage flooring, eliminate cage-stacking, and require outdoor exercise areas and annual veterinary exams.

It stalled in the House Appropriations Committee last month, just before summer recess, after Republicans loaded it up with more than 100 amendments.

Rendell, who also yesterday announced plans to increase the dog-law enforcement staff by 13, including a veterinarian, had strong words for Republican House members, especially Rep. Art Hershey (R., Chester). Several of Hershey's 17 amendments would strip out major provisions of the bill, including cage size and access to water.