This is a request for help we recieved this morning.  I know the bill is not in Minnesota, but we have Amish puppy mills here, too, and this same kind of brutality is happening in our state. The dogs in PA have a chance at legal protections and they need all the help they can get.  Please tame a moment to send a polite e-mail and feel free to send links to our website to friends and family and ask them to do the same. 

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It takes an Amish farmer less than 5 minutes to "debark" one of his breeding dogs by hammering a steel rod down her throat - and breaking her jaw and shattering her back teeth.  It takes 5 minutes for that same farmer/commercial breeder to cut off one of his dog's tail - in a filthy, dark barn without anesthesia.  And it takes about the same amount of time for his thirteen year old son to tie the dog down and cut the puppies from her belly.  Five minutes more to crop her ears using a pair of rusted hedge shears - the dog squirming and crying out in unbelievable pain.

So why is it taking Senator Stewart Greenleaf more than a week to decide that this is wrong?  When we called his office last week to ask why his Committee is sitting on H.B. 39, we were told by his aide that Senator Greenleaf is "reviewing" the bill.  What's to review?

Everyone on Capital Hill knows about this bill.  It is the companion bill to H.B. 2525 that passed into law last fall.  When asked, repeatedly, if Senator Greenleaf would support H.B. 39, his aide would not commit.  This is surprising to us considering Senator Greenleaf not only toured Pennsylvania' s puppy mills with a reporter from the Inquirer in 1995, seeing firsthand the conditions these animals face, but he also coined the expression "Puppy Mill Capital of the East Coast" and expressed an urgent need for change.  Well, Senator Greenleaf, here's your chance to bring about change and help these dogs!

H.B. 39 would make it illegal for anyone other than a licensed veterinarian to perform these procedures, or if it is already illegal for anyone but a licensed vet to perform the procedure, it will toughen the penalties.  Please contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to vote the bill out of their committee so it can finally go to the floor of the Senate for a vote. The bill passed the House unanimously, and passed the Senate Agricultural Committee unanimously two weeks ago (thank you members of the Ag Committee!).  This bill is a crucial step toward protecting the dogs of Pennsylvania.

Please email (or call) the below legislators and ask them to to support H.B. 39 and move it to the Senate floor.  Important to note, Senator Greenleaf represents Montgomery County.