Aug 26, 2018 2 min read

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated,” said Mahatma Gandhi. Pennsylvania has the fourth highest number of puppy mills in the nation, and many are included on the Humane Society’s Horrible Hundred report. We also are among the worst states for complaints about pet stores and brokers selling sick puppies. “You’ve got a Friend in Pennsylvania” clearly hasn’t applied to these puppies.

A major legislative victory was achieved last year improving animal cruelty laws. We must end the commonwealth’s nationwide reputation for facilitating puppy mills now. Sen. Guy Reschenthaler and Rep. Jason Ortitay are seeking to accomplish that by sponsoring a companion bill which they say will make the puppy market “more humane.”

The legislation aims to have pet stores partner with shelters and rescues to promote adoption and decrease the demand for animals raised in puppy mills. It will also remove a loophole in the outdoor sales law. Currently, a licensed kennel can sell a dog at any public place, but a license does not guarantee that the breeder is humane. Under this proposal, the exemption for licensed kennels will be removed.

Purchasing a puppy at a remote location makes it impossible to see the parents of the puppies or the conditions in which they were raised, making it the perfect sales venue for unscrupulous dealers. When it comes down to it, this is a business that’s based off of animal cruelty and maximizing profit.

The General Assembly must act now to adopt legislation before the session ends in November.

A great nation should ensure humane breeding.

Patrick Geho

Canonsburg

Clean-air rollback comes as no surprise

Never mind the state of our planet. President Donald Trump’s major concern is himself and winning the 2020 presidential election.

A rollback of coal pollution regulations should not at all come as a surprise. It was in a friendly exchange of quid pro quo that those businesses responsible for chlorofluorocarbons and other gaseous compounds harmful to the earth’s ozone layer helped to put Trump in the White House. And there is no doubt that Trump is looking for their support again in 2020. So why wouldn’t Trump want to do them a favor?

But all that back-scratching is causing the ozone layer to become thinner and bleeding our planet dry.

JoAnn Lee Frank

Clearwater, Fla.