PA Kennel Law response
Below is a response to an email I sent to the Dept. of Ag for PA. I emailed them telling them that I would not locate any business expansion there if they chose to go through with the regulations. Does anyone from PA know anything about these sporting dog representatives that they talk about?
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"This e-mail is being sent on behalf of Jessie L. Smith, Special Deputy Secretary, Dog Law Enforcement
Dear Mr. Tindle:
Mary Bender, Director of Dog Law Enforcement, has asked me to respond to your 7/17/07 e-mail to her. I am the new Special Deputy Secretary for Dog Law Enforcement at the PA Department of Agriculture. I appreciate your interest and concern about Dog Law issues.
The draft Dog Law regulations were published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on 12/16/06, http://pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol36/36-50/2452.html (at the end of the page, click “Next” for the rest of the regulations), and during the extended public 90-day comment period (which ended March 16, 2007), we received over 16,000 comments from both individuals and groups, making many constructive suggestions. We received comments on April 16 from the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, and continue to receive comments from legislators.
The comment period is the first step in the regulatory process, and the Department is now preparing responses to the comments and revising the regulations based on these comments received from all individuals and groups. The comment and response document and the revised regulations will be posted on the Department of Agriculture website, www.agriculture.state.pa.us, after this process is completed which will take several months.
The interests of sporting and hunting dog owners are specifically represented on the Dog Law Advisory Board by Mr. John Gibble of the Northeast Beagle Gun Club Federation, and that the interests of sportsmen generally are also represented by Mr. Harold Stoneberger, who holds a boarding kennel license and raises German Shorthaired Pointers. Cindy Miller, a Brittany breeder, also sits on the Board as the representative of the AKC. Board members have made written comments and will be involved in the process as the draft regulations are being reviewed and revised.
The kennel regulations do not apply to field trials, fox hunts, or other common dog activities like grooming, training, dog shows and dog parks – no kennel license is required for any of these activities. The proposed regulations do not change this. Also, the regulations by law do not apply to anyone having less than 26 dogs during the course of a year, unless they are running a boarding kennel.
We appreciate your interest in this important subject. Thank you for contacting the Department about this.
Jessie L. Smith
Special Deputy Secretary
Department of Agriculture
Dog Law Enforcement
2301 N. Cameron Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110
Office: (717) 214-3447
Fax: (717) 346-3301
jlsmith@state.pa.us"
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