State officials say the frequency of kennel inspections in Pennsylvania to be sure no animal cruelty is taking place is dropping and that's bad news for both the animals and tax payers.
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding says the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement is facing a budget crisis that makes it difficult for the department to operate properly.
Funding for the Bureau comes from dog licenses and, according to the Department of Agriculture, that funding has dried up.
Only Bureau Dog Wardens are permitted to enter kennels without a warrant. The Department of Agriculture says they've been unable to fill warden vacancies.
“Without a search warrant, no one other than Pennsylvania’s dog wardens are allowed inside kennels – where dogs are bred – to check on their wellbeing,” Redding said. “But the frequency of these kennel inspections is slipping because the bureau is operating on a shoe-string budget – a transfer of taxpayer dollars from the Department of Agriculture’s general operating budget – and can barely keep up with minimum services."
The dog license fees has remained the same for 25 years in the state.
State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski is proposing an increase in dog licensing fees to fund the bureau's budget through House Bill 526. A companion bill in the senate is being sponsored by State Senator Judy Schwank.
The department says both bills would increase a dog license for spayed or neutered dog to $10 a year from the current $6.50 fee. In addition, the age requirement for a dog to be licensed would change to eight weeks.
“The bureau was self-sustaining for over 125 years and can be once again by simply adding a penny a day to the cost of a dog license. My HB 526 would do just that. This will save taxpayers millions of dollars, restore the resources necessary for our dog wardens to protect dogs in commercial breeding kennels, protect the public from dangerous dogs, help reunite stray dogs with their families, and much more,” he said.
Wardens perform two unannounced inspections per year at kennels according to state law. With the budget crisis, the Agriculture Department says those visits are less frequently now and in years past, the visits happened more than two times a year.
“Our wardens work closely with Pennsylvania’s SPCA’s by referring potential cruelty cases to humane society police officers for investigation,” said Kristen Donmoyer, director of the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement. “I worry that as our wardens visit kennels less frequently, we’re leaving dogs unprotected and without a voice.”
“This license fee increase is long overdue,” said Todd Hevner, executive director of the SPCA of Luzerne County. “The lack of adequate funding streams to support the vital work the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement performs will jeopardize the strides we have made in improving the state of animal welfare in Pennsylvania.”