Have Your Legislators Been Naughty or Nice?

As we close in on the final month of 2013, Humane PA has published its end of the year 2013/2014 Scorecard, detailing how Pennsylvania legislators voted on bills that affect animals. We hope you will check it out to see how your PA State Senator and Representative voted on animal protection issues this year.

If they did well for animals, please thank them; if they have room for improvement, please let them know you’re paying attention. The scorecard link is a great resource to send to them too, so they can also see how they are doing. There is still time for them to do better before the 2014 elections, when animal advocates certainly will be checking to see how their legislators are doing before they go to the polls. The legislator’s records will also be used in the endorsement process. You can look up your state legislators here and find their e-mail address here, as well as follow them on Facebook.

• SB 82: Puppy Lemon Law – provides for dog purchaser protection. Introduced by Sen. Stewart Greenleaf +15 co-sponsors.
• HB 82: Cost of Care of Seized Animals. Introduced by Rep. Brian Ellis +26 co-sponsors.
• HB 164: Possession of Animal Fighting Paraphernalia. Introduced by Rep. Todd Stephens + 55 co-sponsors.
• HB 913: Fine Collections related to Dog Law Enforcement – allows Dog Law fines and penalties collected to remain in with the Office of Dog Law. Introduced by Rep. Kathy Watson+ 40 co-sponsors.
• HB 1750: Banning the slaughtering or selling of dogs and cats for human consumption. Introduced by Rep. John Maher +44 co-sponsors.

The anti-animal bills are marked in red on the score-card and include:

• SB 644/ HB 723: Providing for swine hunting preserves – kept the importation of wild boars for canned hunts legal by shifting authority from the Game Commission to Department of Agriculture. Introduced by Sen. Scarnati and Rep. Baker.
• HB 1534: allows for the creation of a coyote bounty. Introduced by Rep Peifer +20 co-sponsors.

It is important to contact your legislators to let them know that you want them to support bills that protect animals from abuse and oppose bills that perpetuate animal cruelty. Please sign up to be alerted when action is needed on bills that are moving. Thank you for giving animals a voice in Harrisburg!

For further information:

Complete list of pending legislation affecting animals in Pennsylvania.