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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Bill Kortz |
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Kortz wants stronger Pa. dog law
HARRISBURG, Feb. 25 – State Rep. Bill Kortz, D-Allegheny, will soon introduce two bills aimed at improving Pennsylvania's dog law.
One bill would require police departments to keep a list of lost dogs picked up in their municipality and make this information available to the public, as well as create a 96-hour waiting period after officials find a dog before it can be adopted by someone else or euthanized.
Current Pennsylvania law provides only a 48-hour waiting period and Kortz said less than 30 percent of lost dogs are ever reclaimed by their original owner.
“I want to improve the chances of dog owners being reunited with their lost pets,” Kortz said. “As the law stands now, if a dog owner is away over the weekend and, unbeknownst to them, the dog runs away, the 48-hour waiting period could go by without the person ever realizing their dog is missing, and then it may be too late.
Owners who lose their dogs would be able to call a local, non-emergency line and talk to police who can then check a list of found dogs to see if their animal has been picked up.”
The other bill Kortz plans to introduce would require pets that are ordered to be destroyed to be euthanized in a safe and humane manner.
“There have been situations in the past in Pennsylvania where individuals are euthanizing dogs by trapping them in the cab of a truck and then using the vehicle’s engine exhaust, which contains carbon monoxide, to put them down,” Kortz said. "The Humane Society of the United States has informed me that using truck exhaust causes pain and distress to the animals from inhaling heated exhaust and unfiltered particles, and can cause prolonged suffering before death. This is horrible cruelty that should not be allowed to continue.”
The Humane Society and other organizations such as the American Humane Association, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the National Animal Control Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association recommend that dogs be euthanized by injection of sodium pentobarbital prepared specifically for that purpose.
Kortz’s legislation would prohibit the destruction of pets by carbon monoxide, a decompression chamber or firearms, with an exception in cases where the animal is lose and poses a clear danger to people, property or other animals. The bill would specifically name sodium pentobarbital and other recommended drugs as the preferred means of euthanasia of pets in Pennsylvania.
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