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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Frank Andrews Shimkus |
  
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Shimkus votes to end puppy mills in Pa.
Now tackles Pa.'s other embarrassment: Live pigeon shoots
HARRISBURG, Sept. 19 – The state House of Representatives this week passed legislation Rep. Frank Andrews Shimkus co-sponsored that would substantially strengthen the state's Dog Law, resulting in better treatment of dogs kept in commercial kennels.
House Bill 2525, sponsored by state Rep. James E. Casorio Jr., D-Westmoreland, would double the size of cages for dogs in commercial kennels and require solid flooring. It would prohibit the stacking of cages, require an outdoor exercise area for dogs and introduce new standards for temperature control, lighting and ventilation. The bill would also require annual veterinary examinations for dogs and prohibit anyone except a veterinarian from euthanizing dogs in commercial kennels.
"Puppy mills are Pennsylvania's biggest embarrassment, and I was pleased to support legislation to improve the lives of 'man's best friend.' Now we need to end Pennsylvania's other embarrassment: live pigeon shoots," said Shimkus, D-Lackawanna.
Shimkus has sponsored legislation (H.B. 73) that would outlaw live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania, and establish the offense as a third-degree felony.
"Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that still allows live pigeon shoots," Shimkus said. "These events are not sport. At a pigeon shoot, birds either bred or captured are released one at a time about 30 yards from the shooter. Wounded birds that are not killed by the shotgun pellets fall to the ground and suffer or are collected and their necks snapped."
Shimkus emphasized that his ban on organized live pigeon shoots would not apply to dog training or other shooting or hunting activities.
According to the Human Society of the United States, Pennsylvania is the only state where pigeon shoots openly occur. Even in the one state where state law expressly allows the shoots -- Tennessee -- no known pigeon shoots take place.
House Bill 73, which has received bipartisan support, is currently under consideration in the House Judiciary Committee.
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