Rendell Names Canine Health Board

[murraysmom]

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Quote:

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Canine Health Board members named

With less than 24 hours to go before its first meeting, Gov. Rendell today announced his appointments to the new Canine Health Board, charged with making key decisions on standards for flooring, lighting and ventilation for commercial breeding kennels in Pennsylvania.

Rendell named Drs. Jennifer Muller of Philadelphia, Karen Overall of Glen Mills and Bryan Langlois of Lancaster - all experts in conditions facing dogs living in commercial breeding kennels - to the nine-member, all veterinarian board.

Muller, who was named board chairman, is a small animal practitioner and a member of the Governor's Dog Law Advisory Board. Overall is a research associate in neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Langlois is veterinarian with the Humane League of Lancaster County, which treats hundreds of dogs seized from or surrendered by Pennsylvania puppy mills every year.

The leaders of the four legislative caucuses, the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association and the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical School also have appointments to the board. Members will serve two-year terms.

The other board appointments include:

Dr. Ramsi P. Chaudhari, medical director of the VCA Dunmore Animal Hospital, was named by Senate Minority leader Robert Mellow (D., Lackawanna)

Dr. John Simms, of Burnt Mill Veterinary Center in Shippensburg, was named by House Minority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson)

Dr. Colin Harvey, a dentistry professor with The University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical School, was named by the university as its appointment.

Dr. Amy Hinton was named by the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association. Among Hinton's clients is Conodoguinet Kennel in Cumberland County, the largest dog broker in the state.

Dr. Larry R. Bason of Lock Haven, was named by House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese (D., Greene).

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) has not yet released the name of his appointment.

The board was created as a last minute compromise to get Rendell's dog law bill (HB 2525) through the Senate last month. Amendments to the 1982 dog law were drafted to improve conditions in hundreds of large breeding kennels. The new law - regarded as the strictest in the country - requires breeders who sell more than 60 dogs a year and those who sell dogs to pet stores to comply with a range of new standards, including the doubling of cage sizes and the elimination of cage stacking. Breeders must also provide dogs with exercise and semi-annual vet care.

The law also eliminates wire flooring - the source of injuries and discomfort for dogs forced to stand on it for years. The board will be tasked with coming up with alternative flooring that addresses drainage issues, but is also safe and humane.

The board is scheduled to meet for the first time tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the Department of Agriculture building in Harrisburg. A spokesman for the agency said no agenda would be made available until tomorrow.

[Mikey T]

Karen Overall Is a good choice, for click here for bio



Most of the other come in more with an agenda and less actual knowledged of the physical and behavioral requirement of dogs

There are two vets aligned with rescue orgs , one aligned with commercial breeder, one that is a Equine (horse) specilist
and the other we know next to nothing about.

[murraysmom]

http://www.berkshumane.org/docs/08_ShelterMedicine.pdf

Bryan Langlois looks good too because of his experience with shelter medicine and long experience with shelters in general-

Also, he has hands-on experience specific to dogs that have been pulled from the Lancaster County puppymills, which this law is aimed at.

[Mikey T]

any one advocating 50 degrees is too cold for dog is a bit susspect in my book especial when osha requirement for human workers inside is 5o degrees as well.

January 31, 2007
<a href="http://www.irrc.state.pa.us/Documents/SRCDocuments/Regulations/2559/COMMENTS_PUBLIC/Document-3514.pdf" target="_blank">As a full-time shelter veterinarian, I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed
dog law regulations and offer the following</a>

21.25 Temperature Control
(e) (1)- Heating. The ambient temperature...shall not fall below 50 degrees
Fahrenheit.
- This number needs to be raised to 65 degrees. 50 is too low.[/b]

and his inconsitence on the record kkeping requirement when they applied to all kennels vs commercial kennels only again show an unfair bias and agenda

from link above dated january 2007

(8.) Records shall be kept in accordance with the act and sections....
-This is a time consuming and tedious requirement that is unnecessary. No
kennel is going to be able to adequately reach this standard. Inspection and
discretion of inspectors can be used here[/b]

vs
House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Hearing: HB 2525 June 12,2008 Bryan Langlois, DVM

Veterinarians are required to have a record of every animal they treat. By implementing the record keeping system described in this bill dog wardens, humane officers, and veterinarians will be able to quickly identify the animals to help ensure proper care of that animal. I feel that in addition to the last date of the veterinary visit, a copy of the physical exam findings of that animal should be present on the cage as well. This can be easily photocopied or produced in triplicate, so a record may also be kept in a safe, centralized place with-in the kennel[/b]

he graduated from vet school in 2005 so his expreince is not as extensive as many would like to portray it

from second link

My name is Bryan Langlois and I am a licensed veterinarian in the state of Pennsylvania. I have been such since my graduation from Veterinary School in 2005.[/b]

[murraysmom]

"BRYAN LANGLOIS, DVM
Dr. Bryan Langlois is a 2005 graduate of the Atlantic Veterinary College on Prince Edward Island,
Canada. Since his graduation he has been the Staff Veterinarian at the Humane League of Lancaster County and currently serves as their Vice-President/Medical Director. He has over 15 years of experience in all aspects of animal sheltering and has worked or volunteered at many shelters throughout the east coast of the United States and Canada. He spends time each year lecturing to veterinary students at the Atlantic Veterinary College about shelter medicine and the challenges it presents. He also runs an externship at the Humane League for veterinary students who want to learn more about shelter medicine and obtain hands-on experience. Bryan is also very active in Trap/Neuter/Return programs throughout southeastern PA."

That's from the link I posted-

I don't know anything about him personally, but in my opinion, his practical experience with kennel dogs , and dogs pulled from the Lancaster County puppymills,will be an asset to the board-

Just an opinion.

[murraysmom]

Most of the other come in more with an agenda[/b]

Given the heated nature of this issue, it would be difficult to find anyone without an agenda- that's why the Governor didn't have full power of appointment-

[Elvismom]

I hope you'll continue to post updates. It will be interesting to see how much they can accomplish. I tend to "fear" committees because so often nothing gets done. But they probably beat a dictatorship.

The board sounds like it has some good, knowledgeable people on board bringing a variety of experience with them. I am hoping they put this this to use to better the conditions of these animals.