Your Bradford County State Legislators are:
Honorable Tina Pickett
155A East Wing
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2020
Honorable Matthew E. Baker
3 East Wing
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2020
Senator Roger A. Madigan (R)
Senate Box 203023
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3023
You can receive the latest legislative news on what you can do to help protect all animals at: www.saplonline.org/action.htm
Pennsylvania House Bill 1065 is critical to the welfare of Pennsylvania's dogs. This moderate bill would not outlaw tethering, but would place restrictions on tethering dogs outdoors for longer than 16 hours per day, and would require tethered dogs to have access to basic life necessities, such as food, shade, shelter and water.
Please Click here for more information on this important legislation and to learn how to contact you representative.
updated 11-17-07
Many brands of "cuts and gravy" style cat and dog foods in cans and pouches has been recalled. Click here for more info.
Posted 3-19-07
Pennsylvania has the shameful reputation of being the "Puppy Mill Capital of the East". Click here to visit the ASPCA website for additional information and see what you can do to help.
Addded 2-6-07
The American Horse Slaughter Protection ACt has been reintroduced in both sessions on Congress. Click here to visit the Society for Animal Protective Legislation website for more information and to find out how you can help.
Addded 2-6-07
Added 8-9-06
House Bill 2289, if passed, would prohibit the canned hunting of exotic and
domestic species of animals. At present, exotic and domestic animals are
brought into the state, put behind a fenced enclosure and hunted. The practice
is barbaric and should be prohibited in Pennsylvania as it is in other states.
Some sportsmen have labeled canned hunting as unfair to the animals because
they have absolutely no defense behind the fenced enclosure. Passage of this bill
would not affect the canned hunting of game species such as deer.
Click here
for more information about this bill.
Please contact Tina Pickett and ask her to support House Bill 2289.
Added 6-27-06
Imagine a time when there will be a choice between surgical sterilization of dogs and cats and a simple injection. Imagine the impact a low cost, easy-to-administer sterilization procedure would have on the homeless pet population. Imagine preventing the deaths of countless innocent, unwanted cats and dogs.
While work is being done in the field of nonsurgical sterilization, progress has been much slower than it could be. It is essential that scientists, pharmaceutical companies, and potential funders know that there is a demand for these products and that there will be a market for them. ACC&D will use this petition to demonstrate need and interest, bringing urgency and resources to this effort.
Click here for more information.
Added 5-10-06
Although the mulch has NO warnings printed on the Cocoa Mulch label, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs.
Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that "It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it." The Hershey website refers to the product but when you click for more information you are redirected to another area: Hershey products, look at the bottom of the page.
True information about the mulch can be found on Snopes.com, an internet spoof investigation site This site gives the following information:
Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply and other Garden supply stores, contains a lethal ingredient called "Theobromine".
It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks. Just a word of caution ? check what you are using in your gardens and be aware of what your gardeners are using in your gardens.
Theobromine is the ingredient that is used to make all chocolate - especially dark or baker's chocolate - which is toxic to dogs.
Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine compound similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.
If this mulch is eaten by a 50-pound dog, about 2 ounces of cocoa bean mulch may cause gastrointestinal upset; about 4.5 ounces, increased heart rate; about 5.3 ounces, seizures; and over 9 ounces, death. (In contrast, a 50-pound dog can eat up to about 7.5 ounces of milk chocolate without gastrointestinal upset and up to about a pound of milk chocolate without increased heart rate.)
According to tables cocoa mulch contains 300-1200 mg. of theobromine per ounce, making cocoa mulch one of the strongest concentrations of theobromine your pet will encounter in any chocolate product.
Please email the manufacturer at michellemessick@hersheys.com and request that accurate information about this product be posted on the packaging to avoid further tragedy.
Update 1-15-07
BCHS received a letter from an individual who spread cocoa mulch in her garden. The mulch attracted deer, who ate almost all of it within a month. A small deer died,
apparently from ingesting the mulch.
The letter below was sent to BCHS on March 7.
Back in September of 2005 we adopted a little calico kitten from the shelter. We named her Autumn and she very quickly become a very beloved member of our family. On December 22nd ,2005 we lost our beloved Autumn to a horrible event. While brushing her we discovered a flea , we decided to treat her for fleas and bought a topical flea product made by Hartz. We applied the topical as stated on the package before we went to bed , the next morning we found poor autumn under my daughters bed, she had died sometime in the night. After a ton of research on line we found an extensive amount of information regarding hartz flea products and how MANY cats have died after it was applied. It appears there is a nerve agent in the hartz flea medication that causes the brains of cats to seize up , the cats go into violent convulsions and then die. We are providing you with this infornation so you can educate others to be very careful when buying a flea medication Hartz is the worst product you could buy and I cant beleive its allowed to stay on the market.
http://www.geocities.com/HartzQuilt/
The above website is for victims of this horrid product.
Sincerely,
Laura A. Spencer and the Spencer Family