BELLEVILLE, Pa. — Daniel Peachey’s breeding dogs used to stand on wire flooring all day, in cages that provided no regular access to the outdoors.
No more. Peachey spent more than $20,000 on upgrades at his Stone Mountain Kennel, outside of State College, to meet stringent new health and safety standards that officials say have gone a long way toward ending Pennsylvania’s reputation as the puppy mill capital of the East.
While breeders like Peachey have found themselves shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to comply with the strictest kennel law in the nation, scores of substandard commercial kennels have opted to close instead.
The number of commercial kennels in Pennsylvania plummeted from 303 at the beginning of 2009 to 111 today, although a few of them are expected to reopen after making renovations.
The state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement is wagging its tail about the results, declaring Friday in its annual report to the legislature that Pennsylvania has become a “model state” for its oversight of commercial breeders.
