Fees for dog licenses must be increased | Opinion | dailylocal.com - Daily Local News

Many Pennsylvanians are unaware that the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement exists as part of the PA Department of Agriculture. Let alone, what this Bureau does, or even that they have a veterinarian as part of their regulatory team. My role is the veterinarian of the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement.

After 12 years in private veterinary practice, I accepted the role of Dog Law Veterinarian with the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement. My position was created to improve the health and welfare of dogs and puppies in Pennsylvania’s licensed kennels, as well as protect public health through controlling the spread of zoonotic diseases, those that spread from animals to humans.

I took this position as I believed it would offer me the chance to positively impact the lives of Pennsylvania’s dogs and residents in a way not possible in private practice alone. Now that I have been the Dog Law Veterinarian for almost 12 years, I am confident I was right about its impact.

As the Dog Law Veterinarian, I assist state Dog Wardens during licensed kennel inspections by evaluating the health and welfare of kennel dogs and puppies and ordering veterinary care when necessary. I am involved in educating both dog wardens and kennel owners daily about the diseases common to group dog populations. One of my most important roles is to protect public health through controlling the spread of zoonotic diseases in dogs and puppies adopted or sold from the kennels we inspect. These diseases include brucellosis, giardia, roundworms, hookworms, ringworm, and leptospirosis, among others.

These diseases can cause serious illness in humans should they contract them. I am able to limit the potential spread of these diseases to humans through the posting and monitoring of infectious disease quarantines, under which a kennel is prohibited from selling or adopting any dog or puppy to the public.

Once in my career, I had to place a licensed Pennsylvania kennel under quarantine for the infectious disease canine brucellosis. The kennel owner was unaware her dogs had this zoonotic disease, which could be spread between her dogs and people.

She was understandably concerned, as she suffered from an autoimmune disease herself which made her increasingly vulnerable to contracting other diseases. Throughout the quarantine and educational efforts, we were able to protect the kennel owner from a serious disease. The owner was tested for brucellosis during the quarantine, as a precautionary effort, and her test was thankfully negative.

Unfortunately, the efforts I and the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement team make on a daily basis to protect Pennsylvania’s dogs and residents may soon come to an end. Our work is funded primarily through dog license sales. The cost of a dog license for an altered dog is just $6.50, which it has been for 24 years, despite the continually rising costs to support the Bureau’s critically important operations.

Without a dog license fee increase, I will no longer be able to continue my efforts to protect the health and welfare of Pennsylvania’s kennel dogs and residents.

Dr. Danielle Wad is a dog law veterinarian for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s, Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement.

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