Take Action Today! Pennsylvania members and sportsmen should call their state representatives and ask them to vote NO on HB 2104. Members can contact their legislators by using the Sportsmen’s Alliance Legislative Action Center Directory. 

House Bill 2104 would make it a crime to keep your dog in the back yard on a 65-degree day without access to a shelter. It would make it a crime to leave hunting dogs outside when the temperature is below freezing, even though they frequently hunt in these types of conditions. Pennsylvania law already has strict regulations that protect animals from neglect due to weather. Current law also recognizes the need to acclimate hunting dogs to weather conditions and provides an exemption for dogs used in hunting and field trials. This legislation would specifically remove these protections for sportsmen and their dogs!

“House Bill 2104 defies common sense and actually poses a threat to the health of hunting dogs that need to become used to the temperatures in which they will hunt.” said Jacob Hupp, associate director of state services with the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “Most days of the year have weather that doesn’t pose any threat to the health of dogs, and yet this bill would make it a crime to have your dog in your fenced in yard unless you have built a shelter. This bill is overkill.”

About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research.  Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.