By Karen Blackledge
MIFFLINBURG -- Tracy Baylor welcomes Pennsylvania's new tougher kennel law, which establishes specific guidelines and inspections at businesses caring for animals.
"I'm a big advocate for fresh air and sunlight for the dogs. Many now don't see sunlight. As of October, kennel operators will be required to get the dogs outside," said Baylor, who has a kennel license for her Turkey Run Rescue in the Mifflinburg area.
The new law also includes requirements for kennel operators to log in information about every dog they have, such as where they got it and what happened to it.
Baylor, who has been rescuing canines for 17 years, has worked with dogs from puppy mills. "I isolate them for two or three days because they are so stressed. The fourth day I let them out in the dog yard. They stand there and don't know what to do. Two days later they are running around finding out what it's like to be a dog," she said.
Puppy mill dogs she has rescued have had problems with their teeth, breast tumor cysts and are often "aged significantly beyond their true years" because of unsanitary conditions..
One of her rescues kept spinning in a circle because she was never let out of a cage. Baylor gives her medicine to calm her down.
"The only time my dogs are in their units is at night. They are out in the yard all day," she said.
The new kennel regulations won't affect her not-for-profit rescue, which she has operated for eight years.
"I worked at a boarding facility and at a vet hospital and have visited many kennels over the years. I saw what I wanted to do. My kennel is heated, cooled, clean and comfortable, has fresh air and human contact," she said.
Her 10 units have 12-foot-long runs.
"There's a big difference between shelters and breeding kennels," she said.
"Puppy millers will sell until they are stuck with the dogs. That's when I get the call," she said.
She has always been around animals, having grown up on a farm. "My first rescue was a white cat I got from a pet store that had mites so bad it couldn't sit. Its ears were black," she said.
One of her rescues now lives with Dr. Danielle Ward, who is the first state-hired veterinarian inspecting the health of dogs at kennels licensed by the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement throughout the state. She is now working part time and will go full time in the next several months.
That rescued dog is Miles, a chihuahua-rat terrier Baylor found "as a bag of bones" at a Lehigh County shelter. Ward also has Keely, a 3-year-old toy fox terrier she got from a client.
Baylor can't imagine being the operator of a large kennel. "Every day I am giving dogs meds, bathing and grooming," she said of her 25-dog facility.
"If there were more low-cost spay/neuter clinics in rural areas it would make a difference," Ward said. "In urban areas, some mobile spay/neuter units do it for free. We need something like that in this area to at least make a dent in overpopulation."
Rescue groups such as Baylor's, Haven to Home and Mostly Mutts in the area don't receive state or federal funds.
"We get money from our adoption fees. If we don't do adoptions or receive donations, it's coming out of our pocket," Baylor said. "Pets are a major responsibility. I liken it to having children. You don't know the costs you will incur."
