HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — It took years of work with the Department of Agriculture, was sponsored by a Republican state senator, passed by wide bipartisan margins in both chambers of Pennsylvania’s General Assembly and signed into law by a Democratic governor.

But that doesn’t mean Pennsylvania’s updated dog law is perfect, the bill’s sponsor said Monday, after independent dog rescue organizations raised new concerns in addition to those raised last week by boarding kennel owners near state lines.

“The Dog Law Modernization Bill was signed into law last year after extensive work between the Department of Agriculture and numerous stakeholders,” Sen. Elder A. Vogel, (R-Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties) told abc27 News in a statement. “While the legislation made many positive changes to enhance public safety and animal welfare protections, as well as improve customer service, the new frustrations being voiced warrant further discussion with the Department.”

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Following last week’s report about boarding kennels, a few independent dog rescue organizations (which, unlike large SPCAs and other shelters, are regulated similarly to kennels) contacted abc27 News, saying the law was hampering their rescue missions — partly because of the issue impacting boarding kennels and especially because of another provision in the law.

That provision is one that seems to ban “advertisements” for dogs that haven’t yet arrived at the rescues and then passed through a 14-day isolation period. Until now, said Bethany Peters of PA Caring for K-9’s, rescues could create social media buzz about dogs not yet fully ready to be adopted so potential adoptive families could begin what can be a 10-day application process.

“So that really affects our adopters seeing them ahead of time,” Peters said. “It really affects our social media, because people always would watch for them, and now they have no idea what’s coming until it’s already here.”

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Ultimately, she said that limits how many dogs she can rescue and adopt out and — by extension — impacts the organization’s mission to rescue dogs from high-kill-rate shelters, mostly in southern states.

One potential solution, according to Peters? She’s hoping for official guidance that “coming soon” notices with photos of dogs and a few facts about them aren’t “advertisements.” But she said she won’t take a chance unless she hears that from the state because under the law, violations are punishable by fines of $100 per advertisement.

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