New measures initiated by the state have the potential to make commendable strides toward the goal of eliminating puppy mills — breeding operations characterized by neglect and abuse of dogs.

However, those new measures will require a commitment and vigilance not to repeat past mistakes such as the failure to conduct timely state inspections of breeding operations.

Inspection records now being posted online — a smart move by the state — reveal that some kennels that sell more than 1,000 dogs annually haven't been inspected for a year and a half, despite state law that mandates at least once-a-year inspections.

It has been a policy of the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement to conduct such inspections at least twice a year, but that hasn't been happening at many kennels, inspection records reveal.

According to Cori Menkin, of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, rescue shelters have much of the time been shouldering the bulk of scrutiny, in many cases being inspected twice as often as large kennels that routinely sell thousands of dogs annually.

But although a specific number of inspections over the course of a year can be helpful in discouraging breeding operations from utilizing practices and conditions associated with the frowned-upon puppy mills, a predictable inspection schedule is not by itself a foolproof safeguard against such inhumane enterprises.

A random schedule in which there is no way to predict the timing of inspections is most desirable and should be the goal of the state.

Perhaps that can evolve to some degree as part of the newly announced hiring of additional dog kennel inspectors — another commendable new move on the state's part.

It has been announced that the recently hired inspectors will focus on large kennels. Meanwhile, the online data initially will allow people to check how kennels have fared in inspection reports from this year and last year.

As an article in the July 5 Butler Eagle pointed out, the number of puppy mills in this state is unclear, in part because animal advocates, pet shop owners and breeders don't agree on the definition. The ASPCA defines a puppy mill as "a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given a higher priority than the well-being of the dog."

Bob Baker, an investigator for the ASPCA and Humane Society, said, "They start looking at these dogs like livestock. You can take a beagle and put it in a cage the size of a washing machine and it could stay there its whole life."

Jessie Smith, deputy secretary of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, said her agency's goal is to ensure that "if people are in (the breeding) business, they're either doing it right or, if they're not, they're not in that business."

The state's new moves show clearly that "the light bulb is on" in regard to the puppy mill issue. Hopefully it will continue getting brighter, not burn out.

— J.R.K.