News & Press Releases
(Berks and Montgomery Counties) BREAKING NEWS! Humane Society of Berks County Announces Christmas Eve Pet Food Distribution in Two Locations!
On December 24, 2009, the Humane Society of Berks County will distribute dog and cat food to those in need from 9:00 am until noon or until supplies are exhausted. Two days prior, on December 22, volunteers will be at the Cluster Outreach Center at 137 Walnut St in Pottstown to distribute food from 9:00 am until noon.
Click here to read complete press release...
Click here to watch a video about the pet food distribution!
(Bucks County, PA, 12-14-1887) Man found GUILTY of cruelty to animals under PA cruelty law has conviction UPHELD by the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas!
Judge Yerkes announced his decision to uphold the conviction of A. Nelson Lewis for his participation in a pigeon shoot...on December 14, 1887! Before you listen to the extremist propaganda by the pro-pigeon shoot lobby who claim that pigeon shoots are a proud and long accepted tradition in Pennsylvania, read this article (click here) from the New York Times in 1890. New York State lauded us then for recognizing the cruelty of pigeon shoots. 119 years later? Our shoots go unprosecuted and New York clearly recognizes that pigeon shoots are not hunting, don't have anything to do with gun rights, and are simply animal cruelty.
The pigeon shoot fringe claims that they are legal. But simply because you've not been prosecuted for something recently doesn't mean it's legal. Hunting? Legal. There are laws telling us so. Meat production and slaughter? Legal. There are laws telling us so. Killing pests and wildlife with a license? Legal. There are laws telling us so. Euthanizing cats and dogs in animal shelters? Horrible, but legal. Why? Because there are laws that provide for the legal means to do it.
Pigeon shoots? Where is the law saying it is legal? They are not game animals, so it's not hunting. They aren't being farmed and eaten, so agriculture doesn't protect shoots. Pests? Maybe, but they are shipped in from other states and I'm pretty sure the shootesr who come from around the country to litter our beautiful farmland with thousands of dead pigeons don't come armed with wildlife control licenses. Euthanized? Well, maybe if the shooter was a veterinarian...nahhh, that seems pretty unlikely.
Then what other law would apply to the wanton, for-profit, shooting and disposal of thousands of imported non-game animals? Our cruelty law. It's that simple. The next time the pigeon shoot crazies say it's legal, ask them to show you the law that says so.
The prosecutors tell us to legislate, the legislators tell us to prosecute. I think it's already been done- over one hundred years ago. But just to make it really easy for these pigeon shoot huggers to understand, let's give them their law: Let's pass one of the pending bills or amendments sitting stalled in committee that will make it explicit to anyone with even a pigeon sized brain.
Click here to find your PA State Senator and Representative so you can send them an email demanding that they make the cruelty law clear enough for even pigeon shooters to understand it and outright ban pigeon shoots now.
(Reading, PA, 12-01-09) Humane Society of Berks County Announces Additional $1,000 Reward Fund for Tip Leading to Arrest and Conviction of Dog Burning Perpetrators
The Humane Society of Berks County (HSBC), the leader in animal welfare, announced that it has established a supplemental reward fund of $1,000 for a tip leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the sadistic burning of a young dog in Reading on November 27th. The reward is being offered in the hope of bringing forward new evidence or witnesses in the case. “An early arrest is important in cases like this and every day that passes with no new leads makes an arrest less likely,” said Karel Minor, HSBC executive director and a Humane Society Police Officer. “Someone had to have seen or heard something. Perhaps this additional reward will help someone make a call to report it....
Click here to read complete press release...
In The News (11-30-09): Bucks County Joins Berks County as only places in nation to openly host pigeon shoots.
Continuing the claim that pigeon shoots are legal simply because they've never been prosecuted for having them, Pigeon Shoot extremists have violated their own agreement with police in Bucks County and begun holding shoots at the Philadelphia Gun Club. Despite the fact that these shoots are not protected under PA hunting codes or standard agricultural practice, making them subject to the same cruelty statutes as any other animal, Pigeon Shoot radicals are still trying to convince us and our elected officials, many of whom receive campaign donations from these radical groups, that shoots are the same as gun rights and hunting. Of course, we know that this is like saying that the escort services found in every phone book that go unprosecuted are the same as marriage.
This Fall, talk to the one in eight Pennsylvanians who deer hunt- probably among your own friends, family, co-workers or even yourself- ask them if they think pigeon shoots are hunting. My Grandfather passed away last year. He was a life long hunter. He killed what he shot and he ate what he killed. I know for a fact that he wouldn't consider driving to a gun club and having a deer tossed in front of him with a catapult so he could shoot it. He certainly wouldn't call it "deer hunting". He'd sooner hang up his gun.
Click here to watch the 6 ABC story on the Bucks County Shoot.
Click here to find your PA State Senator and Representative so you can send them an email demanding that they make the cruelty law clear enough for even pigeon shooters to understand it.
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