PA Animal Protection Caucus announces ’25-’26 leadership team, legislative priorities
Co-chaired by Rep. Shusterman, Rep. Tomlinson, Sen. Pisciottano, Sen. Brown
Animal Protection Caucus February 5, 2025
HARRISBURG, Feb. 5 – Animals across Pennsylvania will continue to have a voice in Harrisburg as the PA Animal Protection Caucus on Wednesday announced its leadership team for the 2025-2026 legislative session and laid out its legislative priorities.
Co-chairs of the bipartisan, bicameral Animal Protection Caucus include Rep. Melissa Shusterman (D-Chester), Rep. Kathleen Tomlinson (R-Bucks), Sen. Nick Pisciottano (D-Allegheny) and Sen. Rosemary Brown (R-Lackawanna, Monroe, Wayne). Shusterman first founded the caucus during the 2021-2022 legislative session.
“We have some huge fighters for animal protection here in Harrisburg ready to increase the amount of effective animal welfare legislation in Pennsylvania,” said Shusterman. “We’ve made great strides to strengthen animal protection laws, but more can always be done. From adoption to animal cruelty, we stand ready to support the needs of our commonwealth’s furred, feathered and scaled friends.”
Last session, the Animal Protection Caucus helped pass legislation into law that strengthens the state’s dog law to improve enforcement of breeding standards and dog licensing and ensures protections for pets of domestic violence survivors. Additionally, progress was finally made toward ending cruel pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania.
The Animal Protection Caucus is now looking to build on those wins in the 2025-2026 legislative session. Some of the current legislative priorities include providing more funding for animal fighting investigations, allowing the Attorney General to assist in the prosecution animal cruelty cases and moving oversight of human society police to the Municipal officers’ Education and Training Commission (MPOETC), among others.
“We have a lot of work to do. We need to talk to one another and advocate across the aisle. We’re looking to make a large impact for all of Pennsylvania’s animals during this session,” Shusterman added. “And always remember to adopt, don’t shop.”