Four puppies named Tammy, Terry, Todd and Tom were shot and killed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, because their breeder couldn't sell them. The farmer who killed them pleaded guilty to aggravated animal cruelty. He will not spend a single day in jail. Pennsylvania lawmakers must require jail time and lifetime animal bans for aggravated cruelty, and stop breeders from killing animals that don't sell.

The puppies were sheepadoodle mixes, 16 to 20 weeks old and about 25 pounds each. In October 2023, when no buyers came, the Earl Township farmer who bred them killed all four. His own lawyer told the court he "took them for a walk and euthanized them with a firearm," according to LancasterOnline. He later told police he had put them in a compost pile. The case only came to light because the person who ran his sales website reported it.

"So if we can't sell something, we just shoot them?" Lancaster County Judge Thomas Sponaugle asked in court, according to LancasterOnline. Still, the plea deal gave the farmer seven years of probation and a $200 fine. He can keep one dog at home and keep working with farm animals.

More than 54,000 people already signed an earlier petition from Animal Rescue Inc. on behalf of these puppies. That outcry deserves a real change in the law.

Tammy, Terry, Todd and Tom's Law would require jail time for anyone convicted of aggravated animal cruelty, ban those offenders from owning or working with any animals, and require breeders to surrender unsold animals to a shelter or rescue instead of killing them.

Governor Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania General Assembly have the power to pass it. Sign the petition to demand Tammy, Terry, Todd and Tom's Law now, before another litter of unsold puppies pays with their lives