HARRISBURG -- A Lancaster County kennel owner has been charged with violating the state's dog law after officials seized 23 sick and starving dogs, including one that later died.

The eight violations, all related to conditions at the kennel, were discovered during a Dec. 21 inspection of Long Lane Kennel in the rural town of Narvon, said Chris Ryder, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture, which oversees kennels.

"The citations are all regarding kennel conditions such as [whether there is] adequate food and water, shelter, cage sizes and sanitary living conditions for the dogs," he said yesterday.

With a license to sell more than 250 dogs a year, Long Lane is one of the county's largest. Now it could be forced to close, Mr. Ryder said.

Kennel owner Joseph Blank, who also could face fines and jail time on the misdemeanor violations, couldn't be reached yesterday.

Some observers said the charges could be an indication that the state is making good on Gov. Ed Rendell's promise last year to crack down on so-called "puppy mills," large commercial kennels known for unsanitary conditions, undersized cages and inbred puppies.

Pressured by animal welfare groups, Mr. Rendell recently replaced all 14 members of the state Dog Law Advisory Board and hired a special deputy secretary to oversee enforcement.

Mr. Rendell said he made the changes to help Pennsylvania shake its unwanted reputation as the "puppy mill capital of the East Coast."

Mr. Rendell, a pet lover who has two dogs of his own, was encouraged by the action in Lancaster County.

"The governor's efforts to ramp up patrol and enforcement of laws and regulations aimed at protecting puppies from abusive breeders are paying off, as evidenced by recent crackdowns across the state," said Rendell press secretary Kate Philips.

Other changes, including new regulations, are on the way, but not all are welcome, say some small kennel owners, including Nina Schaefer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Dog Clubs.

Mrs. Schaefer, of Huntingdon Valley, is asking her members to object.

Substandard kennel conditions should not be tolerated, but many of the proposed regulatory changes are unnecessary, she said in a letter to her members Thursday.

"Many are impractical, excessively burdensome and costly," while others are unenforceable or will not improve the quality of life for kennel dogs, she wrote.

The proposed amendments would require, for example, separate indoor and outdoor kennel facilities, ventilation systems and better lighting. They establish more specific requirements for food, water, bedding, sanitation and record-keeping.

Pennsylvania has 2,440 licensed kennels, including 300 in Lancaster County.