As Pennsylvania's new director of the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, Susan West is responsible for the well-being of 1 million dogs and the inspection of 2,600 kennels.

She has no pet dogs of her own -- just a husband, a 12-year-old son and four cats. But she lives in Lancaster County, surrounded by thousands of them.

Lancaster County is home to 11 percent of the state's kennels. It has 327 state-licensed kennels, many of them in the state's largest category: K5 with more than 251 dogs per year. And most of the K5 kennels in Lancaster County are breeding facilities.

In comparison, Allegheny County has 103 kennels, most of them boarding facilities. The county has only five K5 licenses, none of them breeding facilities, just pet stores that sell puppies.

Mrs. West started her new job Jan. 22, heading up what once was a little-known outpost in the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and overseeing the 59 state dog wardens who inspect kennels, including breeding facilities, nonprofit shelters and boarding kennels.

It was her volunteer background -- more than a decade with the Humane League of Lancaster County -- that attracted the attention of Gov. Ed Rendell.

The Lancaster County shelter is open-door, and takes in up to 13,000 cats and dogs annually. Among Mrs. West's roles there was board president. In addition, since 2006 she has been a member of the governor's Dog Law Advisory Board, which has been drafting proposals aimed at providing better kennel conditions for dogs.

She replaces Mary Bender, who was appointed to a different agriculture department program.

"What I want to do first is look at our practices and procedures to make sure the dog wardens are doing things the same way, including that they are calling humane officers" for cruelty and neglect violations that state dog wardens are not empowered to investigate or prosecute, Mrs. West said in a recent telephone interview from her Harrisburg office.

"Generally, the department is doing a great job overall. I also want to centralize inspection reports to see if there is more to do."

Other Dog Law Enforcement Bureau duties include enforcing the requirements that dog owners buy state dog licenses and have proof that dogs are up to date on rabies vaccinations. Officials also investigate reports of dogs running at large and reimburse farmers who report livestock injured or killed by dogs. Dog wardens prosecute offenders in court.

Mr. Rendell said Mrs. West is "a tireless advocate of humane conditions for animals. Sue West brings to this role a broad understanding of the issues facing dogs and the important role the state has in monitoring the care and handling of dogs."

Joan Brown, president and chief executive officer of the Humane League of Lancaster County, said people are excited to see the post go to a woman who has "knowledge and experience" in shelter work.

"But what Sue West really has is passion and a work ethic for any job she takes on," Ms. Brown said. She noted that while Mrs. West was working a full-time job and raising a family, "she was giving evening after evening and weekend after weekend" to volunteer duties at the shelter. "People have so much respect for her."

The Humane League in Lancaster County has two humane officers who investigate and prosecute cases of animal cruelty and neglect, and Mrs. West is familiar with their cases, Ms. Brown said.

State officials have made all kennel inspection reports available online. Citations and violations are noted at www.agriculture.state.pa.us/padoglaw, as are follow-up inspections with reports indicating whether corrections have been made.

In 2007, citations in Lancaster County kennels increased 143 percent, said Chris L. Ryder, a Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture spokesman. "We've brought on new dog wardens" and have "moved people around so it's not always the same person inspecting the same kennels. You'll see different names" on inspection reports and citations.

Mrs. West's appointment has been national news to animal rights groups that have castigated the state for having a large number of what Pennsylvania officials call "large-scale commercial kennels." Animal rights groups use another term -- puppy mills -- to describe breeding operations where large numbers of dogs and puppies are bred and raised in cages with very little exercise or social interaction with people.

Some groups deride Pennsylvania as a "puppy mill capital" of the country. While state officials will not respond to that allegation, "the governor certainly acknowledges that there are kennel conditions in Pennsylvania that are not acceptable," Mr. Ryder said. "The governor is pursuing legislation and regulations" to improve conditions.