Opponents of greyhound racing have teamed up with parents who want to stop their kids from sneaking out to get a tattoo to fashion a new state law.

The legislation, which Gov. Ed Rendell is expected to sign this week, requires parents to be present and give their permission before children under 18 get tattoos or body piercings.

It was just a tattooing and body piercing bill until last week, when state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, attached an amendment creating the first-ever ban on greyhound racing in Pennsylvania.

"I think it's important for us to make a statement here" against dog racing, Greenleaf said, since the Legislature is poised to consider different forms of expanded gambling, including slot machines at racetracks.

Rendell has urged lawmakers to pass a bill allowing slots at horse racing tracks and other nontrack venues before June 30, the scheduled start of the Legislature's summer recess. While there are currently no greyhound tracks in the state, some activists fear the slot machine proposal might lead to the introduction of greyhound racing.

"There's a lot of people who believe that [slots] will just be the start" of new forms of gambling, said Cheri Stewart, vice president of Pennsylvania Citizens Against Greyhound Racing, based in Doylestown, Bucks County.

Stewart claimed greyhounds involved in the gambling industry are kept in cages for more than 20 hours per day and thousands of the dogs are killed each year.

"Greyhound racing has a long history of inhumane treatment of the dogs in addition to being an incredibly economically unsound industry," she said.

Rendell spokeswoman Kate Philips said the governor supports requiring parents to be responsible for minor children getting tattoos, while also opposing cruelty to racing greyhounds.

Pennsylvania would join seven other states that have banned greyhound racing, Stewart said. Among states that allow the practice, Wheeling Downs in West Virginia and Lincoln Park in Rhode Island also have slot machines at greyhound tracks.

The House passed the bill 199-1 and the Senate by 49-1. The law would take effect in 60 days.

A person who puts a tattoo on or pierces part of a minor's body without a parent present would be guilty of a third-degree misdemeanor. Rep. Stephen Maitland, R-Adams, said a constituent's complaint that her 14-year-old daughter pierced her tongue without parental consent prompted him to introduce the legislation.

An old law required written consent, but Maitland said "there was concern you could drive a truck through the loophole."

Maitland's bill is separate from another measure, sponsored by Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, that would require health and safety inspections at tattoo and body piercing shops in the state.

That bill, which the House recently passed and sent to the Senate, also restricts the practice of tongue splitting. Only "licensed medical professionals" would be allowed to divide the tip of a person's tongue under the bill.