In an attempt to help control puppy mills but under the TERRIBLE advice
from groups like PETA, the US Congress is once again considering
legislature that is too broad, oppressive and overly restricted. The
following is from the AKC. I think when you read through this, you'll
see just how "Too Far" this legislation goes. Contact your Senators and
Congressman.
LisaW
/[Friday, March 1, 2013]/
/http://www.akc.org/press_center/article.cfm?article_id=4867/
Federal "PUPS" legislation (S 395/HR 847), sponsored by Sen. Richard
Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Jim Gerlach has been reintroduced in the U.S.
Congress and assigned to the House and Senate Agriculture committees.
The bill is substantially the same as previous versions introduced in
2011 and 2010, which never received committee hearings.
The AKC continues to express grave concerns about this measure. The AKC
believes that all dog breeding programs should be undertaken responsibly
and does not oppose the concept of regulating high volume
breeder-retailers. However, as currently written, the definitions
proposed in this bill are misleading, overly broad, and potentially
damaging to small responsible breeders who individually maintain and
breed only a few dogs in their homes.
Although the stated purpose of PUPS is to regulate /internet/ sales of
puppies, S 395/HR 847 as currently written would require /anyone/ who
owns or co-owns even a few female dogs that /collectively/ produce 50 or
more puppies offered for sale in a year to be regulated under existing
USDA dog "dealer" regulations. *These regulations are designed for
high-volume commercial kennels that produce puppies for wholesale or
research, and require a USDA commercial license, maintenance of
specified commercial kennel engineering standards and regular
inspections.* These requirements are not appropriate for small breeders
who may keep only a few dogs in their homes.
AKC's specific concerns with PUPS include the following:
• Defines "high volume retail breeder" as someone with "_an ownership
interest in or custody of one _or more breeding female dogs". This
definition is overly broad and does not take into account co- and joint
ownerships common among dog owners, dog show participants, hunting club
members, sporting dog trainers and other hobbyists. This would hurt many
small hobby breeders who keep or breed only a few dogs in their homes by
subjecting them to commercial standards of regulation as a result of
agreements they maintain with other small breeders.
• Defines "high volume retail breeder" as someone with "an ownership
interest in or custody of _one or more breeding female dogs_". Because
the threshold for regulation is based on the number of dogs bred and
sold, any reference to the number of dogs owned or in custody is
unnecessary and potentially misleading.
• Defines "breeding female" as an intact female dog aged 4 months or
older. This is misleading and implies that a female dog may be bred at 4
months. Female dogs are not sufficiently mature at 4 months of age to be
bred and should not be deemed "breeding females".
• Exercise language should be clarified with respect to the terms
"solitary and goal oriented" to ensure that the daily exercise
requirements do not preclude training that involves other types of
wholesome activity that could fall under this definition (e.g., playing
fetch, field training for hunting dogs, or the responsible use of
treadmills for keeping canine athletes in top physical condition).
• PUPS would exponentially expand the pool of breeders regulated and
inspected by the Animal Care Division of the United States Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) Animal, Plant and Health Inspection Service
(APHIS). /However, a May 2010 audit of this program by the USDA's own
Inspector General demonstrated that the existing inspections program is
insufficient to carry out current responsibilities./ AKC believes these
issues and full funding for the current program and enforcement of
current laws should be addressed before attempting to exponentially
expand the program's responsibilities and workload.
AKC encourages you to respectfully share these reasonable concerns about
the potential damaging consequences of this bill with your member of
Congress.
To contact your Congressional representative, visit www.house.gov
http://www.house.gov/> and enter your zip code in the "Find Your
Representative" box at the top of the page.
To contact your two Senators, visit www.senate.gov
http://www.senate.gov/> and select your state in the "Find Your
Senators" box at the top of the page.
AKC and AKC's federal representatives will continue to closely monitor
and keep you up to date on this measure.
If you would rather not receive future communications from The American
Kennel Club, let us know by clicking here.
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The American Kennel Club, 8051 Arco Corporate Dr., Raleigh, NC 27617
United States
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