Category Archives: Puppy Mills

Editorial suggests the US needs to expand sources for puppies

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I received the link today on the Pack News Wire to an editorial that ran Monday on the DVM360 website. I was so stunned that I had to read over it several times.

The writer, Mark Cushing, JD of the Animal Policy Group is suggesting an expanding US market for dogs needs to look overseas for breeding sources for puppies, as our human population grows.

Cushing lists what he feels are US sources for dogs, which includes hobby breeders (he states the volume there isn’t enough), large-scale breeders (but he notes puppy mills are an issue) and “Untreated feral dogs in the American South and Midwest producing litters for delivery by local shelters to urban markets around the country.”

On the latter “source” he goes on to write that is “difficult to view this as an intentional, humane source of the volume needed, although it is a steady source now.”

It is a strange take that I’ve never seen worded so oddly. In reality, it is not so much feral dogs who are adding to the homeless ranks.

How he lists “untreated feral dogs” as a source to fill what he states as a growing US demand for pets, without mentioning homeless adult dogs and puppies that are ready for adoption is stunning. How he writes an editorial about the demand for pets without noting millions of homeless pets are dying in shelters every year – before they find homes is stunning.

And it is stunning that Cushing fails to mention that by far the best “sources” for pets in the United States are your area shelters and rescue organization.

I’ll give Cushing the benefit of the doubt, to a degree, in that he might have been focusing on puppies. But again, new homeless dogs are being born every day all over the nation. Rescue is the BEST source for pets.

We absolutely do not need anyone suggesting families should look to overseas breeders for puppies, while millions of dogs are dying in the US without homes.

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Can’t we pull back the curtain on the real anti-animal welfare agenda?

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Here we go again – to a ramped-up degree. Those who want to protect puppy mill operations and factory farming are out to pass a Constitutional amendment in Missouri to shut down new measures to protect animals from abuse and neglect.

But the folks backing the amendment are couching it as a movement to defending farming.

No – No – No. We are not within any universe where farming is going to be shut down. Sure – “Dawn of the Planets of the Apes” is going to a popular movie. But is anyone going to walk out of the theater and rush to their elected officials to ask for laws against apes taking over cities?

We can go outer space or we have a reasonable debate about animal welfare. What animal-welfare advocates are asking for is reasonable protections for animals. Those who abuse animals as they are being raised for sale or farming should be shut down.

What is so hard to understand about this? And why can’t some on the other side just be honest? It seems the real goal – from protecting puppy mill operations to criminalizing the acts of recording cruel acts on factory farms with Ag-Gag laws – is to protect the abusers.

It hasn’t been about protecting the traditions of farming and dog breeding. It’s more about hiding the abuses that go on behind the scenes.

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A wacky claim that bans on selling dogs in pet stores is unconstitutional

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A pet store in East Providence, RI is challenging the city’s ban on selling dogs in stores as unconstitutional, as reported Wednesday on the Courthouse News Service website.

The store is pointing to the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution and equal protection. Equal protection? What about protection from suffering for dogs housed in puppy mills.

There is a very good reason for banning the sale of dogs and cats in stores. Pets should not be sold like toasters, where people buy on impulse and later discard the pet. There is a real cost in lost lives and suffering and there is real monetary cost to taxpayers in caring for these discarded pets in shelters.

The dogs and cats, taxpayers and consumers need the protection – not store owners. The owners can sell supplies and food toys. My home city has numerous pet stores – from major chains to locally-owned and they are doing great without selling puppies or kittens.

This idea that pet stores have to sell puppies was proven wrong years ago. Sell the supplies and host adoption fairs by local rescues and shelters. It works and it shows the store owners really care.

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No Surprise – Petland CEO doesn’t like bans on puppy sales in stores

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There is a lot to pick on in this story. The CEO of Petland – a company well-known for selling puppies – doesn’t want to see bans on the sales on puppies in stores. The city ordinances in question are designed to shut down the sale of puppy mill dogs.

Joe Watson claims only two percent of puppies are even sold in stores, as reported by the Lancaster Eagle Gazette.

The Lancaster Eagle Gazette also notes almost 50 cities around the nation have banned puppy sales in retail outlets. (Although the publication incorrectly states the bans have “effectively outlawed retail pet shops.” – No the pet shops can stay open. They just can’t sell dogs.)

And get this from the article:

Petland defends its sourcing of puppies, saying they come from U.S. Department of Agriculture-licensed breeders and distributors, with no direct violations on their latest inspection report …

Oh … so it’s no violations from “their latest inspection report.” What about the prior reports? And really, this “we sell puppies from USDA licensed breeders” just isn’t saying much at all. That defense just doesn’t hold water. The regulations and punishments are far too weak from the USDA.

And of course, as is the case in my home city, all of our pet stores are doing great – without selling dogs and cats. The national chains are hosting adoption events each weekend.

Any suggestion that Petland has to sell puppies is just not based in reality.

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AKC continues to fight against improved protections for puppy mill dogs

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The American Kennel Club continues to make statements that have no basis in logical thought or in facts – where breeding regulations are concerned.

One of the AKC’s primary arguments centers on the false premise that minimum standards of care and/or inspections will hurt  breeders. But here’s the clinching argument: Good, quality breeders already meet or exceed the standards being proposed across the nation.

So it is the bad breeders – the puppy mills – that will face problems under new guidelines. This is the main issue after all. The AKC’s position leaks more than the BP Gulf Oil Gusher.

If a breeder is not taking their dogs in for veterinary care or never allows them play time outside of their cages or is not cleaning their cages or kennels, then that breeder should be shut down.

To suggest these minimum standards are too much, is showing support for puppy mills.

On the AKC website, the group states a new proposal in North Carolina – “Creates unprecedented new levels of regulation of private property ownership.” I cringe when I see animals put in the same category with sofas and subdivision lots.

WNCN reported on June 9 about the AKC’s efforts to speak out against NC Governor Pat McCrory’s proposal to move animal welfare enforcement to the NC Department of Public Safety. WNCN quoted from a letter sent by the AKC to North Carolina House members:

“The Governor’s recommendations would create unprecedented new regulation based on the ownership of private property, create new inefficiencies as responsibilities are shifted between departments, and do nothing to improve the well-being of animals.”

They are wrong about this notion of private property, as it about the welfare of living, feeling beings. They are wrong about the shift, as enforcement should be a law enforcement issue – naturally. And they are completely off base about the well-being of animals. Protecting dogs and cats in puppy and kitten mills is all about the well-being of animals.

I don’t know how one group can reach this level of being so wrong about this subject.

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Puppy mill deniers keep getting it wrong

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Read most any article about proposed anti-puppy mill legislation and underneath you will most likely find comments from those opposed to improved protections for animals.

Or the letters to the editor section will feature this sort of drivel or you can find it on some organization’s website.

Of late, those fighting against better regulations are crying foul over two bills in the North Carolina General Assembly. The crying has pushed a few state senators to block HB930. So NC Governor Pat McCrory is trying to push through anther plan, as part of his proposed budget (SB842), to transfer enforcement of such laws from the Department of Agriculture to the law enforcement arm of the state.

It makes sense, but we also need the better regulations so that law enforcement officials state wide will have the tools they need to combat puppy mills and all forms of animal cruelty.

(I will post more details on these sections of SB842 very soon.)

Some individuals are claiming North Carolina doesn’t have a puppy mill problem. This is just insane. With the state’s lack of regulations, puppy mill operations are hiding in the shadows and they know the odds of being uncovered are slim.

And the propaganda is flying, suggesting people’s right to have pets is being attacked and the right to breed dogs or cats is being attacked. The reality is the only entities being regulated are puppy mills.

Those who can’t practice within the minimum guidelines being proposed should never be allowed to breed animals – period.

And of course this other side keeps spreading the notion that a definition of the phrase ‘puppy mill’ does not exist. This one is one of the most extreme cases of propaganda floating around.

Puppy mills and kitten mills are substandard breeding operations where the dogs or cats live 24/7 or a vast majority of every day locked in small cages, in unsanitary conditions. The animals rarely to never are allowed time to play or even walk around for exercise and rarely to never are given veterinary care or proper food and water.

Another area where the propaganda slides far from reality is the suggestion that breeders would never mistreat or neglect dogs, as they know it would hurt their chances of selling the puppies.

As we’ve seen in every puppy-mill bust ever – this isn’t true. As long as these mass-production operations can sell the puppies to the unsuspecting segment of the population, they care very little about what happens later with the health of the puppies or about the suffering of the parent dogs.

This is happening all over the country right now. This notion that breeders can’t mistreat their dogs because it would cut into sales is millions of miles off Reality Road.

And then we have the attacks on the Humane Society of the US and the ASPCA. This effort is ONLY designed to push the debate away from the suffering of the dogs and cats trapped in mills. We can’t let the puppy mill supporters get away with it.

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Minnesota’s important new puppy mill regulations begin July 1

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As of July 1, all commercial breeding operations within the state of Minnesota will be required to obtain a license and will be subjected to annual inspections.

Inspections are a key element that all states should enact. As long as breeding facilities meet minimum standards of care, they will have nothing to fear. Quality breeding operations will be allowed to continue to operate.

The notion propagated by groups such as the AKC, suggesting breeding regulations will harm quality breeders, is wrong on its face. And of course, those who cannot meet minimum standards of care should be shut down.

A bill to regulate puppy mills in my home state of North Carolina has regrettably stalled in the State Senate. Hopefully, the success in the Minnesota will help push North Carolina to take up the cause of compassion.

 

 

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The AKC’s Catch-22 opposition to the NC puppy mill bill

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We’ve read where the American Kennel Club is opposed legislation such as House Bill 930 in North Carolina because the group opposes setting a base number for how many dogs a breeder needs to have to be covered under these proposed anti-puppy mill laws.

The AKC has also expressed concerned that all dogs need to covered under guidelines of basic care.

So the group seems to be saying that it unacceptable to pass a law covering a limited number of breeders and that setting a cut-off number for the number of dogs on site or the number of litters or anything like that is wrong.

The group’s leaders can do this because they know other groups and most likely the AKC would strongly opposed any effort to regulate smaller backyard breeders or so-called hobby breeders or hunting-dog breeders.

Continue reading →

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One major problem with several proposed bans on puppy sales in stores

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I am very pleased to see a number of recent articles concerning cities, towns and even states considering bans on the sale of puppies in retail stores. This trend needs to spread everywhere.

But in nearly all of the articles I’ve seen on this issue, one important section of the proposals could lead to major problems – at least if the reporting is accurate. The proposals are reported as banning the sale of puppies from breeders BUT allowing the purchase and subsequent sale of dogs from local rescue groups and shelters.

No – No – No – No – No. The only way to do this is for the rescue groups and shelters to bring in homeless pets for adoption. In my home city and I’m sure in many other cities and towns, local stores and local outlets of national chain stores such as PetSmart and Petco play host to weekend adoption fairs.

We absolutely DO NOT want stores buying dogs or cats or any homeless pets from shelters or rescue groups. And I would hope that none of these organizations would even agree to it.

Continue reading →

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AKC on the wrong side of the puppy mill debate – in a huge way

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The American Kennel Club continues to stand on the wrong side of the push to shut down puppy mills. The last straw is the movement in my home state of North Carolina, where HB930 made through a full vote in the state House by a huge margin. But the bill is currently stalled in the Senate.

The measure contains guidelines based on the AKC standards of care. Yet the AKC is now in a position of opposing a movement to set these standards statewide.

An article that ran April 4 on the WGHP website quotes from a statement offered up by the AKC –

“The American Kennel Club believes that devoting more resources to enforcing current laws is a better solution than more regulation. North Carolina’s Animal Welfare Act already provides laws to govern the care of animals. Recent law enforcement actions against substandard kennels demonstrate that these laws work. The priority should be on providing local law enforcement with the resources they need to properly enforce these laws.”

There are some real problems with this statement. One is the fact that law enforcement offices all around the map are calling for clear-cut standards and often we see that conditions have to reach a horrible level before they can step in.

To suggest that current laws are enough in states like North Carolina is to loose all credibility. It is just not a statement based on the facts at hand. Yes, we need to see the laws enforced. But the regulations are currently very weak in NC.

In addition, we have a system of inspections in place for rescue shelters – yet nothing like this at all for breeding operations. Yes, the people and groups who rescue dogs and those who take in dogs pulled from puppy mills are inspected. But the puppy mills are not.

HB930 does not contain a system for inspections. I wish it did. But you can be sure that groups the AKC would throw full tantrums if inspections were in the bill. The last thing they want is for breeding operations to face improved standard of care and inspections.

 

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