Lawmakers Are Paying Attention.
–by John Goodwin
Amendment 13 (the vote to end of Greyhound racing in Florida) was a tremendous victory, though more chal- lenges remain in the effort to protect all dogs.
Florida has roughly 70 puppy-selling
pet stores, which are one of the main out- lets for inhumane commercial breeders known as puppy mills. Puppy mills rely on pet stores to sell puppies to hide cruelty and neglect from consumers. Conversely, pet stores rely on puppy mills because they are able to supply stores with a constant supply of puppies needed to fill their cages. Even if pet stores wanted to source
from responsible, humane breeders, they wouldn’t be able to because responsible breeders don’t sell to pet stores; they want to know who is buying their puppies and ensure that their animals are going to safe, loving homes. In fact, over 90 percent of the national dog breed clubs contain language in their code of ethics that discourages members from selling puppies to pet stores. Also, don’t be fooled by pet stores that
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claim to only purchase puppies from breed- ers licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture. A USDA license does not guarantee humane treat- ment of animals. A breeder licensed by the USDA only has to abide by insufficient, abysmal survival standards. The USDA reg- ulations simply require a dog be kept in a cage that is six inches longer than her body. Her paws may never touch grass. She can be bred every heat cycle until her body wears out. When she is no longer able to produce large litters, she can be killed instead of adopted out. For those breeders who fail to comply
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with these anemic standards, penalties are weak and poorly enforced. Fines are not high enough to be a deterrent. License rev- ocations are rare – even for licensees who have been found with sick or injured dogs on multiple occasions. To make matters worse, the USDA is actively protecting ani- mal abusers by redacting pertinent informa- tion from animal welfare inspection reports, which used to be available to the public. This backward decision has left consumers and law enforcement officials in the dark
about dog breeder compliance under the Animal Welfare Act. Not only are animals treated horribly
in puppy mills, but transport from these facilities to the pet stores is equally horrify- ing. Pet store puppies are often sick because they are born into deplorable conditions, taken from their mothers very early on, placed on semi-trucks with other vulnera- ble and potentially sick puppies and shipped hundreds of miles away to stores where they are treated as nothing more than products. This was the cause of a recent outbreak
of an antibiotic-resistant strain of Campylobacter, a gastrointestinal infection, linked to pet store puppies where 118 peo- ple were infected across 18 states and 26 people were hospitalized. There were 21 reported cases of Campylobacter in Florida in this outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that over- use of antibiotics administered to puppies, necessitated by the unhealthy conditions on the part of breeders, brokers, and pet stores, were the primary cause of this outbreak. As consumers and lawmakers become
more aware of this horrifying supply chain and its public health risks, they want to join the over 280 municipalities across the coun- try, as well as California and Maryland, in passing laws that prohibit the sale of com- mercially-bred dogs and cats in pet stores. The momentum for laws has been so great that puppy mill lobbyists have been going from state to state begging lawmakers to protect their cruel industry. Lawmakers have rejected these lobbyists’ attempts in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois and Michigan. But the fight is far from over. Florida law- makers need to be prepared to stop these attacks at the state house next session to ensure that local communities maintain their right to say no to puppy mills. Please contact your lawmakers and ask
them to oppose the puppy mill-to-pet-store supply chain and to oppose any efforts to rob local governments of the right to address problems – especially those that put consumers and animals at risk. John Goodwin is senior director of the Stop
U
Puppy Mills Campaign for the Humane Society of the United States.
www.TheNewBarker.com
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