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Puppy Peddlers Beware
If your dog gets lost, you worry about the many possible dangers he faces, from cars to wildlife traps. You can add research labs to that list, but hopefully not for long. According to the Humane Society of the United States, every year “Class B” animal dealers collect 18,000 dogs and cats from flea markets and free-to-good-home ads then sell them to research laboratories (Puppy Peddlers). Some of those animals are in fact lost or stolen pets whose owners never gave permission for their pets to be used in this way. U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Reps. Phil English (R-PA) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) have co-sponsored the Pet Safety and Protection Act, which would ensure that all dogs and cats used by research facilities are obtained legally. It’s known as “Buck’s Bill,” in honor of a black hound dog who was seized from an Oklahoma dealer in 2003 and died soon thereafter due to previous neglect. To download a fact sheet on the bill, go to Buck's Bill. - Julia Kamysz Lane
May 21, 2007 in Current Affairs, Legislation | Permalink
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This addition to the Animal Welfare Act is fine and good. In fact, it's been needed for some time. But this will simply be putting more words to what is already NOT being enforced by the USDA. They are aware of the flea markets that sell dogs obtained from "unknown" sources in Missouri every week, they know of the dog auctions that go on across the state, and will repeatedly use the defense of "We're understaffed to handle them all" or "We cannot be in two places at once, and have ongoing operations that required our presence .... (elsewhere)." Which is nothing more than a load of horse dung. The USDA, who would be responsible for enforcing this act, does not want to enforce actions such as this, unless it's against a facility that has somehow gotten into the spotlight too highly, or is rocking the commercial pet industry's boat. They have had multiple opportunities to bring on additional staffing, and declined to do so. They have had offeres from people that were willing to volunteer; not all of them from Animal Rights activists either... but they still refuse to accept help where it is offered. Instead, they have continued to focus on the Animal Rescue's that actually have made a negative impact on the commercial breeding (read puppy mill) industry.
The Law makers can continue to write words that will benefit our pets, but when is the USDA going to be reformed so that it can work as an effective means of enforcement?
Posted by: John K | Jun 3, 2007 11:53:53 AM
