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BETTER FOR
DOGS THAN NURSING HOMES!
by
Frank Losey, April 2011
PUPS
- - MISPLACED CONGRESSIONAL PRIORITIES - - THE “ART OF FINESSE!”
 QUESTION: WHEN
WILL NURSING HOMES BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE THE SAME LEVEL OF CARE
FOR LOVED ONES AS IS PROVIDED TO DOGS?
As of August 15, 2011, 128 Members of Congress (24%) have either
sponsored or co-sponsored PUPS - - a Legislative Bill that would
amend the Animal Welfare Act and establish even more stringent
care standards for all Federally Licensed and Inspected Dog
Breeders than currently exist. Here it is significant to note
that if PUPS were enacted, it would set the stage for the HSUS
to “push” and “pressure” the USDA to extend coverage of the
Animal Welfare Act to hobby breeders as well.
The existing standards for dogs, as set out in the implementing
Animal Welfare Regulation, are very detailed as to the precise
quality of care that must be provided for each and every dog and
puppy, as well as exacting requirements that, among other
things, include precise “comfort” limitations on the
temperatures maintained for the sheltered housing of dogs. In
this regard, Section 3.3 of the Animal Welfare Regulation
provides that “sheltered housing facilities for dogs . . .
must be sufficiently cooled when necessary to protect dogs . . .
from temperature or humidity extremes and to provide for their
health and well being.” This same provision further
provides that the “ambient temperature must not . . . rise
above 85 (degrees F) for more than 4 hours when . . . dogs are
present. The preceding requirements are in addition to, not
in place of, all other requirements pertaining to climatic
conditions in parts 2 and 3 of this Chapter.”
Furthermore, to ensure strict compliance with all provisions of
the Animal Welfare Act, and its implementing Regulation, the
Department of Agriculture is required to ensure that all
Federally Licensed Breeders are in full compliance with the
Animal Welfare Act and its implementing Regulation through the
use of a detailed Federal Inspection Program which includes
periodic, no notice inspections by Federal
Inspectors of every Federally Licensed Dog Kennel in the entire
U.S.
In contrast, while the U.S. Congress did enact the Nursing Home
Reform Act in 1987, neither that Act nor its implementing
Regulation that exists today - - nearly 25 years after Congress
enacted the Nursing Home Reform Act - - establish Standards of
Care for our Loved Ones, who must spend the twilight of their
lives in Nursing Homes, with the same degree of detail as
currently exists in the implementing Regulation to the Animal
Welfare Act that explicitly establishes the required and detail
care for dogs. For example, if the air conditioning breaks down
on a Friday Night in a Nursing Home and the ambient room
temperature in the rooms of Loved Ones with respiratory problems
rises above 85 (degrees F) for more than 4 hours, unlike the
mandatory requirements for the care of dogs, there is no
requirement for our Loved Ones to be moved to another room where
the temperature is below 86 degrees F, or for the air
conditioning to be repaired before Monday morning, if ever!
Furthermore, there is no current Statutory requirement, nor is
there any pending legislation being considered by the U.S.
Congress that would require the Department of Health and Human
Services to use Federal Inspectors to periodically inspect
Nursing Homes - - that receive Billions of Dollars in Medicare
and Medicaid Payments - - to ensure that our Loved Ones in
Nursing Homes are actually receiving the minimum level of care
mandated by the Nursing Home Reform Act. To many, the absence
of an air conditioning standard for Nursing Homes that is
comparable to the air conditioning standard for dog kennels, and
the absence of a Federal Inspection Program for Nursing Homes
suggest that Congress places a higher priority on the care and
welfare of dogs than it does for the care and welfare of our
Loved Ones in Nursing Homes.
If you believe that a Loved One in a Nursing Home should receive
at least the same quality of care as is provided to a dog, why
don’t you ask your Members of Congress to support such
legislation as a backdoor way to “finesse” and
highlight the absurdity of the PUPS Bill without creating the
appearance of a parochial interest of dog breeders. That is
the essence of the “Art of Finesse!” In this
regard, if the Members of Congress, who have co-sponsored the
PUPS Bill, were to be made aware of the fact that they have
placed a higher priority on the care and welfare for dogs than
on the care and welfare for our Loved Ones in Nursing Homes, a
few may wince and reconsider their decision to co-sponsor PUPS.
And to those who are currently being “lobbied” by the HSUS to
co-sponsor the PUPS Bill, the revelation about a higher priority
for the care of dogs than for our Loved Ones in Nursing Homes
may stop the momentum for any more Members of Congress to
co-sponsor PUPS.
I truly believe that if the Members of Congress became fully
aware of the fact that the Federal Government places a higher
priority on the care and welfare of dogs than on the care and
welfare of our Loved Ones in Nursing Homes, such an awakening
revelation may be the “showstopper” to derail the
on-going momentum to enact the PUPS Bill.
Stop and reflect for a moment………. How many Members of
Congress do you believe would welcome notoriety associated with
the fact that the U.S. Congress apparently has placed a higher
priority on the care and welfare of a dog than on the care and
welfare of a Loved One in a Nursing Home?
If you wish to bring this comparative absurdity of
Congressional Priorities to the attention your respective
Members of Congress, you may do so by sending an E-Mail to
them. To send E-Mails, simply follow the instructions below.
It will take you less than 10 Minutes to do so, and it just may
derail and stop the HSUS PUPS Freight Train!!!
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To send an E-Mail to your U.S. Representative, Log onto
www.house.gov/writerep/
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Fill in your state and ZIP Code on the prompt that appears.
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Add your name, address and E-Mail address on the E-Mail Form
for your U.S. Representative; and on the Subject Line add:
PUPS - - MISPLACED CONGRESSIONAL PRIORITIES; and
then add the message set out below.
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To send an E-Mail to your Two Senators, Log onto:
www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
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Click onto the E-Mail Address for each of your two U.S.
Senators.
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Add your name, address and E-Mail address on the E-Mail Form
for your two U.S. Senators; and on the Subject Line add:
PUPS - - MISPLACED CONGRESSIONAL PRIORITIES; and
then add the message set out below.
Suggested Text of
E-Mail Message:
“I was alarmed to learn that the Federal Government has an
Inspection Program that requires that all Federally Licensed
Breeders receive no notice inspections by Federal
Inspectors to ensure compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, but
that there is no Federal Inspection Program for Nursing Homes
where our Loved Ones must spend the twilight of their lives in
a Nursing Home. I am equally concerned that the Federal
Government has an air conditioning standard for dog kennels, but
no such air conditioning standard exists for the Nursing Home
Rooms where our Loved Ones reside.
Since the Federal Standards for the care and welfare of dogs in
kennels are already more stringent than the existing Federal
Standards for the care and welfare for our Loved Ones in Nursing
Homes; and since Nursing Homes are not subject to periodic
inspections by Federal Inspectors in the same manner that dog
kennels are subject to inspections by Federal Inspectors, would
you please tell me why Congress places a higher priority on
amending the Animal Welfare Act with the pending PUPS Bill than
it does on ensuring that Nursing Home Reform Act is amended so
that our Loved Ones in Nursing Homes will receive the same level
of care that is currently required by the U.S. Government to be
provided for dogs?"
http://www.thedogplace.org/LEGISLATION/PUPS-NursingHomes_Losey-1108.asp
Articles and Infromation by Frank Losey
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