Editor's backnote: In 1978, an usher at Madison Square
Garden told me and Bettye Krug "This Westminster Dog Show is a drop in the
bucket compared to that international cat show." While dog
ownership has gone down, cat ownership continues to climb.
Cat people are more knowledgeable about genetics due to the
more subtle differences in feline size and type and one other thing we learned; cat people are not afraid
to show and use claws!
I later become a TICA Certified Cattery (1987) and
became aware of the sad comparisons between AKC and TICA. Unlike the
American Kennel Club, The International Cat Association and Cat Fanciers
Associate (CFA) had geneticists on staff, computerized systems that flagged unlikely genetic colors - at a time when the big news in
dogs was a litter of black Airedales that AKC finally
“looked at”. My success in cats proved that a total novice
could win big (#1 Bengal Kitten 1988). Judging, placing, and critiquing each cat from 1st to 10th
place - in front of a knowledgeable audience almost always insures that the best cats to make it to Finals
(i.e. Group).
TICA and CFA implemented cattery inspections decades before AKC
even claimed to inspect the worst puppy mills Big Bad Wolf (opens in window) but obviously did not when they were "friends" of AKC. Cat registries were the example I used
to force AKC to allow breeders to protect their bloodlines with a comparable “no breeding” category on the blue slips. It was as short-lived as a mosquito, no doubt because dog
breeders loved it! By 2009 AKC had come out with new policies on
Renaming dogs, registering dogs with no papers, failure to honor contracts (w) changes that harm show breeders while favoring backyard breeders and puppy mills. Get instant info and background ii AKC Supports PAWS.
The FLAWS in PAWS
TICA's 2005 Concerns about the Pet Animal Welfare Statues Include:
-
PAWS redefines the definition of dealer in the Animal
Welfare Act which currently distinguishes between large-scale commercial
breeders selling at wholesale and retail pet stores (which includes home based
hobby breeders). PAWS creates a confusing definition of dealer which largely
obviates the decision made by the Circuit Court of Appeals in Doris Day Animal
League v. Veneman, 315 F.3d 297, 299 (D.C. Cir. 2003) and which is unnecessary
due to increased enforcement and enhancement of laws covering abuse and neglect
by local and state governments, thus it is more appropriate than ever that Retail Pet Stores (as currently defined in the AWA)
be regulated at the state/local level, not at the federal level.
-
The PAWS definition of dealer is not
reflective of large scale commercial sellers of pedigreed cats of which there
are few due to feline health considerations. In order to maintain genetic
diversity hobby cat breeders may be required to keep 4-5 females which may have
to be bred more often than once per year to protect the cat's reproductive
health and cannot always be predicted in advance. Nor can the size of cat (or
dog) litters be accurately predicted. Even such a small to moderate sized hobby
breeder may find themselves classified as a dealer under PAWS. Furthermore the
Animal Welfare Act facilities requirements are detrimental to producing well
socialized cats and kittens. PAWS will ultimately
destroy the public's only access to quality bred, well socialized purebred cats
and kittens in the United States of America.
-
PAWS is an ill considered bill from the
standpoint of enforcement as well. The USDA does not have the resources to
inspect the current level of licensed facilities and will not be able to license
and inspect the great influx of new "dealers" if PAWS passes without a
significant increase in the amount of resources allocated to the USDA and the
likelihood of having to allow private organizations conduct the inspections.
-
It is unlikely the USDA can enforce PAWS without access to the registry database of each of the registering bodies. TICA
objects to such a use of its registration database.
-
While PAWS supporters claim hidden puppy
mills and internet/newspaper retail sellers escape regulation, there is no
evidence that internet and newspaper advertising has any relation to the quality
of the animals and the conditions under which those animals are reared and
housed. The reality is the internet has made for a much more savvy purchaser,
not the opposite.
-
The
effect PAWS will have on rescue organizations is also of concern. If a rescued animal is placed by a rescue
organization and an adoption fee is considered a sale, then rescuers are
considered retail sellers. By abandoning the wholesale-retail sales distinction,
PAWS places many rescues in the same class as any other reseller meaning many more dogs and cats will be euthanized because of PAWS as there will be no
rescues available to take them.
Kelly Crouch, Chair, TICA Legislative Committee
Related PAWS Information:
The PAWS Bill = PAUSE For Thought
Santorum Slipped On Paws
Dennis Sprung, AKC President, Campaigns With Senator Rick Santorum
Flaws In PAWS: Truth Refutes Rhetoric
Flaws In PAWS Defined by TICA, The International Cat Association
CFA Letter to the AKC President and Board
AKC Opposes Puppy Protection Act but... TheDogPress looks at the back trail to see what's ahead.
PAWS and LAWS Editorial, Projects PAWS purebred dogs and dog owners.
PAWS Becomes PUPS In 2010 don't say we didn't warn you!
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