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PAWS - Pet Animal Welfare Statute, Introduced by Rick Santorum in 2005, was the worst animal legisistion ever!  Puppy mills were exempt but show breeders and hobby dog breeders would have become non-existant.PAWS STATUTE INFORMATION

 

Animal Rights began in 1800s England, migrated to America in the 70's, and is exemplified by the 2005 Pet Animal Welfare Statute, disingenuously called PAWS

 

 

 

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 Legislation

 

The 1966 AWA (Animal Welfare Act) morphed into PAWS in 2005 (supported by AKC, HSUS, Dick Durban (D-IL) and Rick Santorum R-PA.

 

Today Animal Rights have handcuffed all animal owners under the Federal Animal Rights Law USDA/APHIS which protects giant food producers and puppy mills by putting family farmers and hobby breeders out of business.

  1. 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.

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  3. 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.

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  5. 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.

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  7. 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.

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  9. 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.

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  11. 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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