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United Kennel Club Legislative Alert - PAWS

This past Sunday our local newspaper ran an article regarding Senate Bill 1139 (S. 1139 & H.R. 2669 ) more commonly known as the Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005, or the PAWS Bill. When a federal dog law becomes a lead story in a local paper, you know it’s getting a lot of press, both pro and con. If you have read about it, done your homework, and made up your mind, I respect that either way. But as a registry, we feel it is very important that you understand why the UKC strongly opposes a bill that could subject breeders in our sport to strict federal regulation..

According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the reason for this new legislation is “to close a loophole” in the Animal Welfare Act. The Animal Welfare Act now regulates breeders who sell to pet shops. Closing the “loophole” means federal regulation of breeders who do not sell to pet shops, which can mean breeders like you.

If you sell enough pups or breed enough liters, you will be regulated. The PAWS Bill includes anyone who breeds 7 litters a year or who sells 25 dogs a year not whelped on your own premises. Any breeder meeting those numbers will be subject to USDA federal regulations on sales, records, and facilities requirements. You will also be subject to USDA inspections. If you don’t breed 7 litters a year, or sell 25 dogs a year you didn’t breed, should you still be worried? Absolutely.

Seven litters in one year sounds like a lot of dogs and it is. On the other hand, what if you breed four standard poodle litters, the two Jack Russell litters, and your daughter’s Chihuahua litter the same year? Then, consider the regulations for selling 25 dogs not bred on your premises; how about if you sell pups from females you co-own with your brother that are born at your brother’s place? They count.

For example, let’s say your brother breeds three litters of coonhounds over at his place in Ohio (two litters of 8 and one litter of 9). You take the 25 pups to your place in Indiana because his wife took ill and you sell the pups for him from your place. You just transported 25 pups across state lines with the intent to sell them and you are now subject to a slew of federal USDA regulations.

When all is said and done, it’s not just that threshold numbers that bother me, it’s what could be next. Do you really want the federal government in your whelping box? Once the federal government is in the business of regulating breeders outside the world of pet stores, is it the numbers or what’s behind the numbers? And, once the federal foot is in your kennel door, when does 7 litters become 5? When does 5 become 3? How often does a detail in a long piece of legislation get changed right before it’s signed into law? More often than we’d like to know.

Of course, the legislation could stay at 7 litters and 25 dogs forever. No one knows. But we do know that when a bill is strongly supported by PETA and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), something else very well could be coming. When HSUS calls the PAWS Bill a “crucial step” I’m guessing there’s more than one step.

Additionally, how on earth is the federal government going to determine who meets these number thresholds? Since our nation’s largest registry, the American Kennel Club, is curiously supporting this legislation, one can only wonder how the federal government will get the information to identify breeders? While the PAWS legislation does not provide for that kind of collection as now written, will all dog registries, including the hunting based dog registries, eventually be expected to report your activities to the federal government? Let’s hope not.

There are many very good elements of the PAWS Bill that on the surface seem to be all about the humane treatment of animals. The UKC stands strongly in favor of reasonable legislation for humane treatment of dogs and routinely bars people for life who are convicted for inhumane conditions and animal cruelty. Fortunately, without the PAWS Bill, there are already many strong laws in place that provide for the humane treatment of animals in America. REGARDLESS of the number of dogs you breed or sell – if you are in violation of these laws you already can, and should, be convicted! Obviously, the premise of the PAWS Bill goes far beyond that premise.

While UKC applauds reasonable efforts to advance human treatment of dogs, it is firmly opposed to the PAWS legislation as it stands. While we respect the rights of other registries to do so, we simply have no plans to join HSUS or PETA’s support of this bill and are clearly opposed to the federal regulation of dedicated responsible coonhound breeders. We urge you to ask yourself the following questions and make up your own mind:

· Are you opposed to legislation that my lead to USDA inspections of your kennels?

· Are you opposed to legislation that may force you to rebuild your kennel to meet USDA requirements?

· Do you have the same goals and traditions as HSUS and PETA?

· Would you be comfortable with dog registries reporting your activities to the federal government?

This may be one of the most important pieces of federal legislation that we have seen in years. If you agree with UKC’s concerns, please contact your legislative officials now and tell them you are opposed to the PAWS Bill. The bill is now in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. CALL TODAY!

Here is how to voice your opposition to this bill:

Committee phone number: 202-224-2035

Mailing address:

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry

Room SR-328A

Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC. 20510-6000

Individual committee members names and e-mail addresses may be found at: http://agriculture.senate.gov/sen.asp

More often than we’d like to know.