Anyone who cares about animals, cares whether or not puppy mills continue their callous disregard of their dogs, and whether they can sneak past animal welfare laws by selling directly online. Today is the last day to submit comments on the proposed rule change to our government’s Animal Welfare Act.
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| Puppy Mill |
I’ve been wanting to write about this for some time now. In fact, I’ve got two different drafts sitting unfinished. I kept tripping up on the details – and getting mighty fired up after hearing the lame reasons small and hobby breeders were screaming out about why they thought the rule change was unfair. Suffice it to say that the big-monied interests have made sure to put the spin on this change, frightening those who are responsible and caring with their dogs into thinking it’s a bad idea.
The reason for the change is the glaring loophole that has existed in the current law – which was written before the age of the internet, and which allows for puppy mills to sell their dogs on the internet without any oversight or restrictions. I explained the details of the situation, as well as the main reasons some people were against changing laws, in The PUPS Act Controversy.
Rather than attempt to go over it now, though, I instead ask you to head on over to No Dog About It, where Mel has succinctly explained exactly why you should be in favor of the rule change. I couldn’t have said it any better, and I’m grateful for my friend’s eloquence on this disturbing subject.
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| Cherry; Photo Credit Purr Photography |
We are long overdue for correcting and modernizing our animal welfare laws to include activities on the internet. As long as they can get away with anything they please online, going after the sales of puppy mill dogs in pet stores would be fruitless. There’s no point in laws if they don’t have teeth. Bring on the rule change!
I sure hope something positive happens!
We do too, Brian. It sure would be great!
I’d be thrilled to see the law tightened. But we already have such poor regulation by the USDA because their funding keeps getting cut. If animal welfare is really important to us, we don’t only need to change the laws but put some teeth in the enforcement.
Much of livestock inspection is done through self-reporting because there aren’t enough USDA inspectors to physically visit sites they’re responsible for.