[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Puppy Mill Victory in PA
- From: Cinosam GSD <cinosamgsd@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: targa50@xxxxxxxxxxx, showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:57:22 -0700 (PDT)
Interestingly, I just received an email from the Animal Ark here in MN about
getting puppy mill legislation passed. They made reference to how horrible the
puppy mills are in PA. Here is the letter from that group.......Cindy
The Quest Continues for a Viable Puppy Mill Bill in Minnesota
by Mike Fry
As I write this the animal welfare community in the United States is buzzing
about the recent passage of a comprehensive puppy mill bill in Pennsylvania, a
state considered to have some of the largest and most notorious mills in the
nation. This success is hot on the heals of another puppy mill legislative
success story: the State of Virginia passed legislation that prohibits breeders
from keeping more than 50 animals.
Bringing the Virginia success story a little closer to home, many animal
welfare advocates have cited a strong dog kennel ordinance in Minnesota?s own
Sherburne County as the inspiration for the new law in Virginia. That
ordinance, more than a year ago, prohibits the keeping of more than 40 dogs.
Even more important, this ordinance says that no more than 10 of those animals
can be intact females.
In spite of these and other successes, and in spite of multiple attempts to
regulate puppy mills in Minnesota, our state has yet to see a viable and
comprehensive bill that would regulate large-scale, commercial factory farms
for dogs. As a result, no bill offered in our state has seen much movement at
the legislature.
Problems with Past Bills
To understand what is needed to pass legislation in Minnesota that would
regulate large-scale pet breeders a person only needs to look at past bills
that have gone nowhere at the legislature.
Senate Files 121 and 2292 are examples. Both of these bills included
unrealistic definitions of ?commercial breeders? that included owners of as few
as six animals, failing to understand the many issues of scope and scale
relating to breeders that keep a thousand or more breeding animals. But that is
only the start of the problem with past bills.
In the case of Senate File 2292 - the bill provided a virtual exemption for
large-scale commercial wholesalers of dogs, those licensed by the USDA, from
complying with any new care standards created by the State of Minnesota. For
this reason, Senate File 2292 would have been better titled ?The Minnesota
Puppy Mill Protection Act?. Its passage would have been a big win for the
commercial dog breeding industry in Minnesota. The failure of Senate File 2292
could, in a way, go down as a success in Minnesota.
However, Minnesotans need to do better than kill bad bills. We need
comprehensive legislation that will help the State oversee an industry that has
commercialized animal abuse, at the expense of the State.
Going Forward
What Minnesota needs is a puppy mill bill that clearly and reasonably
differentiates between small, responsible breeders and large, commercial
wholesalers of puppies. We also need a structure that ensure that fines and
fees paid by commercial breeders will go directly to local law enforcement
efforts to regulate these facilities.
As things are, puppy mills get away with violations because local law
enforcement does not have the resources with which to regulate these
enterprises. The costs of confiscating and holding the animals at a single
large-scale, commercial breeder could easily run into the hundreds of
thousands, if not millions of dollars. Given that these facilities often exist
in small, rural communities, it is not surprise that little enforcement action
is taken against the largest of the abusers. The communities cannot afford to
take such action. A viable puppy mill bill in Minnesota will direct resources
from application fees and fines to enforcement officials responsible for
overseeing these facilities. Failing to do so would be the equivalent of
creating an unfunded mandate. We all know how well those work out.
And, lastly, we need a puppy mill bill that does not cast aspersions on the
many small, responsible breeders in Minnesota, who are not the problem and who
make virtually no money from breeding animals. Some breeders are working to
maintain or improve breed standards. They should not be penalized because of
the greed associated with the commercial breeding taking place in Minnesota?s
puppy mills.
A viable puppy mill bill in Minnesota has yet to be written. However, with the
help of our friends and partners in animal welfare, veterinary medicine and
related fields, Animal Ark expects to deliver one or more during the 2009
legislative session. With your support we will add Minnesota to the list of
states that have successfully regulated this dirty industry.
Pat Lukos <targa50@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
A move in the right direction to target PA puppy mills
https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?id$41
No more shooting dogs in PA!!
Pat Lukos
SARAVA German Shepherds
Secretary, Last Hope Safe Haven, Inc.
www.lasthopesafehaven.com
============================================================================
POST is Copyrighted 2008. All material remains the property of the original
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind
are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE
PROSECUTED.
For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx
VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org
NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/
============================================================================
Cindy
www.cinosamgsd.com
============================================================================
POST is Copyrighted 2008. All material remains the property of the original
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind
are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE
PROSECUTED.
For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx
VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org
NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/
============================================================================
Other related posts:
