[ SHOWGSD-L ] Updates on the APHIS Pet Store Regs

  • From: "Stormy V. Hope" <stormy435@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: The List <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 18:48:13 -0800

NO permission to share!, as there are assumptions here, and I do not want 
assumptions to be out there as fact as so often happens :-(  . 
Many of you have probably seen, either on Facebook or on one of the yahoo 
lists, that there was a paragraph relating to USDA/APHIS and the Retail Pet 
Store Regs, stuck in the 2014 Farm bill.  That bill was passed by the House and 
will probably be passed by the Senate soon.
On one of the thousands of pages, there was a tiny bit that was very important 
to Dog and Cat breeders.  It still needs to be sorted out, but following is the 
least complicated explanation of it.  It is my supposition and ONLY my 
supposition that there was some work being done by insiders.  Maybe USDA/APHIS 
was the one that got this stuck in there. They saw a flaw (and was pointed out 
by thousands of unhappy breeders), had help in seeing the flaw by some inside 
work, and got a friendly Congress Member to add it.

From Animal Legal Resources, a Wisconsin law firm that works FOR dog owners.
ALR has some interesting news to report today. As many of you know, we at ALR 
have been strong supporters of the AKC, UKC and NAIA lobby efforts in promoting 
causes and expressing concerns of the hobby breeding community especially in 
response to the changes in the APHIS regulations pertaining to licensing dog 
dealers. We see some encouraging signs that those efforts have been productive 
in language incorporated in the Conference Committee Report on the 
reconciliation process engaged in by Congress during the process of passing the 
recent Farm Bill. The USDA derives its authority to regulate from Congress. The 
Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is the law that creates the authority for the 
Secretary of Agriculture to regulate certain activities including some sales of 
pets and use of animals in exhibition. In the recent Farm Bill Congress amended 
the AWA with the addition of the following language “that a dealer or exhibitor 
shall not be required to obtain a license as a dealer or exhibitor under this 
Act if the size of business is determined by the Secretary to be de minimus.” 
Adding exhibition to the de minimus exclusions to those who should not be 
required to obtain licenses. The magician who has one bunny as a portion of his 
act won’t now need a USDA license to continue to do his magic act. The 
Congressional Committee in their report to Congress also made reference to the 
recently enacted rules pertaining to hobby dog and cat breeders who have four 
or fewer breeding females. The committee recognized the confusion in the 
industry with the USDA definition of breeding female and made the following 
statement in their report. “The Managers urge APHIS to clarify that only those 
female animals capable of reproduction AND ACTIVELY BEING USED in a breeding 
program qualify as breeding females.” We believe that statement was in response 
to many breeders concerns that show dogs capable of breeding are not used 
actively in a breeding program and animals too young to complete health testing 
or screenings prior to entering a breeding program are not considered breeding 
females by hobby breeders. We applaud the efforts of organizations and those 
individual breeders who took the time to contact their legislators about their 
concerns. While this language in the report has not yet been adopted by the 
USDA, we believe the strong urging by Congress will push the agency into 
adopting such a definition quickly. It does not require a rule change to do so. 
We will keep you updated as to how the USDA will address this urging by 
Congress.


Stormy V. Hope
https://www.facebook.com/GSDCA.LegislationAwareness
https://www.facebook.com/CaRPOC.CaliforniaResponsiblePetOwnersCoalition





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