ALERT - Illinois Breeders and All breeders

[Pinehaven]

This is what is on the horizon for any one who breeds ... I don't care if you have 2 females or 20 females. If we sit passively and ignore what's happening, these new laws are going to hit us all eventually and no one will be breeding due to it being too costly or because we are too afraid to breed.

This proposed bill HB 198 is going to the House today to be heard.

Briefly HB 198 would require:

Breeders would be prohibited from owning more than 20 intact dogs over a year old, regardless of whether the animals are being bred.

Breeders, defined as anyone who owns more than 3 breeding females and sells their offspring, would be required to:

*Submit to an annual, unannounced home inspection – for an unspecified fee.
*Undergo fingerprinting and criminal background checks – for an unspecified fee.
*Build facilities to meet rigid engineering standards which exceed those required by the USDA. This will require most breeders to purchase expensive new equipment and build new facilities.
*Breed only dogs between 18 months and 8 years of age. (you won't be able to breed males until they are 18 months old, and if your bitch comes into season at 16 months, I guess you'll have to wait until she's almost 2 before you can breed her for the first time)
*Correct any deficiencies within 7 days or dispose of all intact animals at an animal control facility, a licensed Illinois shelter or have them euthanized by a veterinarian.
*File detailed annual reports with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
*Provide specified disclosures to puppy purchasers.
*Comply with any additional regulations drafted by the department.

[yorkiekist]

I guess this is one thing we can agree on!!!LOL

[gkathleenw]

I guess I don't see whats wrong with this? I think its a GREAT idea! JMO

[Pinehaven]

Originally Posted by yorkiekist

I guess this is one thing we can agree on!!!LOL

I've been thinking the same thing for a while now too! Glad there is at least one thing that we can work together for.

It's downright scary what new laws they are trying to push through ... next they'll be telling us how many kids we can have.

[Pinehaven]

Originally Posted by gkathleenw

I guess I don't see whats wrong with this? I think its a GREAT idea! JMO

Give it a few years, if they pass enough laws like this one, your next yorkie will have to be imported from Europe cause they'll cost a couple thousand here. Of course you could buy from a puppy mill or pet shop since this bill is putting restrictions on hobby breeders with small numbers of dogs and not the puppy mills and petshops.

[gkathleenw]

Originally Posted by Pinehaven

Give it a few years, if they pass enough laws like this one, your next yorkie will have to be imported from Europe cause they'll cost a couple thousand here. Of course you could buy from a puppy mill or pet shop since this bill is putting restrictions on hobby breeders with small numbers of dogs and not the puppy mills and petshops.

Its not going to effect puppy mills and petshops? Thats BS!!!!! I thought that was the point of this bill?

[mstplumeria]

I signed the petition and emailed it to others....

[Pinehaven]

Originally Posted by gkathleenw

Its not going to effect puppy mills and petshops? Thats BS!!!!! I thought that was the point of this bill?

Anyone who owns more than three intact females, even if they don't breed, will fall under this law. Random unannounced inspections (with fees), finger printing (with fees), ....

Many of the puppy mills are not legal to begin with, so this won't affect them. Many others will go underground, sell out of state, and in parking lots.

If you owned 4 intact females and had a litter or 2 a year, how would you feel about having to be fingerprinted, like you're a criminal, or having AC knocking on your door at any time to "inspect" your home and conditions?

It's getting to be a crime to own a dog, never mind own a couple of intact dogs.

This is nothing more than anti breeding legislation ... period!

[Pinehaven]

Originally Posted by mstplumeria

I signed the petition and emailed it to others....

Thank you!

[gkathleenw]

Originally Posted by Pinehaven

Anyone who owns more than three intact females, even if they don't breed, will fall under this law. Random unannounced inspections (with fees), finger printing (with fees), ....

Many of the puppy mills are not legal to begin with, so this won't affect them. Many others will go underground, sell out of state, and in parking lots.

If you owned 4 intact females and had a litter or 2 a year, how would you feel about having to be fingerprinted, like you're a criminal, or having AC knocking on your door at any time to "inspect" your home and conditions?

It's getting to be a crime to own a dog, never mind own a couple of intact dogs.

This is nothing more than anti breeding legislation ... period!

Wow! Thanks for shedding some light on this topic for me. Your right, many will try to go around it by selling in parking lots and out of state. Its a shame because those are the people that really need to be treated like criminals and pay a bunch of fees.

[carmengamble]

IMO people owning more than 20 dogs for breeding purposes are disgusting. Honestly, you can't tell me that you are doing it to "better the breed" that is absolute BS. I can understand having a few dogs to breed, but 20 is a little over the top. I completely agree with this bill.

I agree with the home inspections, I would be suspicious if a breeder wasn't comfortable with inspections ...

Anyway, that's just my opinion ...

I'm pretty sure you will still be able to find a healthy Yorkie in a few years, since you can have less than 20 dogs to breed. Yikes..this is ridiculous. I am completely for this bill and hope it passes in your state and others -- as well as in Canada!

[YORKIE_mom_2008]

Originally Posted by carmengamble

IMO people owning more than 20 dogs for breeding purposes are disgusting. Honestly, you can't tell me that you are doing it to "better the breed" that is absolute BS. I can understand having a few dogs to breed, but 20 is a little over the top. I completely agree with this bill.

I agree with the home inspections, I would be suspicious if a breeder wasn't comfortable with inspections ...

Anyway, that's just my opinion ...

I'm pretty sure you will still be able to find a healthy Yorkie in a few years, since you can have less than 20 dogs to breed. Yikes..this is ridiculous. I am completely for this bill and hope it passes in your state and others -- as well as in Canada!

i dont thinkt the home inspections is a problem but it specifically states UNANNOUNCED inspections and for a hobby breeder that is their home often with their family etc.

[Pinehaven]

Originally Posted by carmengamble

IMO people owning more than 20 dogs for breeding purposes are disgusting. Honestly, you can't tell me that you are doing it to "better the breed" that is absolute BS. I can understand having a few dogs to breed, but 20 is a little over the top. I completely agree with this bill.

I agree with the home inspections, I would be suspicious if a breeder wasn't comfortable with inspections ...

Anyway, that's just my opinion ...

I'm pretty sure you will still be able to find a healthy Yorkie in a few years, since you can have less than 20 dogs to breed. Yikes..this is ridiculous. I am completely for this bill and hope it passes in your state and others -- as well as in Canada!

And this is how these bills pass because people think it sounds good but don't read it in it's entirety.

But the bill says 20 intact dogs regardless of whether you're breeding them or not. Someone who breeds and raises show prospects, say they have 3 champion studs and 10 breeding females and 2 retired girls (not breeding) who are unaltered. They also have 3 young dogs who you are currently showing and wish to retain a few pups from current litters as show hopefuls. Then they have 2 outside girls in for breeding. If there was an unannounced inspection during this time, there's only 13 intact dogs owned by the breeder that is used for breeding but there are and additional 11 intact that are either not being used for breeding or are owned by someone else. This puts them 4 dogs over the limit and illegal.

How about a trainer/handler? He has his own intact dogs he's breeding but he also takes in outside dogs for training? Now he's limited by law to either end his breeding program or to only allow spayed/neutered dogs in for training.

As for unannounced inspections, in Pennsylvania, I've heard of numerous people having these unannounce inspections every 2 weeks ... in my opinion, that's harassment and breeders are scared and many are getting out of breeding because of fear. You could have the most pristine set up but if they come and inspect before your afternoon cleaning or before your weekly bathing and grooming, Lord help you. I've heard of every animal on the property being conficated because it was found that some "dogs nails were long" and some had earmites (doesn't matter if you treating them currently or not - you have to go to court to prove you were treating). They hold the dogs for 10 dollars a day for each dog, until you go to court and are found not guilty. So if you have 15 dogs at 10 dollars a day and your court hearing is 90 days later, it will cost you 13,500.00 to get your dogs back ... and you weren't guilty in the first place!

It's shameful and disgusting that people are being persecuted without doing anything wrong because they have a "certain Number" of animals. If conditions are bad and dogs are in poor shape, that's one thing, but if someone can have 20 or more dogs and they are loved and well kept and live in an area that is zoned for kennels, I feel they shouldn't be limited to a specific "number."

Hopefully we won't one day be restricted to a certain of children because it's thought that people who have more than 2 or 3 children, won't care for them properly ...

[yorkiekist]

Originally Posted by carmengamble

IMO people owning more than 20 dogs for breeding purposes are disgusting. Honestly, you can't tell me that you are doing it to "better the breed" that is absolute BS. I can understand having a few dogs to breed, but 20 is a little over the top. I completely agree with this bill.

I agree with the home inspections, I would be suspicious if a breeder wasn't comfortable with inspections ...

Anyway, that's just my opinion ...

I'm pretty sure you will still be able to find a healthy Yorkie in a few years, since you can have less than 20 dogs to breed. Yikes..this is ridiculous. I am completely for this bill and hope it passes in your state and others -- as well as in Canada!

I am sure that you are going to welcome with open arms an inspection at 3 am. Even if reputable breeders have nothing to hide, this is an envasion of privacy. We already get inspected by AKC so why do we need more inspections? And it is easy to have 20 dogs, especially when you have breeds that have big litters. What about show handlers? The person I work for sometimes has over 35 dogs at his home at a time. And just where do you think you will be able to find a healthy Yorkie or any other breed if the reputable breeders/hobby breeders and exhibitors are legislated out of existance? Do you really think you can find that at the Pet Pad?? A puppy mill, perhaps? These kinds of breeders are always exempt from this kind of legislation. Its people that think the way that you apparantly do that keep eroding our freedoms and rights in this country. The freedoms that our military have died for. Keep voting for these bills and we will have a government based on harrasment and intimidation.

[Cheller_]

I think they are going about this reform the wrong way. A reform is a good idea, but some of the guidelines are ridiculous. This bill doesn't eliminate puppy mills. If anything the average person (potential pet owners) is once again led into a false sense of security. Puppy mills can indeed hide behind laws like these. It will be business as usual for Puppy Millers: it'll just be one more hoop for them to jump through.
I'm interested in hearing from a breeder's stand point "How the government of IL can eliminate or reform these issues (i.e. puppy mills, protecting your choice to breed, or protecting pet owners)?" I don't believe they've a single input from a decent breeder. To law makers it's business as usual ,but to you it's passion.