I know a few breeders that, under this law, would be considered high volumn breeders. Their dogs are kept in immaculate condition. Some are sold for show, search and rescue, seeing eye, hunting, companion, agility, therapy etc. They have more or less about 10 litters per year. Some years more than others. The parents have all the necessary health/temperment testing done and the puppies do too(what ever is needed for that age). All of these people have wonderful health guarantees. These are dedicated breeders. I dont see how they can be considered the same as a commercial breeder, if we are saying that commercial=puppy mill. Thats another thing that wrong with these bills. What, exactly, defines a puppy mill or a byber? What defines a hobby breeder or an exhibitor breeder? It is still legal to have a dog breeding business, large or small, in this country. There are some people that absolutely LOVE breeding dogs! They LOVE dogs! They have made it their business doing what they LOVE. Sure, they make money, but isnt that what a business does? These are the people that, more than likely, do it the correct way. Its just like there are some people that LOVE horses and LOVE breeding horses. But they have a business and they either make money or they find another job away from home. Do I agree with these breeding ethics? Its actually none of my business! Unless there is actual cruelty going on.
On the flip side, you have the "other people" that are ONLY motivated by $$$ and do as little as possible in the way of care and housing. These are the "breeders" we need to stop! We do need harsher sentences for these people instead of just a slap on the wrist.
I am sure that each state has some sort of animal cruelty laws. When AkC inspects, if the kennel is not up to par, AKC will call animal control/cruelty investigators and suspend all AkC breeding/exhibiting priveledges pending investigation. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, AKC will either re-instate your privledges or you could be banned for ever.
Now that most of the puppy mills dont use AkC anymore, thanks to the DNA requirements and unannounced inspections, they are a little harder to find out. Evidentally, ApRi and the other alphabet soup registries are not doing a good job except when it comes to raking in $$.
I dont even know where I was going with this anymore!
I guess I just have one question. Will all of you be PROUD to say that you got your Yorkie/dog form a COMMERCIAL BREEDER? Because that is what you will be labeling all of us.