Quote:
Originally Posted by Woogie Man  One thing that stands out to me is that this bill has the stated intent to stop puppy mills. The requirement for anyone that sells, or offers for sale, more than five puppies to register belies that intent. But just say that this bill passes in its current form. First off, there would have to be a window of time for any breeder, dealer or broker to register. Secondly, how can anyone force compliance unless they know who these people are in the first place? It's likely that those that are running a shady operation simply wouldn't register. So what you are left with are inspectors inspecting mostly 'good' operations once inspections do take place. The typical 'miller' would not have registered and you would still be relying on citizen complaints to get at them. How is that so different from what is in place now? Wouldn't it be simpler (and faster) to clearly define animal neglect/abuse, stiffen penalties for violators and use the USDA list as a starting point in identifying commercial breeders? Or does that make too much sense? |
I think one of the reasons that they might want people who sell 6 or more dogs a year to register as Pet Dealers, is because this enables them to do a little double-checking. Let say a breeder is claiming to only have 9 litters a year, so he would not be required to register as a commercial dealer. He could then just sell to brokers who wouldn't have to register at all; if there was no limit on the number they could sell without registering. You have to think of all the ways the puppy miller could get around the situation when designing legislation. This would be an effective way to double check because the pet dealer also has to say where he purchased the dogs. Some of these names and addresses would be more available than they currently are. This legislation also protects consumers somewhat, because Pet Dealers would be required to provide vet records to prospective customers, and this should be something that is made available to people buying a dog. So you see, even if the commercial dealer didn't register, there would still be a way to find out something about the operation.