I personally would not want to have more dogs than I could have in my home. I do not want to make my dogs into livestock. But I know there are many outdoor kennel set ups that are humane and sanitary, where they let the dogs out for daily exercise and personal time with people.
There are laws in the works that could use our support along these lines. The Illinois Chloe Bill is one of those. It limits breeders to 20 unspayed/unneutered animals. That is a doable number to realistically provide nurturing. Any more than that, I do not see how they could provide any quality time with their dogs.
On a national level, there is H.R. 6949, the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act was co-sponsored by Representatives Sam Farr (D-CA), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Lois Capps (D-CA), Terry Everett (R-AL), and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) -- it got introduced late and no action taken yet. Among other things, it requires that all dogs being used in breeding be allowed out of their cage for daily exercise. It requires breeders to get a license from the USDA if they raise more than 50 dogs in a 12-month period and sell directly to the public and sets forth reasonable standards of care for commercial breeders. Enforcing those reasonable standards of care could go a long way to improving the lot of puppymill dogs. Enforcement would be crucial to make it worthwhile though.
I send out periodic emails in support of these intiatives. I basically say the same thing each time, but I figure one in a thousand emails ever really get read by the pol I am sending them to. So, I just keep on sending them. |