[107barney]

When I look at animal "welfare" laws, I always have the same feeling. Another piece of legislation that furthers the mission of some without the financial strings attached to truly enforce its provisions. And, what tends to happen with no enforcement is that things remain status quo. And for the little enforcement that might happen, it is just aiding the offenders at getting better at fooling the enforcement people. The sad fact is that in 10 years since I bought my puppy mill dogs (one came from good old Missouri -- and she's so far had a $30,000 price tag!) there has been little headway in reducing the problem not only in MO but in our country as a whole. The puppy mill where Daisy came from is alive and well. The broker who transported her to the Northeast still transports nearly 90,000 puppies per year. They are still doing what they are doing and they are doing it because no one is enforcing EXISTING laws that say the same thing!

Why is it continuing? Because as someone already pointed out politics but also supply and demand. The American buyer still wants a cute little puppy and they want it on an impulse. This is why the industry is still one of our most lucrative! As long as I can continue to walk into a petstore and buy a puppy or order one on the internet, there is no progress in my opinion. We can pretend it is a baby step but it's more of the same IMO.