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Originally Posted by Donna Jean Thank you,
Their is no way to regulate what any breeder is doing without being State Licensed, then at least you have a visit one time during the year, and to renew your Lic. they come to your house, inspect, and spend a great deal of time making sure all your dogs get along, know their names, do not have matts or long nails, have good venelation, heat, air, outside enviorment with sun, and a place to get exercise.
You also have to make sure, you put all their dishes in the dishwasher, clean bedding a mim. of once a week ( my babies get clean beds every nite, with a clean polar fleece blanket. ) washable walls, floors, and counter tops, you must be very, very clean and steril, The list is a long one, and I think they do a very good job staying on top of your breeding business.
They also check your records, which i feel is sooooo very important!!!! To be a small hobby breeder you can have no more than 99 dogs including puppies per year, in the State of Co.. That is a very large number of dogs, and I personally do not know of any one that can take care of that many dogs and puppies without a lot of full time help!!! The Pet industry is a large one and is very difficult for the State to stay on top of, they barley have enough staff to issue a lic. every year, to the breeders that are honest enough to apply for one, let alone try to find a puppy mill and put them out of business.
I think a breeder's worst nightmare is being caught without a Lic. to breed their dogs, I do not know what the fine is, but I do know that getting Licensed, and a special use permit from the County gave me a great deal of peace. My dogs are much more than just a breeding business, my dogs are my pets, my babies, and I would gladly give up my breeding business just to be able to keep all my adult dogs legal in the County. I don't have to worry about someone turning me in now, and maybe taking my dogs away from me.
Before I got my lic. I worried someone would turn me in, and maybe they could take my babies, the fine I could handle, taking any of my puppies would have killed me. I know I got a Royal Screw from the County,( however every cloud has a silver linning,I now have more time to get back into showing) basicly anyone else in the County can have four litters per year, and if they wanted to breed that bitch twice, they could have as many as 8 litters a year,( with the 4 dog per family rule to be legal in the County, but they are not legal in the State.) ( Our County is over the State,)that is a LOT of litters, and I think that many dogs breeding twice a year, could well be considered a puppy mill, you can not take care of 8 litters a year. These people should have a lic. from the State, as they have over 2 litters per year.
If your breeder is not State lic. they are not State regulated, so don't buy your puppies from them. These people need to be supervised, checked on, and compley with the law. It is the only way to know if a breeder is reputable or a puppy mill, the difference is vast!!!
I think it is a place to start, to try to keep these breeders under control, the only way to find them is to police your own back yard, AKC is pretty much on top of anyone that registere's 5 litters or more they check on you yearly so register them with AKC, so when you get an AKC dog you at least know the breeder is ethical.
AKC does surprise visits, and you better have it all together, they are really on top of your paper work, DNA's, the condition of your home, and your dogs, it is a 10,000.00 dollar fine if the DNA's do not match or anything is wrong with your paper work, or if your dogs are not in good shape and well groomed. Along with the fine they can close you down for a year, so all you breeders who have over 2 litters a year get licensed by your state, you will sleep so well at night and it will give you great peace.
I am a very small breeder, I will even be smaller now with only being able to have 2 litters a year, in the past 4 years in the breeding business I have had 13 litters, an avg. of 3.25 litters per year. I want you to know for me that was lot of hard, hard work, and I feel that having only 2 litters will make my life so much easier!!!! I might even be able to get back into showing, which is why I decided to do this in the first place.
The yorkie business should be about quality, not quanity, these precious little ones need the attention of an infant for the first 6 months to year of their lives. Without having anyone issueing a Lic. how do we know what the living envioument is of the yorkies you are getting. I also know the laws vary from State to State, some states do not have any laws, and I also know the laws are different from County to County, find out what your laws are and abide by them, it will make for a really good nites sleep, and it is nice to reasure your clients that you are above board on your breeding business.
It will also let you client know you are not a puppy mill. Breeders may be able to stash dogs in cages, when people come over to see the puppy they want to buy, but you can not hide from the State or AKC!!!! The only way to stop puppy mills is a baby step here and a baby step there till we can catch them, those baby steps add up. Know your breeder, ask to see their lic, make sure you get your AKC papers, and it will help put a stop to the breeders that are in for it for only the money. |