[Donna Jean]

Hi, I know all of you have so much positive energy, now to direct it were it will do the most good.

Carol Jean is going to get a list of all our State officials. That will be great!

I think it would also be important to get every States, Rules and Regulations on how many dogs they can have in the County, City requirements, so we would need to know All the Citys in each State, and All the County's in each state. We would have to get that information from the Dept of Agriculture, since all States are different it would be nice to see the difference and try to make everything the same so it is a very BLACK and WHITE issue easy to understand by all. Just like many of you have already said, make it illegal to sell puppies and kittens in Pet Stores, That is Black and White, that would take the wind out of Brokers and Puppy Mills!!!!!!!!

I know a lot of these Puppy Mills and Brokers are all over the internet and are hard to identify, as they do not list all their dogs, pretend to show, and have someone doing a beautiful Web Site for them, that they hide behind. It would be nice to make everything universal, so if a Puppy Mill gets shut down in one State they can not move to another.

This is so hard to know where to start I know when I was trying to get my Special Use Permit, their were some many hoops to jump through, a ton of red tape, and I just had to wade through it a baby step at a time, a year later and over 12,000.00 later iI got my special use permit. It wasn't what I wanted, and I am having to place some of my dogs, and only have 2 litters a year, but i think that can eventually change, the law before was a mim. of four dogs per house hold in the County. I you wanted more you would have to have 1 acre per dog. So if you had 20 dogs, you would have to have 20 acres. The same rule applied for Kennels, No one can afford that kind of property to have a Kennel to board and rescue dogs. We were able, with a lot of patience and time to change that rule that a Kennel could be on two acres, and house no more than 40 dogs,and could not have more than 2 litters a year. and they had to be regulated by the State and be State Licensed. So we know have one new rule in Garfield County that is Black and White.

That was a big step, so I know if we can get organized we can get the ball rolling. My stand in this whole mess was to bring the closet breeders out of the closet, let them get legal and not be afraid they were going to be found out about or shut down, these are the breeders we want to buy our puppies from, they are small breeders, and raise their dogs as pets first in their homes, and than have a few litters a year. The Show Breeders are of course the model for what the small breeders should be producing, they are the ones that set the examples they are the leaders, and they are the ones that already know the rules and regulations, so if they could step forward, and let us know how to get started, it would be a win, win situation. Small breeders would be buying their dogs from show breeders, and hopefully get involved in showing as that is how you can really see the difference in the breed you are interested in, and that should be the goal we all have in mind when we are producing little live babies that should have a future of few problems, and as beautiful and healthy as we can breed.

I truly wanted to make a difference in the quality of the breed, and since I have a few champions, and some very nice dogs, I notice other breeders are having to get a better quality of dog if they want to sell their puppies. I am 62 years old and had to wait till I retired to start this business, but I for one was so sick and tired of getting yorkies with a lot of things wrong with them, the expense of trying to get the proper medical treatment , and sometimes having to endear the heartbreak of losing them. I was committed to make a difference, and I know in our area I can now see that breeders are breeding much better quality of dogs, with lots of champions, and beautiful dogs to start out with. All it is is education, get the facts out there, and let these breeders who are with the mothers and their babies 24/7 for the 3 critical weeks it takes to raise a baby, and know that these breeders are loving all their dogs first and treating them like pets, who are truly out there to better the breed..

I have a friend that I got started in this business who I just love to pieces, she started out on the right foot by getting the best quality of dogs that she could find, raises her dogs in her home, and all of her dogs are drop dead beautiful, her puppies to die for. She will remain small so the dogs get a lot of attention and care, and are not just a money maker for her, they are her beloved pets first, and get the best of care she can provide for them. She is the kink of person you want to get your dogs from, and the kind of breeder that you have the upmost of respect for. These are the breeders we want to keep in business, and if anyone we can make a dent to abolish all Puppy Mills, and Brokers, and get the intergrity back in these breeds. I think this forum can!

I think we would have to have volunteers come forward that would like to see an end to puppy mills step forward. Let us know which State they are from, and maybe get a committee formed with at least a dozen volunteers from that State, find out how many Counties are in that State, and get the rules and regulations for Breeders and boarding faculties in those Counties. I personally would like to see how different everything is, and the larger the difference, the harder it will be to make a crack in the Puppy Mill and Broker Business. However We have to start somewhere.

This is soooooooooooo big, and it isn't going to happen overnite, but at least if we can pull together in this forum we can get some input and get started on this journey that will indeed put an end to the suffering and bad treatment of these wonderful creatures that are our BEST FRIENDS!

Speaking of BEST FRIENDS IN UTAH, MAYBE THEY COULD GIVE US SOME POINTERS ON HOW TO GO ABOUT THIS AND GET STARTED.

I know when I started my business I could not find anyone that said there was a concrete rule, I only found out after the fact, and then had to apply for my application to be reviewed as I was in violation of the County's rules. Not a good position to be in. It was a long and tough year for me, and because the County insisted on calling me a Kennel, no one wants to live next door to a kennel!!! A hobby breeder is a different thing. I was told no one is looking for hobby breeders, they are looking for dogs running at large, barking all night, harassing wild life, etc. etc. Puppy Mills, not me. I think their are a lot of breeders that are or were in the same boat i was in, you are State Licensed, your dogs are AKC so you think everything is o.k.

For me to find out different turned out to an expensive and uphill battle, and a slow process that I was in constant fear that I would not get my Permit, and have to move as giving up all my dogs was not an option. I am sure that is the reason so many breeder are not State Licensed, and I would think more than half do not even know the regulations in their County, I know no one would give me a straight answer. Even the people who should have known did not know until it came up and I had to go before the board of county commissioners. So I know this is going to be a long hard uphill battle, but I truly think with everyone out there wanting the same thing we CAN make a difference.

I think after we get the facts from each State and County within that State what the rules and reg. are. We can than go to our State Rep. and see how we can better inforce the rules that have be set up to abide by.

I am personally overwhelmed at the enormity of the Puppy Mills and how to find them and personally shut them down! It also scares me, as I want to make sure all of my animals are protected, and no one will try to go after me to make my life a living hell because I am trying to put them out of business, I am sure they are very big and have a lot more money than I do and I worry about the safety of myself and my animals. but we have to start somewhere.

I would love to hear how many people from how many States would like to get involved in this forum, so we can start to get organized . If there are not enough people, than I think the fight will be impossible, as one person can not do it alone. I know so many want to help, and have the same feelings, it would be so nice for whoever is interested to come forward and let us know their feelings and how they think they can help.