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APV alert—July 27, 2005
For years, animal advocates have been concerned about puppy mills—facilities that mass produce puppies for sale, with little to no regard for their welfare. Now there is a piece of federal legislation that just might throw these dogs a bone. The Pet Animal Welfare Statue (PAWS) would shine a light into the dark, cramped cages of puppy mills by bringing them under the regulation of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), closing a loophole that these breeders have been jumping through with their sickly puppies in tow.
PAWS would subject large breeders, defined as those producing seven or more litters and selling more than 25 dogs or cats to the public each year, to the minimum standards of the AWA. Currently any breeder who sells directly to the public has been considered exempt by the USDA under the “retail pet store” clause. More and more breeders are selling directly to the public via the Internet, necessitating an expanded enforcement of the AWA. That’s what PAWS will do. True hobby breeders will continue to be exempt.
Please note: animal rescue organizations are not covered under this law! Puppy millers have been spreading misinformation in an effort to derail this important piece of information. For a legal analysis concluding that rescue groups will not need to have a USDA license, please see this letter from George Washington University Law School Professor Joan Schaffner.
The details:
S. 1139, sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
H.R. 2669, sponsored by Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) and Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA)
Take Action
Call your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators to ask them to co-sponsor PAWS.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman: 1-800-443-8658
Sen. Pete Dominici: 202-224-6621
Rep. Heather Wilson (district 1): 202-225-6316
Rep. Steve Pearce (district 2): 202-225-2365
Rep. Tom Udall (district 3): 202-225-6190
Not sure what to say when you call? Here’s a sample:
"Hello. My name is [your name] and I'm calling from [your city and state]. As a constituent of [your Senators' or Representative's name], I urge [him or her] to cosponsor Senator Rick Santorum's and Representative Jim Gerlach's Pet Animal Welfare Statute, also called PAWS. This bill closes a loophole in the Animal Welfare Act to protect animals in commercial breeding facilities. I care very much about sick puppies and kittens being sold to the public, often over the Internet, and am horrified that tens of thousands of breeding dogs aren't provided any protection under current law. Thank you."
Calls to the DC offices are the most effective way to voice your opinion. Local offices do not deal with legislative issues. Letters to Capitol Hill are currently subject to so much inspection, radiation and other precautionary treatments that when they finally do arrive in the legislators’ offices, they are often illegible.
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