PAWS Legislation is Back; We Have to Take Action Today

Currently, the Senate is trying to pass a bill that would, in essence, unfairly regulate the breeding of animals. In short, this bill would stop the average home breeder from being able to raise animals in their home. Instead, home breeders would be subject to strict regulations including having the animals in an environment that is institutional. It would outlaw home breeding of pedigreed cats.

This bill is part of the farm bill. It is still on the Senate floor, being debated a little now and then. SA 3723 is part of SA 3500. This is the part of the bill that is so restricting. It has already been modified many times and the sad thing is that the modifications do not have to be made public. This means that our legislators can have this bill say anything they want and we would not know that it has been changed.

This bill has many points that could negatively affect all animals and breeders. First, it states that any one who sells more than 25 animals a year or has 6 or more litters in a year would have to have a USDA approved facility. Now keep in mind that these numbers could change without notice to the public. This point means that if you have one animal or breeding over the limit, you could not keep the breeding animals in your home. You would have to build a USDA approved building. This point could lead to the death of many healthy animals just to ensure compliance with the law.

The bill stipulates that third party inspectors from non-profit organizations would be responsible for inspecting private home. This would basically give police like powers to non-profit organizations.

The bill is a violation of our rights. This bill classifies hobby breeders as dealers and would require them to follow a set of strict regulations that have not been written yet. These could include care, housing, breeding standards, and more.

This bill would give total control over regulating breeding to our federal government. This would totally override each state's or municipality's ability to pass laws concerning breeding.

This bill is being supported by some very extreme animal rights activists that want animals to be taken from the care of loving humans. They want animals to be free. I know that some animals are better off in the wild but, domesticated dogs are cats are better off in loving homes.

This bill allows non-profit groups to import foreign animals without regulations. This will encourage the importation of diseases as well. This endangers all Americans because there is no protocol or treatment known in the US for some of these diseases.

These regulations would be detrimental to the socialization of animals that encourages peaceful living with human companions. Institutionalizing the conditions of the animals would mean that when a puppy or kitten is in the crucial stage of learning who to trust, there would not be any humans in constant contact. This would, in turn, make it more difficult for the new owner to socialize the puppy or kitten to make it a good pet.

There are many reasons why anyone who breeds animals should take action now to try to get this bill stopped. While I agree with the need to regulate non registered non pure bred animals, this bill treats registered and unregistered animals exactly the same. It treats pure bred animals the same as non pure bred animals.

Instead of this harsh bill, a bill regulating unregistered and non pure bred animals should be passed by either federal or local governments. Pet owners of registered and pedigreed animals tend to take better care of their animals than those with just "back yard" animals.

If you are interested in helping to get this bill stopped, I encourage you to write a letter to your Senators. When doing this, remember to be polite and keep it short. Longer letters tend to get skimmed instead of read. Be sure to be specific about what you want. Avoid form letter because these get ignored. Include your name, address, and phone number in case the Senator needs to hear more from you. You can contact me through my CP page if you need help drafting a letter.

If you would like to write to your Senator, go to http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/. Just enter your zip code in the box located in the upper right hand corner. This will pull up a list of officials. There is a link to email them through a form. This is an effective way to contact them.
This issue goes along with Breed Specific Legislation. This bill just takes it to a larger scale. This is clearly a violation of our rights. What will the government try to regulate next?