|
Don't let Abusive Puppy Mills Operate with Impunity
A public hearing for HB 3180, a bill that addresses large-scale commercial breeders who confine hundreds of dogs in cruel conditions, has been scheduled before the Texas House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee for 8 a.m. on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at the Capitol in Austin. The hearing room is E2.016 in the Capitol Extension, 2nd floor.
Get the Facts
About Puppy Mills ▪ Purpose of the Proposed Legislation ▪ Licensing and Regulation ▪ Inspections and Investigations ▪ Enforcement ▪ Consumer Protection
CONTACT THE COMMITTEE AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY
About the Legislation
HB 3180- Puppy Mill operators are spreading misinformation about this bill almost as fast as they're flooding the market with unhealthy puppies. Know the truth. This bill addresses large-scale commercial breeders who confine hundreds of dogs in cruel conditions.
Hobby breeders who keep 10 or fewer adult intact female dogs are exempt from the licensing and regulation requirements called for in this bill.
Learn more about HB 3180.
About Puppy Mills:
The vast majority of retail pet stores and internet pet sellers acquire their inventory from commercial breeding facilities known as puppy mills (or, in the case of cats, kitten mills). Also, many puppy mills sell direct to the public through newspaper ads and the Internet. As the name suggests, these mills operate like factories, engaging in a cycle of continuous breeding for profit to the detriment of the animals.
The mill operator's single-minded focus on profit leads to woefully inadequate care and attention to breeding dogs and puppies. Too often, the animals are kept in unhealthy conditions, overcrowded in filthy and badly designed cages and kennels. Generally located outside, these living spaces offer little to no protection from severe temperatures or other inclement weather conditions, and many puppies suffer broken legs or foot injuries as they slip between the wire mesh of the cages.
Puppy mill operators offer little care to their animals and often fail to provide adequate food and water. Veterinary care is rarely provided, and breeding females tend to be malnourished, ill and covered with sores. Sadly, breeding females lead a miserable existence and are kept in repeated cycles of pregnancy, with their pups removed before they are properly weaned. These "brood bitches" remain confined for almost their entire lives and, when no longer capable of breeding, they are discarded or destroyed, years before the end of a healthy female's natural life span.
Although puppies bred in these mills are advertised and sold as companion animals, the conditions under which they've been produced often make them ill-suited to bring the joy and companionship that the purchaser is seeking. Inbreeding, a common practice inside puppy mills, dramatically increases the risk that litter members will suffer from genetic defects that will require extra veterinary care for the animals in the future. The crowded and unsanitary conditions under which the animals are raised often result in an unsuspecting purchaser taking home an already diseased or dying pet. In fact, distemper and parvovirus are common among puppy-milled dogs.
Lack of socialization, especially toward humans, is another common symptom of the puppy mill environment, resulting in behavioral issues such as extreme timidity or aggressiveness.
Little or no regulation is currently in place to require minimum care standards of these operations. At the federal level, puppy mill operators remain unregulated if they sell directly to consumers (such as with Internet sales). Even when licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) under federal law, the breeding operation may still remain below minimum animal welfare standards because USDA inspections are few and fines are often insubstantial.
To take up the slack, many states have enacted legislation to address puppy mills by requiring breeders to obtain licenses and provide minimum standards of treatment and housing for the animals in their possession. Texas, unfortunately, is among the states with no current licensing or regulation in place for puppy mills. In addition to the inhumane treatment of animals, the lack of licensing and regulation has allowed the operators of the puppy mills to avoid state and local sales tax on the sale of their animals. The resulting monetary loss to the state is very significant.
Purpose of the Proposed Legislation:
The bill would provide for the licensing and regulation of commercial dog and cat breeders and the retail sale of dogs and cats. For purposes of the bill, a commercial breeder will be defined as a person having eleven or more breeding female dogs or cats.
It should be noted that this bill does not attempt to license hobby breeders or in any way regulate a hobby breeder's facility. Further, it does not in any way prohibit or limit the commercial breeding or sale of dogs or cats; it merely licenses and regulates large scale commercial breeding facilities.
The bill would designate the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation as the regulatory agency to administer the licensing and regulation of commercial breeders and to adopt rules necessary thereto.
The bill contemplates an advisory committee of seven members: two from the general public, one licensed veterinarian, one member from an animal welfare organization, one member from a consumer advocacy group, one member recommended by the Texas Animal Control Association, and one member from the DSHS Zoonosis Control Division.
Licensing and Regulation:
The department will have the exclusive authority to grant a commercial breeder license to a commercial breeder who has met all of the qualifications and requirements of the statute and rules adopted thereunder. The initial license fee and subsequent license fees will be established by the department to cover the cost of their administration and enforcement of the statute. A commercial breeder's license will not be transferable and will be valid for one year from the date of issuance. The refusal to issue an initial license or renew a license will be appealable to the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
Inspections and Investigations:
A license holder will be subject to inspections and investigations and will be required to file annual reports regarding its operations for the past year. The department will by rule establish standards of care and confinement which must be followed by a license holder and will include rules for proper feeding, watering, housing, care (including veterinary care), grooming, treatment, transportation and disposition of dogs and cats to ensure the overall health and welfare of each animal in the facility.
Enforcement:
The department, the attorney general or a district or county attorney will be authorized to enforce the statute by injunction. In addition, criminal (misdemeanor) penalties and civil penalties will be imposed for violation of the statute or any rules adopted thereunder.
Consumer Protection:
All retail sales of dogs and cats will require the seller to furnish the buyer with information about the breed, age and health of the animal along with a statement of consumer rights that the sale of dogs and cats is subject to consumer protection regulations as set forth in the statute. Buyer's will have the right to obtain reimbursement for veterinary expenses and/or the value of the animal if the animal becomes sick or dies within twenty days after the animal
CONTACT THE COMMITTEE AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY!
Contact information for the ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES COMMITTEE follows:
Find your representative’s contact information here. | 
