PAWS Bill please oppose

Please oppose this bill. It will just do harm if it is passed.


NOTICE of OPPOSITION TO
Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005 (PAWS) S1139/HB2669


The existing federal Animal Welfare Act regulates only breeders
who sell their animals wholesale. This new PAWS bill will:

* Extend federal regulation and oversight of breeding activities to
the private home level.

* Subject hobby breeders to USDA licensing based on standards for
kennel structures and management established for commercial
operations and not for in-home breeding arrangements.


* Force compliance with commercial regulations that will be difficult,
if not impossible for rescue and small, private cat and dog hobby
breeders.


* Subject hobby breeders to frequent, unscheduled in-home
inspections.

* Force many hobby breeders out of all breeding activity, due to
the impossibility of obtaining commercial kennel permits in their
counties or towns.

* Also impact rescue organizations, requiring licensing and
kennel buildings and use permits for most of these rescues
reclassified under PAWS as retail sellers.


* Make no allowances for re-homing a pet, for spayed or
altered animals, or for nonprofit operations, or even transfers
of title and ownership with no money involved.

TO VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION, CALL :


202-224-2035 (Senate Agricultural Committee)
202-224-5270 (Senate Appropriations Committee)
202-225-2171 (House Agricultural Committee)


url showing what the AWA will look like with the PAWS amendment
http://www.pet-law.com/paws/ppa3.html

Websites with PAWS info and how to fight it

http://www.pet-law.com
http://www.ncraoa.com
http://saova.org/1139.html has auto e-mail to sponsors and committees
function

A CALL A DAY KEEPS PAWS AWAY Call (202)224-2035 and say I OPPOSE PAWS SB1139
& HB2669

Call Sponsor Senator Santorum PA at 202-224-6324 or e-mail
http://santorumsenate.gov to explain that his amendment will regulate nearly every hobby
breeder in the US.

Contact the Senate Ag committee members to voice your opposition
http://agriculture.senate.gov/sen.htm

Contact your federal representatives and tell them to oppose PAWS

Ezriyah

I'm not totally sure I understood all of it, but it seems pretty positive to me actually...

I don't see how rescues are affected by the change however - they were already seen as dealers, no? The rules applying to dealers don't seem to have changed. From my reading, it seemed they just want to ask breeders, petshops etc to get a license, and I think it's actually a good thing... maybe it will get rid of lots of back yard breeders and petshops selling dogs in horrible conditions.

Please enlighten me if I have misread, I have a hard time with the way laws are written...

Fran...I'm with you. I'll come back and study, but I think at this point it would curb the backyard breeders and puppy mills who support the pet stores. This would put out better adjusted pups and fewer in shelters.

If someone can translate the thing in understandable English, it would be great too lol.

How the hell do they currently discern between a "real" breeder and a "hobby" breeder? I would say those horrible puppymills with 50+ dogs must be zoned as a licensed "real" breeder and I don't see them getting shut down too often. But I do like the idea of the unsceduled visits to "hobby" breeders. My Mom used to be one (wouldn't breed her goldens unless dam and sire were totally checked out -- eyes, hips, etc. and would have a litter until she had a pre-approved waiting list a mile long) and I would say anytime they'd want to come out for their unscheduled visit, bring 'em on! There should be different levels of classifications for breeders: Commercial, then hobby breeders with special regulations for the hobby breeders e.g. no more than "X" number of dogs in the household; no more than "X" amounts of breeds being bred in the household; no more than "X" number of litters in an alotted timespace, etc. Not all "hobby" breeders are in it for the money (i.e. Grammy). They do it for the love of the breed.
p.s. That's just my opinion and you're entitled to it

Go to the links below to find out more:
http://saova.org/1139.html
http://www.ncraoa.com

Ezriyah

I live in canada so from what I'm understanding this does not affect me but I tend to agree with the limitted numbers of dogs. I think it may curb puppy mills and put more responsibility on the breeders.

Ok the second link makes more sense. It bothers me for rescues, but I've seen too many shelters where the pets were kept in horrible conditions too... So I don't know.

Fran27~
I am researching this out more. There are alot of different sites about it and I am kinda confused now.
Here's a link to the AKC that has alot of info on it-
http://www.akc.org/canine_legislation/paws_QA.cfm?page=2#21

Ezriyah

This link helped a lot. I'm definitely in favor of the bill now... And as they say, it will not impact rescues at all.

I'm afraid that most of the people who oppose it are misinformed

Here's an interesting article that say rescue is at risk-

STOP PAWS - ALL RESCUE IS AT RISK!

TELL THEM TO VOTE AGAINST
PAWS (Pet Animal Welfare Statute) 2005/SB 1139/HB2269

CFA Purebred Rescue, Inc. DBA Purebred Cat Breed Rescue, an independent
rescue supported by the three major cat registries in the United States
(Cat Fanciers’ Association, Inc, The Interntional Cat Association, Inc, and
American Cat Fanciers Association, Inc. (CFA, TICA, ACFA) urges you demand
a vote of “no” on the above-referenced legislation. Our concerns are
related to the definitions within the proposed legislation which appear to
affect rescue organizations and bring them under the purview of Federal
regulation. Please fax your objections IMMEDIATELY to the US States Senate
Committee on Agriculture

The following items are of immense concern to us:

· Rescuers are currently not required to have a federal license.
This has nothing to do with their tax or non-profit status. There is no
Animal Welfare Act (AWA) "rescue exemption." AWA and the U.S. commercial
code consider any property transaction for consideration a sale. A rescued
animal placed in return for an adoption fee is considered a sale like any
other, under the AWA and the U.S. Commercial Code. Rescuers are considered
retail sellers, and as such, aren't today licensed. PAWS, in abandoning the
wholesale-retail sales distinction, places rescuers in the same class as
any other reseller. They are limited to 25 sales per calendar year. A 26th
placement by an individual rescuer or organization requires that entity be
licensed. Thus, many, if not most, rescuers would be required to be
federally licensed under PAWS.

· PAWS abandons that wholesale-retail determination for one based on
the numbers of cats and/or dogs sold in a calendar year. They can be from
breeders or rescues. It will no longer matter whether the sales are at
wholesale or retail. Any individual or organization that "sells" more that
25 cats and/or dogs per year is required to have a federal license and is
subject to all the inspection and record keeping requirements of commercial
catteries/kennels. This requirement would severely limit if not completely
do away with most rescue organizations who depend on private citizens to
foster rescued animals, and who cannot because of space and/or other
reasons comply with Federal regulations concerning commercial
catteries/kennels.

· PAWS will attempt to regulate sales through the internet. PAWS
proponents claim that this legislation will help cut down on bad breeders
who use the internet to create sales by directly selling to the
public. They claim that there can no longer be a division between
wholesalers or cats and/or dogs because now breeders are using the internet
to avoid current AWA scrutiny. However, the proponents fail to realize
that just because an individual or group uses the internet does not mean
they are a wholesaler that should be regulated under the current
AWA. Rescue organizations also use the internet through websites such as
Petfinder to sell (adopt and rehome for a fee) cats and/or dogs after
spaying/neutering them and making them healthy. Cat and/or dog rescue is
of critical importance in improving ownership skills and reducing the
number of animals subject to shelter euthanasia. How many rescuers do you
think will disappear is PAWS passes? It is not the duty of the Federal
government to inspect the homes of private citizens within the rescue
community and license them prior to the use of the internet for sales.

In conclusion, for the reasons cited above, CFA Purebred Rescue, Inc. DBA
Purebred Cat Breed Rescue believes that rescue organizations will be in all
probability be eliminated if PAWS becomes law, because they will never be
able to comply with USDA regulations which are written to cover
commercial-scale breeding facilities. Most of even the smallest rescue
organizations sell 25 dogs/cats in one year per Federal Definitions.

Here's who and where to FAX your objections to this legislation:

Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Chairman
511 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-6324
(202) 228-0604 fax
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]

Richard G. Lugar (R-IN)
306 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1401
(202) 224-4814
(202) 228-0360 fax
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]

Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT)
433 Russell Senate Office Bldg
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4242
(202) 224-3479 fax
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]

Thad Cochran (R-MS)
United States Senate
13 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-2402
(202)) 224-5054
(202)) 224-9450 fax
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
361-A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202)) 224-2541
(202)) 224-2499 fax
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]

Max Baucus (D-MT)
511 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202)) 224-2651
(202)) 224-0515 fax
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]

Pat Roberts (R-KS)
109 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1605
(202)) 224-4774
(202)) 224-3514 fax
<mailto[email protected]>[email protected]

Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
355 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-0404
(202))224-4843
(202))228-1371 fax
<http://lincoln.senate.gov/webform.html>lincoln.senate.gov/webform.html

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
133 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202)) 224-4822
(202)) 228-0325 fax
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]

E. Benjamin Nelson (D-NE)
720 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202)) 224-6551
(202)) 228-0012 fax
<http://bennelson.senate.gov/contact/webemail.cfm>bennelson.senate.gov/contact/webemail.cfm


Mike Crapo (R-ID)
239 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington D.C., 20510
(202)) 224-6142
(202)) 228-1375 fax
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]

Ezriyah

Well according to the other article, rescues are not included in 'dealers'.