There is a massive divide between how dogs in most American homes live versus how dogs in the nation’s thousands large-scale, commercial breeding facilities, known as puppy mills, live. Breeding dogs are treated like production machines, and can spend their entire lives in small, stacked, wire cages, often without veterinary care, exercise, socialization, or meaningful human interaction. Many of these inhumane facilities still meet the meager, bare minimum requirements outlined under the federal Animal Welfare Act regulations. In an effort to reduce the gap in that divide and offer much needed protections to our four-legged friends, U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Charlie Crist, D-Fla., recently introduced two important bipartisan bills and the lawmakers formally announced word of the bills today.
The Puppy Protection Act, H.R. 4693, would amend the Animal Welfare Act to mandate significant improvements to the standards of care for licensed dog breeders. Under current AWA regulations, breeding dogs can spend their entire lives in cramped, stacked wire cages. The regulations do not require licensees to ever let the breeding dogs outside of their cages for exercise, provide core vaccinations for each dog, or even give the animals water more than twice per day. No dog should live this way, and if this legislation is adopted, they won’t have to. The Puppy Protection Act would prohibit harmful practices such as cage stacking and wire flooring and require larger enclosures with spacious outdoor exercise runs. Dogs would be fed at least twice a day, have continual access to clean, unfrozen water, and would be protected from extreme sweltering or frigid temperatures. Hands-on annual veterinary exams and meaningful socialization with humans would also be required.
The Puppy Protection Act is a response to the public concern over dogs suffering needlessly in puppy mills, and also to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s lack of movement on the issue. In September 2015, The HSUS, ASPCA, and the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association submitted a rulemaking petition to the USDA calling for significant upgrades to the weak standards of care for commercial dog breeders. More than two years later, the USDA has still not officially responded, other than to acknowledge that it received the petition. It’s time for Congress to step in.
The basic standards of animal care set forth in the legislation are similar to those proposed in the rulemaking petition to the USDA and in a new ballot initiative launched in Ohio, the nation’s second largest puppy mill state—standards endorsed by veterinarians and pet industry groups.
The second bill, the Welfare of Our Friends (WOOF) Act, H.R. 4691, addresses the fact that the USDA allows licensees with severe and multiple Animal Welfare Act violations to continue to be licensed year after year. It closes a loophole in the current law allowing problem dealers who have had their licenses suspended or revoked to simply obtain a new license under the name of a spouse or other family member while still owning the same animals on the same property. The WOOF Act would prohibit the issuance or renewal of a license to breeders whose previous license has been revoked or suspended, or to their immediate family members at the same address. This legislation would help stop puppy mill cruelty by ensuring that puppy dealers who have been shut down due to poor animal care remain closed, as the spirit of the Animal Welfare Act intended.
While the Puppy Protection Act and the WOOF Act are important animal welfare measures, they are also consumer protection measures. If commercial breeders were required to adhere to humane standards of care, or lose their license if they don’t, fewer families would unknowingly support cruel puppy mills or be duped into buying sick and behaviorally challenged puppies.
“It’s crucial we stand up for animals—both as individuals and as a society. That means strengthening important regulations under the Animal Welfare Act to meet this goal,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick. “As a member of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, I’m committed to ensuring our government is doing its part to promote animal welfare.”
“The Bible teaches us to care for all of God’s creatures, and that includes man’s best friend,” said Rep. Crist. “I’m proud to help introduce this bipartisan legislation that protects dogs from unprincipled dealers and breeders, providing a voice for the voiceless.”
No dog should spend her entire life in a tiny cage, her paws never touching grass, outside and exposed to frigid temperatures and winds, and bred so relentlessly that her body eventually wears out. Some puppy mill operators game the system and register their mill under a different name after they are cited for animal welfare violations. These two bills will prevent that trickery and also strengthen the standards of care for hundreds of thousands of dogs on commercial breeding facilities.
This nation has a puppy mill problem, and it’s time for the federal government to stop ignoring it. Please contact your members of Congress today and ask them to support and cosponsor the Puppy Protection Act and the WOOF Act to help crack down on puppy mills.
