A growing list of
organizations including AKC Parent Clubs, state federations formed
to fight bad legislation, local and regional clubs, hunting
enthusiasts, cat fanciers, rabbit breeders, bird breeders, etc., are
going on record to oppose the PAWS legislation, S1139/H2669. Why do
you suppose this is happening?
The number one reason is that
this is a very fatally flawed piece of legislation and the very
people who have worked in the trenches on the state and local level
are the ones most apt to have figured this out. Another reason
people have gone on record publicly is that AKC has refused to
acknowledge very genuine concerns about this assault on breeders'
rights and seems willing to settle for a bad bill thinking it could
have been a far worse bill. The word “capitulation” comes to mind.
AKC calls it “staying in the process,” and is pushing a fantasy that
supporting a bad bill is being proactive and showing the public we
care.
We have a situation which has polarized members of the
fancy and in which AKC has ignored its' own policies and its own
constituents. AKC has also flip-flopped on whether or not it had any
part in writing the bill. Part of the dog press has tended to parrot
the AKC line that opponents are simply misinformed, hysterical or
incapable of contemplating what one AKC spokesperson termed an
“intricate” piece of legislation. In the meantime, one can only
guess at how happy the HSUS and all the other animal rights groups
are to see the fancy eating its own. Within our ranks, we also have
several people who have made a career of speaking out and writing
about “puppy mills.” While they may not be card-carrying animal
rights activists, they might as well be. That's all they think of…
except when they're thinking of animal research, circus, fur,
hunting, and all the other things they want banned. They seem to
have endless hours to basically push the whole animal rights agenda,
stopping just short of banning purebred dog breeding. If people
spend enough time spouting an animal rights, anti-breeding line,
they become what they preach and cross over to the dark side. Stand
on the edge of the abyss peering in long enough and there you go.
Think “Star Wars.”
On the other extreme, some of the newer
activists urge a boycott of AKC. They have nothing to lose after
all-they aren't AKC breeders or supporters anyway. Disagree with
them and they shoot first and ask questions later. They know more
than everyone about everything. They are out there on the newly
formed Yahoo groups. They haven't yet figured out that if you're
nasty no one is going to listen to you. These are the extremes. But
extremists aside, there is a huge degree of frustration amongst some
of the most legislatively informed people in the fancy as they watch
AKC circling the wagons to defend a very bad piece of
legislation.
I would like to address a number of concerns
fanciers have. First of all, how did this come about? It all started
in the late 80s and early 90s with the “puppy mill” exposes. The
anti-“puppy mill” frenzy was the opening act as animal rights
activists worked to paint all breeders as “puppy mills” and the
fancy, using their own highly individualized definitions, joined
right in. That's not to say there weren't plenty of bad kennels to
see back then. There were! Something needed to be done. Fast forward
to 2005—because of USDA and AKC these bad kennels have become the
exception. In the interim, AKC's thousands of inspections have
weeded out most of the bad players and improved conditions
everywhere. AKC rose to the occasion and has made a huge, positive
difference.
In the history of all this, we then had the High
Volume Breeder Committee in which AKC explored its relationship to
larger kennels and commercial kennels. This was a courageous piece
of work. The wedge that animal rights groups had placed between the
casual breeder and the large scale breeder and the commercial
breeder and AKC's failure to even deal with the commercial sector
had caused a precipitous drop in AKC registrations with commercial
breeders heading for many of the over 20 non-AKC registries that now
exist. The High Volume Breeder report was the first step in coming
to terms with what was going on, but even as the report came out,
our own home grown activists started squawking away again about
puppy mills.
Most people know that in the last several years we
fought a really terrible bill, the so-called Puppy Protection Act,
authored by the very same Sen. Santorum now trotting out the PAWS
act. The PPA was pushed by activists who were aware Santorum's
state, Pennsylvania, had a large number of Amish farmers breeding
dogs on a large scale. Santorum was perfect prey for these groups.
The PPA, combined with the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL) lawsuit
against the USDA together would have gutted hobby breeding in this
country. HSUS was thickly involved on this one working closely with
Sen. Santorum. Most of us knew whom we were working
against.
Luckily, AKC opposed the PPA and filed an amicus brief
supporting the USDA. AKC worked hand in hand with the cat fancy,
NAIA and other groups on this effort. The result of the failed PPA
and failed lawsuit was that we now had a court precedent whereby the
court supported the USDA in interpreting that the Animal Welfare Act
was not meant to cover home based hobby breeders of dogs, cats,
rabbits, and other pet animals but was intended to cover breeders
who sold at wholesale to brokers and pet stores. It took years to
get this decision and it was huge and it was widely celebrated,
especially by AKC and certainly by all of us who had worked so hard
to get that result.
Then came last fall and AKC's Lobby Day.
Many of us who had spent most of our waking hours working on
legislation were invited to Washington, DC for a seminar on
effective lobbying and to hear AKC representatives, lobbyists and
even Sen. Santorum's aide speak to us on the process and AKC's
agenda. We learned many things. We learned that Sen. Santorum had
had an animal rights activist as an aide and that during the PPA she
prevented anyone from bringing to Sen. Santorum's ears any
indication of the degree of opposition to the PPA. We learned she
prevented AKC lobbyist Jim Holt from getting near the Senator. We
also learned she was now history and the new aide, a nice young man
with the last name of Stolfus had been open to talking to Jim. Jim
told us that he was working with the aide and Sen. Santorum on a
new, good bill that we could all support. We were told not to bring
up the PPA when Jeff Stolfus talked to us, we were told not to
mention it. We complied. Then we were sent out to lobby the hill and
we were told to tell our Senators and Representative that AKC would
be supporting a shiny new improved bill that Sen. Santorum would be
filing. We lambs complied because we trusted Jim. Obviously we did
not know, and for that matter, we would hope neither did Jim know
exactly what was coming down. But a better question was why were we
sent out to lobby for something that was anything but certain? And I
ask myself, in retrospect, why did I lobby for an unknown bill?
Well, I trusted Jim, that's why.
Fast forward and suddenly on May
26, 2005, we have press releases from AKC, HSUS, DDAL and Sen.
Santorum saying we all support PAWS! Wowie zowie! Imagine that, AKC
and the very organizations that hope to end all purposeful breeding
of animals standing in a line together. Especially shocked were all
the people working on legislation that were clueless as to what was
happening and especially clueless as to the content of the bill!
Standing and clapping were the “puppy mill” fighters who
included some of our columnists who have endlessly written on
commercial breeding using that term, content in the knowledge that
they and only they knew what was best, along with all the animal
rights groups. Did we have any warning or indication of what was
coming? In retrospect, perhaps the notes in Dog News that Wayne
Pacelle, head of HSUS, was handsome and well spoken and the
suggestion we ought to form an alliance with HSUS should have tipped
us off. There had been rumors that HSUS was attempting to court some
prominent dog show people. Could it have happened? Did someone at
AKC become mesmerized by the anti puppy mill campaign and the
constant and articulate droning of the Trojan Horse animal rightists
in our midst? Did some of them forget that HSUS and company are out
to end all purposeful breeding of animals, or did they ever know?
Did any of them note the irony of those of us in Massachusetts
asking AKC to post a legislative alert on a state bill to regulate
commercial breeders that would make anyone breeding more than one
litter a year subject to Pet Store rules (a measure supported by
HSUS) at the very same time they were announcing PAWS? And did AKC
forget their strong allies in the Cat Fancy and other groups working
away on legislative issues?
Now to PAWS itself, a measure we are
told is good for dogs! What is good in PAWS is really irrelevant
because it has a fatal flaw. The fatal flaw is that after years and
years of fighting to keep the AWA and the 60-90 pages of regulations
that accompany it out of the private homes of hobby breeders, PAWS
does just that. It is a spectacular capitulation on the part of AKC.
We have been told that PAWS will protect about 96% of the registry.
While the 4% are aghast at being cashiered, AKC has failed to note
it has relegated some very top breeders, some very elite breeders to
the harsh USDA commercial regulations that require such things as
surfaces impervious to water, i.e., no dogs in the house. No good
breeder fears an AKC inspection, but a USDA inspection is a totally
different ball of wax. Some at AKC appear oblivious to this and
believe that if one is inspected by AKC already they shouldn't mind
being inspected by USDA. Wrong. It is different. Let me just give
you an example: at the height of his breeding career, Ed Jenner bred
a lot of wonderful dogs with a great deal of love, with help, and
with care. Ed would be subject to PAWS. Imagine Ed being told, no
puppies in the house, no dogs in the bedroom. Imagine Ed hearing
HSUS and its supporters calling him a “puppy mill” based solely on
numbers! Ed is gone but there are some very great breeders who are
with us who would suddenly be told they are commercial entities that
must submit to USDA rules and licensing. Is it ok to sacrifice them
to appease the animal rights appetite for breeder regulation?
We
are told that PAWS will help control importation of dogs. I would
say to you that there is a disconnect in that statement. In my
breed, a toy breed, litters are small. Several of our very top
breeders who serve as some of the few sources of top class stock for
newer breeders would be collared by PAWS. Because my breed is
difficult to breed and demand outstrips supply, people are already
importing many dogs from Europe and Japan. They are importing them
to show! PAWS will certainly help European and Japanese breeders by
increasing demand since U.S. breeders will be limited because no
hobby breeder in their right mind would want to submit to USDA rules
and will simply breed less. Was anyone thinking about this?
We
are told PAWS will not affect rescue. Think again! AKC has
disseminated their opinion as fact. Lawyers with the Cat Fanciers
have done an analysis of that situation. You can read about it here:
http://www.cfainc.org/exhibitors/alert-US-PAWS-rescue.html.
The
numbers in PAWS indicate that anyone breeding more than 6 litters or
selling more than 25 dogs would be a dealer. Obviously people with
large breeds like German Shepherds and Irish Wolfhounds, which can
have 15 puppies in a litter, can't see a problem here. But some of
the toy and terrier breeders with 1-3 puppies in a litter certainly
can! Of special concern too is the really bad way the bill is
written. DDAL is probably already planning out its next lawsuit over
the word “or” and salivating at the prospect of lowering the numbers
at their earliest possible convenience.
More than anything,
Federations have argued nationwide when limit laws and breeder
licensing laws have been proposed that home based hobby breeders are
exempt under federal rules. This powerful argument bites the dust
with PAWS. What was AKC thinking here? Did they ever think of
telling Sen. Santorum if he felt Pennsylvania had a problem with its
Amish farmers he could get some state regulations to deal with his
particular problem rather than trying a federal sledgehammer?
I
strongly oppose PAWS and I strongly support AKC. These two positions
are not incompatible. To publicly oppose AKC' position on PAWS on
this issue is painful. But to sit in silence would be a dereliction
of duty. I have heard people say they oppose PAWS but are afraid
that they may not advance as judges or may miss out on some chance
to advance themselves with delegate committees or the Board or those
who control judging panels of important shows if they speak up.
Others are afraid to be attacked in the press as being misinformed
or hysterical. I prefer to do the right thing, and the right thing
is to strongly oppose PAWS. More and more groups and clubs are doing
the right thing too.
Is there any way out for AKC here? It seems
certain that PAWS is past any stage where the fatal flaw can be
removed. AKC has only stated it has reservations about the numbers
section. A notice has also come out distancing AKC from the actual
writing of the bill. Past that, AKC is full steam ahead. It seems
unlikely AKC can do an about face because it is so far into the
process. But a reexamination of the impact of this bill not only on
dogs but cats, rabbits and other animals and on anyone who has more
than one species (dogs and cats) might outline the consequences that
can ensue if this bill passes. Try reading Lawyer Jeff Helsden's
legal analysis of Paws at the link following this article and then
you may wish the Directors voting for PAWS had read it too.
Any
suggestions that concerned fanciers are misinformed fails to do
anything but inflame those who are trying to save AKC from itself.
Having been accused of being an AKC apologist, I can tell you that
those of us who have worked diligently to preserve everyone's rights
to breed, own, show and have our purebred dogs do not need to be
patronized by AKC communications. We are not misinformed or
hysterical. We are strong supporters of our sport and we cannot sit
quietly while AKC disassembles all that has been done on the federal
level to protect our right to continue our sport without the
government intruding on the very privacy of our homes.
For
more information, Please check out the following links:
www.naiatrust.org/NAIA_Trust_Opposes_PAWS_S1139.htm
www.cyberdobes.com/PDF/AKC_and_PAWS2.pdf
www.cfainc.org/exhibitors/alerts.html
http://www.ncraoa.com/alerts.html•
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