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The USDA and Puppy Mills

November 07, 2008, 5:22PM MT

By Kelli Ohrtman

A Crash Course

A Crash Course

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Many have heard of the USDA (it’s stamped on organic food labels, meat labels, and other everyday grocery store items), and many have heard of puppy mills. But the fact that puppy mills are regulated by the USDA is a little-known fact to most people.

The US Department of Agriculture seems like a strange entity to be in charge of regulating the puppy industry, but that’s how it works. To be clearer, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) is the arm of the USDA in charge of regulating puppy mills under the Animal Welfare Act. There are currently 5,913 dog breeders and brokers with USDA licenses. People often wonder whether there is a list of all the puppy mills in the country. Well, the USDA is the first place to look.

In April, Oprah Winfrey aired an hour-long show about puppy mills, and the same day, the USDA published a FAQ on animal dealers. Note the paragraph to the right—the first frequently asked question: “who regulates puppy mills?” Answer: the USDA.
**Note that the USDA has since changed the language to read: "Who regulates commercial dog breeders?"

For a list of USDA licensed commercial dog breeders (or puppy mills—call them what you like), click here.

What many people also don’t realize is that under the Freedom of Information Act, we are all entitled to view not just a breeder’s name and address, but their inspection reports are included as well. Curious about a breeder? Order their inspection reports. You can do it online by clicking here.

What’s NOT inspected by the USDA?
-Retail pet stores. The USDA only regulates the supply end—the breeders.
-Puppy sales on the Internet, classified ads, flea markets. NO regulation
-Small-scale breeders who have three or fewer breeding female dogs. NO regulation

70 inspectors for 10,000 facilities
In addition to inspecting and watching over commercial dog kennels, APHIS inspectors are also in charge of inspecting research facilities, zoos and circuses, airport terminals—they are in charge of inspecting the care, handling and housing of everything from dogs to dolphins. This document, published on APHIS’ website, has this to say about the inspectors themselves:

“[Animal Care] inspectors receive special training in the proper care of marine mammals, exotic animals, and animals used in research. Inspectors also receive extensive training in how to conduct inspections at airport terminals, zoos, and commercial animal breeding facilities, among others. APHIS currently has more than 70 AC inspectors in the United States, who are strategically placed where regulated facilities are located.”

The total number of active licensed facilities listed on the APHIS website is 9,883. At first glance, seventy inspectors for nearly 10,000 facilities sounds like a miniscule number of people doing a colossal job but if you do the math, it adds up to about one facility per day per inspector.

What compliance means with the AWA
It’s important to note exactly what inspectors are looking for when they arrive at a USDA licensed kennel. Their job is to make sure breeders are adhering to the minimum standards set forth by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). They can look at a facility with hundreds of dogs in small cages, desperate for human attention, and note no violations.

That’s because the AWA does nothing to ensure dogs are happy, or live a quality life. It’s not written into the regulations, and therefore is not something the USDA enforces. Here are some quick facts about the minimum standards set forth by the USDA:
-Inspections are “Risk-based,” meaning that facilities that meet a certain criteria are inspected “as seldom as once every 2 to 3 years.” (source)
-Cage size: must be 6 inches larger than the size of the dog, on all sides
-Up to 12 dogs can be housed in one cage
-Dogs never have to be let out of their cages. Breeders only need to have an exercise plan
-There is no limit to the number dogs a breeder can have—many have over 1,000
-There is no age limit for breeding dogs. If a dog is able to produce puppies for ten years, that’s how long they could be in the facility
For the full text of the federal Animal Welfare Regulations, click here.

Bad Kennels Stay in Business
One of the most common complaints about the USDA from animal advocates is that breeders can have repeated and long-standing violations, but continue to sell hundreds of puppies to pet stores. Below are several reports of large, USDA-licensed Minnesota kennels that have multiple USDA violations and dozens of reports of sick puppies sold in stores. Click the links below to see the reports, courtesy of Pet Shop Puppies Inc. Note that some have even been investigated by local news stations and have been charged with animal cruelty by the state. (**Note, the top of the report includes puppies the breeder has sold, and the bottom includes USDA inspection violations, news exposés and other investigations, if any.)

Wanda McDuffee

Angie & Gerry Wensmann

Kathy Bauck

What all this means, and what you can do:
1.) Support new legislation that will amend the Animal Welfare Act. The Puppy Uniform Protection Act (PUPS) is on the docket for the 2008-2009 session. Click here for more information (**For one example of a notorious kennel that currently does not need a USDA license under the AWA, visit this case on the CAPS website)

2.) Watch and share the Best Friends Podcast about the USDA and puppy mills: Click here to view. You can also subscribe to the podcast for regular video updates.

3.) USDA-licensed kennels supply pet stores. If you disagree with the way the USDA regulates these kennels, never, ever buy a puppy from a pet store. Share this article and the podcast with others who might not know about the pet store/puppy mill connection.

4.) Test your knowledge of the USDA’s regulation of puppy mills with this online quiz from www.PetShopPuppies.org

5.) If you know people who don’t understand or believe where pet store puppies come from, print this article and have them take it to a pet store and ask whether the puppies in the store come from USDA-licensed kennels. (The answer—legally—is yes.)

6.) For nine things you can do to help stop puppy mills, visit the Resources section of the Best Friends campaign website

By Kelli Ohrtman: Best Friends Animal Society

Comments

Posted November 10, 2008, 4:9PM by ruthy92

The AKC is registering many of these USDA-licensed puppy mill puppies

And it is AKC breeders who are pressuring the government and other breeders to stop using the word "puppy mill" and use "commercial breeders" instead, because it "sounds better" and drops the negative connotations, and the AKC makes most of its money registering puppy mill or "commercial breeder" puppies!

Commercial breeder IS puppy mill breeder.

The AKC even has a High Volume Breeders Committee (another term for puppy mill) that gets the business hook ups with the mills

http://www.akc.org/pdfs/about/special_reports/HVBC_finalA.pdf

Think all that talk about "inspections" is meaningful? Well here is one of the Committee in her own words discussing that failure http://www.caninechronicle.com/Features/Bernardi_08/bernardi_108.html

and http://network.bestfriends.org/Blogs/PostDetail.aspx?bp=3929

Posted November 15, 2008, 2:48PM by folsomd

I'm worried President-elect Obama is going to go back on his word to get a shelter dog based on his last comment about his daughter being allergic. Is there anything we can do to persuade him that steps can be taken to ensure his daughters allergies are kept in check and his family doesn't need to buy a 'designer hypo-allergenic' dog? -Danielle

Posted November 15, 2008, 5:37PM by ruthy92

Best FRiends has a petition

Also here http://www.groupcard.com/c/ObamaDog/ you can fill out a card to send to Obama. Forward it to your friends

Best Friends, can we work at getting Obama to elect a Secretary of Agriculture who will clean up the puppy mills?

Posted November 13, 2008, 10:20PM by marybear1

most of the dogs that come to the daycare/boarding facility i work at, are obvious "puppy mill" pups. many were purchased from "out of state breeders" who shipped the dogs (um, duh- mill) and most of the others were puppy store pups... and out of those dogs, many have various ailments similar to those listed from those links of the people who were investigated.
severe allergies, digestive problems, heart problems, breathing problems, among many other things.
thankfully, we are still able to provide the best care for them when their parents cant. if only i could just let their parents know what they do when they purchase these dogs... but- my boss strongly told me that my rescue interest does not fit with my work. (sigh...)
on a happier note, we do have some lovely rescue dogs who come to school!! and theyre oh so special :)
thanks, best friends, for helping fight this HUGE problem

Posted November 13, 2008, 7:44AM by xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Someone came into my pet store last week to buy all the necessary supplies for the THREE WEEK OLD pit bull they just bought.

Thank you, Best Friends, for your commitment in helping these poor animals.

Posted November 10, 2008, 4:14PM by ruthy92

Steve Neavling of the Detroit Free Press wrote a great expose on the USDA puppy mill connection a couple of years ago

If you go down on this page to the comments section, you will find how to read this 2 part article

http://hollywooddog.blogspot.com/2007/12/posh-puppy-of-tarzana-and-beverly-hills.html

Read all the comments

Posted November 09, 2008, 9:57AM by Suzqz123

You bet I will devote all the time and energy I can to spread this word. It needs to get OUT! Thank you.
Susan
NPT, RI

Posted November 14, 2008, 9:6PM by ROSmutts

The CAPS story about Joyce Stoltzfus and Puppy Love Kennel is dated 2/4/2005. This was 3 and half years ago! Is this woman still in business? Were the CAPS people able to put her out of business with this inspection??

Posted November 14, 2008, 10:44AM by kellio

Another thing we can all do is talk to people who have bought puppies from pet stores, and encourage them to go to the website www.petshoppuppies.org to get a free puppy report.

The reports tell pet store customers more about where their puppy or dog came from--things the pet store doesn't tell them.

Posted November 18, 2008, 6:7PM by waggingtailwellness

folsomd, there are plenty of hypo-allergenic dogs at the shelters! I know several people with allergies that found just such dogs at our local city shelters. Many poodle mixes have hair instead of fur. When I visited the shelter the other day, there were at least three poodles or mixes and two Labradoodles there! I am sure that the Obamas will find just the perfect rescue dog for them!

Posted November 24, 2008, 12:21PM by ShaggysMom

I adopted a poodle/Bichon Frise mix from my local animal shelter. He's hypo-allergenic and cute as a button. The papers that came with him showed his history- born in a puppy mill in Iowa (200+ dogs), sold at a pet store in upstate NY when he was 5 months old, was surrendered to the shelter when he was 10 months old because he was obsessing over the owner's son. He wasn't neutered and humped everything in site. A simple operation helped that issue! He's a real clown but has issues, both health and behaviorally. He has food allergies. His window of puppy socialization was lost somewhere inside a cage and he's afraid of people. We have a trainer coming to the house to help and he's getting better slowly but surely. He loves his people and other dogs and when he gets to know you will nudge you with his squeeky toy to play. Thank you for this great article.

Posted November 24, 2008, 2:9PM by fqquilter

WCCO in Minneapolis is airing a piece on MN puppy mills tonight at 10PM. You should be able to access it tomorrow at wcco.com.