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APHIS, AKC, AND YOUR RIGHTS

 

The USDA APHIS regulation is the ultimate Animal Rights victory, achieved by $millions in political payoffs and unimpeded by AKC.

 

Nov 15, 2013 | TheDogPress

Barbara "BJ" Andrews, SAAB Member

 

So Hobby Breeder, meet your demise because despite repeated warnings since 2005, animal rights have just trumped human rights. Is it too late to stop APHIS regulations from going into effect? Probably. Hobby breeders have always been too busy, too late, and too easily conned. So now what? Are we going to just talk about it or DO something about APHIS legislation?

 

Think hard before you answer that question. Doing something starts with holding AKC accountable for allowing paid politicians to strip away American birthrights.

 

Our constitutionally protected right to be governed only by consent has been usurped by a political agenda known as Animal Rights. The only consent evident here is that of AKC in allowing APHIS to go unchallenged with only a weak squeal of protest.

 

First lesson in war: know your enemy by his actions not by his words.

 

This edition was delayed for over a week while we made repeated attempts to contact AKC spokesperson Lisa Peterson and/or AKC Director of Government Relations, Sheila Goffe. After a long-standing friendly relationship, suddenly neither is permitted to talk to TheDogPress. AKC knows its press release rhetoric is challenged and that truthful answers regarding the roll over for APHIS would be devastating to breeder relations.

 

Our registration fees don’t compare to the income generated by commercially bred puppies and their buyers. Since implementation of AKC’s instant pet shop registration{1} (PRIME) most pet shop buyers become AKC customers for countless other income-producing services such as pedigrees, goodies for the new puppy, credit card services, pet insurance, etc.

Before you digest the following, swallow this bitter pill. Show and hobby breeders are not the loudest voice reaching AKC ears. We never were and when you wrap your head around that truth, a lot of things make sense.

 

Now chew on this. Not one in a million of “us” has ever sat in on an AKC Board meeting with PAWS’ sponsor Senator Rick Santorum {2}. Nor were we aware that the AKC President and Hunte Puppy Mill President had a sit-down meeting in Jan. 2002.

 

The AKC Board has accomplished nothing against animal rights legislation. It has however taken credit for small victories by legislative groups, including its counterparts, the Cat Fanciers Association and The International Cat Association.

 

If I am wrong, I welcome correction but that would have to include an accounting of money spent fighting specific legislative agendas. Airfare and travel expenses to send a staff member to CA to put in an appearance against HB 1634 and visit her boyfriend don’t count. Neither do “legal fees” paid to a prestigious firm that had never handled anything in this category.

 

AKC sends out carefully worded press releases designed to allay the anger and fomenting distrust of show and hobby breeders. After defeating PAWS, and then PUPS, both of which were supported by the American Kennel Club, we are now overwhelmed by the $millions that flowed into USDA in support of the newly contrived APHIS federal regulations.

 

We cannot hope to equal the flood of funding that generated the new APHIS rule and purchased legislative support. We can however, seek to educate and inform more than 111,000,000 VOTERS who own companion animals in America - APPA’s 2013 pet owner survey {3} is powerful persuasion for legislators. Money buys politicians who generate legislation. Money can sway public opinion and HSUS is a master at that but take hope, money can’t buy votes that come from the heart.

 

What does AKC plan to do with the $$$ gained by this month’s solicitation of (some) AKC member clubs to send $$$? None of that money will be earmarked for supporting attorney and former D.C. lobbyist Frank Losey in his heroic effort to enlist the help of an attorney licensed to practice in the District Of Columbia.

 

In fact, AKC surrogates have been busy undermining and demeaning the INJUNCTION ACTION.

 

Attorney Frank Losey states “As of today, I have seen no documentation that suggests that the AKC supports the effort to challenge the USDA Retail Pet Store Rule in Court, nor has it indicated that it would or has made any financial contribution to support such a judicial challenge.”

 

Fortunately dog clubs and individuals have been generous with donations to fund an injunction to stop the implementation of the APHIS regulation. The Associated Dog Clubs of New York State (ADCNYS) spearheaded efforts to challenge the legality of the recently passed USDA/APHIS Rule. Pledging an initial $1000, ADCNYS will be the “first named plaintiff in the filing for an injunction to halt implementation” of the APHIS rule. They call it "STAND TOGETHER; STAND PROUD" and that is what breed and kennel clubs are doing from coast to coast.

 

If all this is a bit hard to swallow, take a deep breath and start with the American Kennel Club’s avid support of PAWS. Then move forward to HSUS and Federal PUPS Legislation as covered by a registered Lobbyist.

 

Before you click out of this page to go to the above site, ask yourself - Are “they” scanning the internet and newspaper “dogs for sale” ads? Does AKC share information on how many litters you have bred or co-bred? Or how many female dogs you own? And lastly, knowing what you now know, do you trust the American Kennel Club to not share your private personal information with USDA, APHIS, HSUS, or anyone else with power or an open checkbook?

For busy fanciers who have not kept up with the work-around, or for those who only have 3 female dogs and think you are exempt, you should know that the APHIS rule applies to “anyone who maintains more than four females capable of being bred, of all regulated species combined, must be licensed as a USDA dealer if they sell ANY pet sight unseen, or if they sell a pet that was not born and raised on their premises.” ADCNYS

 

Still not worried? Well then, “…regulated species include dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, and other animals kept as pets, and the threshold for licensing is more than four females of these species combined - not four of any one species. All "breeding females" on the breeder's premises are counted, regardless of ownership.”

 

Don’t risk a $10,000 fine for unknowingly being out of compliance with the federal APHIS regulation. Click Associated Dog Clubs of New York State for more information and how you can help.

 

Your Comments & Suggestions are welcomed; send to Letters To The Editor

 

{1} PRIME - AKC’s Pet Shop Software Instantly Registers Puppies

{2} AKC Board Contributes to Senator Santorum’s PAWS agenda

{3} World’s Largest Puppy Mill: Hunte &AKC History, Involvement

{4} Number of Pet Owning Households – Am. Pet Products Assoc. survey

 

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