From Erin Williams - [email protected]
Contact: Marshall Smith, IDA, (573) 636-9291
www.idausa.org
Former USDA Inspector Condemns American Kennel Club for
Opposition to Puppy
Protection Act
MILL VALLEY, Calif. Marshall Smith, a former USDA
inspector for nineteen years, has condemned the American Kennel Club (AKC)
for spearheading opposition to the recently passed Puppy Protection Act
(PPA). Smith strongly supports the PPA, which will establish and enforce
socialization standards and breeding limitations for breeders. The act
will also impose a three-strikes provision to permanently revoke USDA
licenses for Animal Welfare Act violators. The AKC, along with others in
the commercial pet production and distribution industry, argue that its
passage poses a threat to individual pet "owners" who do not fall under
USDA's regulatory authority.
The USDA is currently responsible for regulating the
commercial pet industry, noted for the perpetuation of "puppy mills."
However, retail pet sellers are generally exempt from federal
regulations despite rampant consumer complaints. Critics of the industry
attribute the PPA's passage to exposes revealing the appalling
conditions breeding animals are forced to endure. Preserving the
integrity of the PPA is critical to the improvement of these dismal
conditions, and will allow the USDA to revoke the licenses of repeat
offenders.
Commercial pet production facilities use factory-farming
techniques to mass-produce young animals in "pet mills." These creatures
are then shipped over thousands of miles to pet stores around the world
in a variety of transportation vehicles, even those as crude as
tractor-trailers. The breeding animals that remain are forced to spend
their entire lives in tiny cages, reproducing until they are no longer
productive.
"I support any legislation that would improve the
quality of life for animals in the mills and revoke licenses for repeat
offenders," stated Smith, who is now the Director of Investigations for
the international animal protection group In Defense of Animals (IDA).
"However, I am opposed to commercial breeding, especially since millions
of healthy animals are euthanized in pounds and shelters each year."
In an effort to break the connection between pet mills
and pet stores, IDA is leading a nationwide boycott of Petland, Inc. and
other pet shops that sell puppies and kittens. Supporters of the boycott
advocate adoption as the only moral option for those seeking a companion
animal. Consumers are also encouraged to avoid the temptation of the
cute baby animals found in some pet store's windows by shopping only at
pet supply stores that abstain from selling live animals.
IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS
*131 CAMINO ALTO, SUITE E * MILL VALLEY, CA 94941
* 415-388-9641
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Heart
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