USDA amends regs to close loopholes
No more multiple-owner schemes to avoid licensing
The US Department of Agriculture closed several loopholes in animal welfare
regulations by applying the "three breeding females regulation" to entire households
in amendments that took effect on August 13, 2004.
USDA regulates commercial traffic in pet breeding, the sale and use of animals
in research, the use of animals in exhibits, and the transport of animals for
these purposes. Retail sales are specifically exempt from the regulations, and
the breeding of dogs and cats for show and for direct sale to consumers are
included in the retail definition.
The new rule adds small exotic or wild animals to the 'breeding females' limit
and considers the premises on which the animals are located, not individual
ownership. In the past, those who owned fewer than four breeding females(1)
could sell puppies or kittens for resale in pet stores without a license. USDA
considered this a de minimus or minor use requiring no oversight. However, this
provision allowed commercial operators to avoid licensing by claiming different
owners for the dogs in their kennels.
"Some individuals have contended that they are not required to have a license
even when they keep more than three breeding female dogs and/or cats on the
same premises as long as no single member of the household owns more than three,"
USDA reported in the Federal Register (2). "However,
when several members of the same household (or other persons acting in concert)
are maintaining breeding female dogs or cats on the same premises such that
the number of breeding females in total is more than three, we believe that
the activities are no longer de minimus and the dealers need to be licensed."
The exemption for show dog breeders remains intact, even if the breeder owns
or co-owns more than three breeding females and sells dogs that may eventually
be resold. As before, the regulations cover only commercial dealers who sell
pets to retail outlets, to research institutions, and for teaching or exhibition.
The new rules echo suggestions in the American Kennel Club High Volume Breeder
Report issued by the AKC board in November 2002 and enhanced by a board
vote to work closely with USDA to see these loopholes closed.
AKC's board recommended that USDA include "An amendment to the 'small breeder'
exemption(3) to make the exemption applicable to those premises
on which three or fewer breeding female animals of regulated species are kept,
rather than the current language which exempts all persons who maintain three
or fewer breeding females, even when more than one such person occupies the
same premises. Under current interpretation, seven or eight breeders residing
at the same address could avoid USDA regulation by each claiming to own three
or fewer bitches."(4)
Increased enforcement
Previously, dealers could be denied a license or renewal of a license if they
pled 'no contest' or were convicted of violations of state or local cruelty
laws within one year of the license application. The new provision adds federal
law and federal, state, and local animal use regulations so that USDA can deny
a license to anyone convicted of or pleading 'no contest' to charges of violations
of federal, state, or local animal cruelty laws or regulations governing animal
care or transport within one year of the license application.
In addition, USDA now has the option of going back further than a year if past
violations have been grievous and of denying a license to anyone who would be
operating in violation of local laws and regulations if the federal license
were granted. This provision will prevent dealers from getting a federal license
that allows them to operate an animal business that is prohibited by state or
local ordinances.
The USDA administrator can also deny a license if he determines that issuance
will be "contrary to the purposes" of the Animal Welfare Act.
The new regulations also allow USDA to terminate a license for the same reasons
it can now deny a license.
Exotic animals
Exotic animal sellers and exhibitors now must "demonstrate adequate experience"
in order to get a license. This provision applies to zoos and other organizations
and individuals who sell or exhibit wild and exotic animals. The regulations
do not define "adequate experience," but USDA acknowledges that experience with
and knowledge of comparable species is acceptable.
This regulation is subject to further refinement as USDA continues to scrutinize
exotic animal ownership.
Animal acquisition
USDA licenses three classes of animal dealers: Class A dealers sell animals
bred and raised on their own premises. Class B dealers sell animals gathered
from random sources such as shelters, owners who surrender their own animals,
auctions, and individuals known as bunchers who put together lots of animals
acquired from these sources. Class C licensees are zoos and other organizations
that exhibit animals.
Some animal rights groups accuse bunchers of operating wide-spread stolen pet
rings and allege that research institutions aid and abet pet thefts by purchasing
animals from Class B dealers. These groups use their allegations as part of
a massive campaign against animal-based scientific research and as a fund-raising
tool. However, USDA notes in the Federal Register that the country has fewer
than 30 Class B dealers that buy and sell random source animals.
The new rules oblige dealers and exhibitors to buy only from licensed dealers
or to get certification that the animals were born and raised on the premises
of the seller. Only animals acquired from pounds and shelters are exempt. This
rule will cut into the practice of amassing groups of animals from indiscriminate
sources and selling them to dealers without documentation of their origin.
For more information about the new rules and a summary of comments received
from interested parties, download the federal register pages at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/kitchensink.pdf
Notes
1. 'Breeding female' is defined as an animal kept to produce
offspring for sale into the wholesale pet trade, for research, or as teaching
or exhibit animals.
2. Federal Register, Vol. 69, No. 134; July 14, 2004, p. 42091.
3. The AKC High Volume Breeder Committee also recommended
that USDA extend its air transport rules to cover foreign carriers bringing
animals into the US and US carriers that transported animals brought to this
country by foreign airlines. USDA did so on April 1, 2004. "The new policy will
be a major step forward in regulating importation of puppies," AKC government
liaison Jim Holt wrote in the August 2004 edition of Taking Command,
the AKC legislative newsletter. "The AKC strongly urged the APHIS to extend
enforcement of its regulations to foreign air carriers, noting that some foreign
carriers were landing shipments of puppies in the U.S. which could not have
been legally carried by U.S. carriers, and that except for those carriers that
voluntarily adhered to the International Air Transport Association's regulations,
such shipments were essentially unregulated." For more information, see the
USDA website. For a copy of Holt's comments, see http://www.akc.org/enewsletter/taking_command/2004/august/usda.htm.
4. AKC knows whereof it speaks. Some unscrupulous breeders
who have had their AKC registration privileges revoked simply used the names
of friends and relatives so they could continue to register dogs. AKC changed
its policy several years ago to prevent such subterfuge.
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