Federal Legislation More than 25-year - you must be licensed

Bill aims to regulate online pet sales
By Bill Thoebald, Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — Thousands upon thousands of the cutest little puppies and kittens are just a mouse click away on the Internet.

But sometimes what people see on their computer screen is not what ends up in their arms when the shipping crate arrives. Severely sick animals leave their new owners with awful choices: return the pet and possibly have it euthanized or pay thousands of dollars in veterinary bills.

Animal welfare groups say some large breeders, dubbed puppy mills, are exploiting animals and pet owners by using a loophole in federal law to avoid licensing and inspections by selling directly to the public. Now only breeders who sell at wholesale are subject to federal regulation.

An unusual menagerie of animal welfare groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, and breed groups such as the American Kennel Club has united in support of legislation intended to plug the loophole.

Opponents — including many smaller breed groups, hunting dog enthusiasts and cat fanciers — say the problem the legislation is designed to remedy has been overblown. And the legislation is so poorly crafted, they argue, that it would virtually shut down small hobby breeders and animal rescue operations.

An estimated 150,000 dogs are purchased through the Internet each year, according to a survey released this spring by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. No estimates are available for the total number of dogs purchased or adopted each year, but the survey found nearly 74 million dogs are kept as pets.

Daniel Morris, 30, of Martinez, Calif., fell in love with a bulldog puppy from a Missouri breeder while searching on puppyfind.com. He wanted a companion for China, a healthy bulldog he'd purchased for $1,800 over the Internet in 2003.

A few months after Bam Bam arrived this spring, Morris noticed that the dog's hips were popping out of joint. His veterinarian diagnosed hip dysplasia and blamed it on poor genetics, Morris said. Bam Bam, who cost $1,500, has had one $6,000 surgery and may need more.

Morris filed complaints against the breeder, Jessica Rutherford of Bruner, Mo. Her husband, Geoff, said his wife sells about 35 to 40 dogs a year. They have never had any other complaints, he said.

Geoff Rutherford said they offered to exchange Bam Bam for another dog but heard nothing.

"There is no way I could do that," Morris said. "We already had bonded with the dog."

The legislation, called the Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005, would require anyone who sells more than 25 dogs or cats in a year to be licensed whether they sell directly to the public or to a wholesaler.

The bill also would require dealers and pet stores to keep records of dog and cat sales and would give the U.S. Department of Agriculture greater enforcement authority.

The law is needed, proponents argue, because of horror stories like the scene authorities found this year at a Maine kennel that was selling puppies over the Internet. Police, who seized 119 dogs, said they found 2 inches of standing dog urine in some places in the home and thick feces covering the floor. A dog was found eating a dead puppy.

Many breeders are reputable, Norma Worley, director of Maine's animal welfare program, testified at a hearing last month on the PAWS legislation. "Unfortunately for every one of those lawful and ethical kennel owners, there are as many, if not more, who see the animals simply as a commodity and a way to make a quick buck," Worley said.

Conservative Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., is the sponsor of the PAWS bill. A companion bill has been introduced in the House. Santorum's bill has attracted a who's who of co-sponsors in the Senate, including Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Republicans Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania also have signed on.

Santorum's spokesman, Robert Traynham, said the senator would probably try to move the legislation through the Senate Agriculture Committee next year.

One of the legislation's leading opponents, Bob Kane, founder of the Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance, said the bill would subject all hunting-dog sellers and small rescue operations to federal licensing. The Cat Fanciers' Association also opposes the bill because the breeding limits were set based on dogs and not cats, and there are no kitty mills, said Joan Miller, chairwoman of the association's legislative committee.

Kane pointed out that although the number of Internet dog sales is large, it amounts to less than 0.5% of all dog acquisitions and that the large seizures of poorly treated dogs are anecdotes, not proof of a problem.

"There is no documented evidence that there is a problem here," Kane said. "People want to extend the reach of the federal government into people's personal lives."