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www.pbgv.org
September2013
ISaberTails
Legislationcontinuedfrompage20pro-animalgroupswill
beimportantasthisruletakeseffect,becausetheseattacks
willnotstopwithdogs.Dogsareonlythebeginning.Ifwe
fall,andrabbitfancierscontinuetosuffer,andNYCcarriage
horsesarebannedfromthecity,theextremeanimalrights
groupswillbeunstoppable.
ThisAPHISruleisafactoflife.Wehavetolivewithit;
theopportunitytochangeitislonggone.First,wehaveto
understandit.Theruleiscomplex.TheNationalAnimal
InterestAlliance(NAIA)blogpostbySusiSzeremy(writer
andPulibreederfromtheDenverarea)describestherule
incommonlanguage.Susi’sarticleisreprintedhere:
S
inceMay2012,purebreddogandcatenthusiasts,rabbit
andothersmallanimalbreedersandanimalactivistshave
beenfocusedontheUSDA’sproposedruleupdatingthe
retailpetstoredefinitioninthefederalAnimalWelfareAct
(AWA).Thedefinitionisimportantbecauseentitiesdefined
asretailpetstoresareexemptfromUSDAlicensingasdealers,
adesignationthatrequiresfeesandfederalinspections.
Potentiallyaffectedpartieshavebeenwritingcomment
letters,signingpetitions,lobbyinganyonewho’dlistenand
waitinganxiouslyfortheresultformorethanayear.
ThenonSept.10,2013,USDAhostedanational
conferencecallforstakeholderstoannounceitsfinalrule.
Tosaythatstakeholdersweredisheartenedwhentheyleft
thatcallisagrossunderstatement.Mostparticipants
believedthatdespiteourincredibleeffortstoinformUSDA
abouttheunintendedconsequencesofitsproposal,thefinal
rulewasvirtuallyunchangedfromtheoriginalandwould
affectmanyresidentialbreeders.ThenotionthattheUSDA
woulddisregardliterallythousandsofintelligentpublic
commentsheightenedthealarm.
ALightattheEndoftheTunnel.Justasthedepression
startedsettingin,officialsatUSDApostedtheRetailPet
Storedocket,a91-pagedocumentcontainingasummaryof
therule,therationaleforitandUSDA’sresponsetomanyof
thepubliccomments.Thegoodnewsisthatacarefulreading
ofthisdocumentalleviatesmanyofourgreatestconcerns.It
tellsushowtheagencyinterpretsthenewrule.Giventhe
complexityoftheAWA,itslayersofregulations,unfamiliar
semanticsandthehistoryofagencyinterpretationand
enforcement,thisdocumentisthekeytounderstandinghow
theretailpet-storerulewillbeimplemented,anditshows
thattheagencydid,infact,payattentiontoourcomments.
AnOverviewoftheIssue.Thelawsregulating
commercialpetbreederswerewrittenmorethan40years
agoforcommercialbreederssellingdogsthroughpet
stores.Atthetime,virtuallyallcommercialbreederssold
someoralloftheirdogstopetstores,soit’sfairtosaythe
existingregulationswerewrittenforbreederswhowere
unambiguouslycommercial.Withtheadventofthe
Internet,manycommercialdogbreedersquitsellingtopet
storesandstartedsellingdirectlytoconsumers.Underthe
outdatedregulations,thischangeinsellingpracticesmeant
thatmanycommercialbreedersnolongerwererequiredto
belicensedbyUSDAaspetdealers,eveniftheywerelarge-
scalepetbreederssellingtheirpuppiestoconsumers
throughremotemethods.
USDAenteredintotherulemakingprocesstoupdatetheir
regulationstocomplywiththeAWA’soriginallegislativein-
tentbybringingthesepetbreedersunderregulationsoani-
malsnotbeingseenbythepublicinadvanceofasalecould
bemonitoredfortheirhealthandhumanetreatment.
NAIAappreciatestheneedforthisregulatorychange,
althoughtheapproachusedforachievingithasbeendifficult
tounderstand.Theintricacyofthisrulemakingexercisearises
fromthefactthattherevisionneedstobebootstrapped
ontoexistingregulations.Onitsface,thewordingseemsto
indicatethatwhetheryouhave50breedingfemalesorfive,
ifyousellevenonepuppysightunseen,USDAcouldrequire
youtogetalicense,solicensingcouldbeappliedtohobby
breeders.Thispossibilityhasbeenasourceoffrustrationand
concernbecausethedrivingforcethatledtothisrulemak-
ingwasareportfromtheOfficeoftheInspectorGeneral
(OIG),whichcitedproblemsinlarge-scalebreedingoperations.
UnderstandingtheNewRule.UndertheAnimal
WelfareAct(AWA),thedefinitionofadealerincludes
anyonewhogetsmoneyforbuying,sellingornegotiating
thesaleofananimalfor1)research,2)teaching,3)testing,
4)experimentation,5)exhibitionor6)foruseasapetatthe
retaillevel,oranydogsoldforhunting,securityorbreeding
atthewholesalelevel.
Aretailpetstore,asrevised,notonlyreferstoactualbrick
andmortarstoresthatsellpetstothepublic,butalsoto
breederswhoselldogsdirectlytothepublic,solongasthey
selltheminperson.Breedersdefinedasretailpetstoresare
exemptfromUSDAlicensingaspetdealersundertheAWA
unlesstheyselltoaresearchfacility,anexhibitor(suchasa
zooorcircus)oradealer(wholesale).Undertherevised
definitionofretailpetstore,youarestillexemptfrom
licensingaslongasyousellinpersonwithyou,thebuyer
andtheanimalpresent.Breederswhoselldogsforuseas
pets(dealer)sightunseenarenotclassifiedasretailpet
storesregardlessofhowthebuyerisconnectedtothemand
must,therefore,belicensediftheyhavemorethanfour
breedingfemales.Breederswhoselldogsforbreeding
purposestootherbreeders,forinstance,arenotselling
dogsforuseaspets,andarethereforenotdealers.
Notably,theinterpretationoftheregulationsislefttothe
USDA,theagencyresponsibleforenforcement.Thatmakes
thedepartment’sregulatoryintent,whichcanbefoundin
theUSDAdocketforthisrule,veryimportantinunscram-
blingareasofconcern.Manyofourquestionsandoneswe’ve
receivedfromothersareaddressedintheUSDAdocket.
Ourlegislativedirector,JulianPrager,JD,carefullyreviewed
thedocketanddistilledhisinterpretationsregardingwhois
consideredadealerandwhowillbeexemptfrombeinga
dealerunderthisregulatorychange.Insomecasesthe
languageistoovaguetobecertain,sowearegivingyouour
Ifyoukeepfivebreedingfemalesandselleven
onedog...remotely,foruseasapet,andarenot
engagedinoneoftheactivitiesthatareexempted
frombeingadealer,youmustbelicensed.
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