Legislationcontinuedfrompage25dogs,”forexample,will
merelytargetanyonewhoisnotalreadyknownasabreeder
ofhuntingdogs.(Huntingdoesnotincludehunttests.)
Theretalkaboutpeopleplanningtosellpuppiesas“breed-
ingstock”toprotectanexemption,rationalizingthatthe
purposeofdogshowsistojudgebreedingstock.Badidea.
USDAwillexpectthatyousellALLyourpuppiesasbreeding
stock,ormostly,tootherbreeders.Isthatyourintent?
Workingdogsareanotherexemption,butagain,ifyou
claimthisyourbusinessmodelandallyourrecordswill
beexamined.Thisexemptionismeantforlargekennels
breedingpolice,militaryandprotectiondogsandbreeding
programsforcertifiedservicedogs.
Anyonehopingtofitthroughloopholesshouldhavean
attorneyonspeeddialandbucketsofmoneyhiddenoff
shore.I’mnotjoking.Attemptingtodefendyourselfagainst
theUSDA/APHISisgoingtobeextremelyexpensiveand
likelytofail.
We’llKnowitWhenWeSeeit.Therearemanyques-
tionsunansweredatthispoint.Butbriefly,thepeoplemost
atriskofcomplicationsare:
•AKCjudges.HSUSisoutforblood.Itshatredofbreed-
ingisonlyexceededbyitshatredfordogshows,andAKC
judgesareinthecrosshairs.TheAKChasbeenalucrative
targetforfundraising,andisconstantlyharassedandpub-
liclyattacked,evenbyitsownconstituentswhoaren’taware
ofHSUS’sformidableaccomplishmentsbehindthe
scenes.IfanyAKCjudgeisfoundwithaviolation
ofevenaseeminglyinsignificantregulation,the
HSUSwilldragtheirnamethroughthemud.TV
news,youremployer,yourneighborsandsocial
mediawillbeinvolved.AKCjudgeshavealready
beentargeted,notonlybyanimalrightsactivists
butbyexhibitorsunhappywiththeirdecision.
Dogshavebeenseizedandneverreturned.Don’t
countonyourFifthAmendmentrights;wecan
thankthewarondrugsforthat,becauseitallows
seizureofprivatepropertywithoutanycourt
findingsofguiltorinnocence,andDAsandjudges
areeagertoappearkindtoanimals.
•Professionalhandlerswhoalsobreed.
Keepingintactbitchesatyourhomeforthe
purposeofshowingwillcounttowardsyourtotal
offourbreedingfemales,evenifyoudon’town
themandtheyareonlytheretemporarily.Ifthisis
alikelyscenarioforyou,nevershipapuppy.The
keywordintheruledocketis“maintain.”Ifyou
feedherandkeepherinakennelrunorcrate,you
are“maintaining”herasabreedingfemale.It
soundssilly,buttheUSDAisunawareofmany
commonpracticesinthefancy.Theyused
commercialengineeringstandardstowrite
thisruleandthereisnowiggleroom.
•Mixedbusinesses.Breederswhoalsoowna
boardingkennel/grooming/handlingbusiness,
huntingortrainingclasses,andworkwithintact
femalesareprobablygoingtoneedalicenseto
shipevenasinglepuppyunlesstheycan
completelyseparatethebusinesses.Thismeans
separatebuildings,bankaccountsandvehicles.
ConsultataxaccountantortheIRSfordetails.
Sincethisisacommonoccurrenceinshowdogs,
weshouldexpectsomelegalchallengestosome
interpretationsoftheruleinthisarea.
A“CasebyCaseBasis.”Themostchillingwordsut-
teredbytheUSDA.Ifyouask,theywillcome—pureand
simple.Becausethisregulationisnew,wecanexpectzealous
yetunevenenforcementastheagencyfindsitsfeet.Inthe
conferencecallswithUSDAandtheAKC,thisphrasewas
heardmorethanonce:“Wewilldetermineonacase-by-case
basis.”Also:“Wewilllookatyourbusinessmodelandmake
adetermination.”APHISinspectorshaveajobtodo.Ifthey
donotfindanythingtowriteuponinspectionforms,
someonewillcomplainthattheyaren’tdoingthejob.They
willfindsomething.Theretailpetstoreexemptionisour
onlyhopeforstayingprivate,andhomebased,asartisan
breedersofaspecial,rarebreedofdog.Irecommendthat
weallfollowthisruletotheletteraslongasitisinforce.
Beforeyoudecidethatyouwanttokeepmorethanfour
intactfemalesANDshipanoccasionalpuppyandplanto
applyforaUSDAlicense,checkyourcommunity’szoning
regulations,contactyourinsuranceagent,youraccountant
andyourattorney.Ifyoustillfindtheseoptionsareinyour
favor,then—andonlythen—contacttheUSDA.Remember,
ifyoucallthem,theywillcome.TheUSDAdisingenuously
claimsthatitis“possible”tolicenseahome-basedkennel,
butdon’tbelievethemwithoutwrittenproof.TheUSDA
mayallowyoutokeepdogsinaspeciallydesignedandap-
provedkennelroominyourhome,buttheywillnotallow
thesesamedogstosleeponyourbedoreatinyourkitchen.
28
www.pbgv.org
December2013
ISaberTails