You are right!!! Everyone needs to be aware of how serious this is. As far as the internet sales go, I imagine that EVEN though I do not ship, because I take deposits with people only seeing pics and/or videos, it would include. I do not know if just merely having a website alone is enough, but if you take a deposit, or even offer to meet people somewhere with the dog (I have, because sometimes we travel), you'd need to comply with the regulations and inspections. It will destroy not only whole breeds but bloodlines as well. And as I keep saying, it doesn't even apply to just dogs...but livestock. I don't know and maybe someone else does, but I'm guessing there would be farmers affected by this too, who may be unaware!
LaRueLaDue, since you breed GSDs you may be interested in this if you deal with the importing pups (I don't, but considered importing from UK once and would like to someday!). From this article:
Deborah Howard, president of the Companion Animal Protection Society (www.CAPS-web.org), laments the proliferation of Internet puppy dealers. “One should never, ever buy a dog on the Internet because you’re not seeing the conditions under which the puppy is being raised,” she said. “There are no good ones because reputable breeders don’t sell puppies this way. This [the new USDA rules] is a double whammy…a $10,000 fine for selling over the internet without a license, per dog, and $10,000 for each dog imported from outside the US under 6 months of age. CAPS is going to be keeping tabs on these Internet sellers and sellers of imported puppies and we will be providing some of our many Internet consumer complaints to the USDA in support of the proposed regulation. They’re going to have their hands full.”
http://www.examiner.com/article/usda-proposes-new-rule-to-regulate-internet-dog-dealers
It sounds like people will no longer be able to import dogs younger than 6 months.
Yeah, I had seen this... My blood boils every time I see this...
This Deborah Howard is a blithering idiot. She obviously doesn’t know anything about purebred dogs and how they are bred, cared for, etc. by most hobby breeders. She cannot distiguish between puppy mills and reputable breeders.
This whole thing just needs to be totally repudiated.
If they implement this, it will kill our breed, as it will eliminate getting in new bloodlines from out of the country, and will eliminate placing and getting dogs outside of your local area. She must think that dogs should only be local and should have no interaction outside of your house. It is unbelievably stupid. These people have not clue on how to do anything but destroy other people’s livelihoods...