Unless dogs are used for culinary purposes I see no grant of authority for the USDA to regulate pet sales. The USDA is supposed to regulate food.
Unless you are from Indonesia, like Obama, pets are not intended for sale as a food product. Someone needs to get the message to Obama that Americans don’t eat dogs and cats.
>Unless dogs are used for culinary purposes I see no grant of authority for the USDA to regulate pet sales. The USDA is supposed to regulate food.<
USDA has regulated commercial pet breeders/brokers for decades. Many farmers supplement their incomes with dog breeding and have been regulated in how these animals are housed and cared for. Sadly, the dogs and cats in these operations might be clean and fed/watered, but they do not live the way hobby breeders’dogs and household pets do. In fact, animals kept under USDA regs may NOT be household residents. They must be kept in separate buildings, with separate plumbing/sewer.
In other words, if small hobby or small breeders are swept under the USDA umbrella, people who breed non-commercially will no longer be able to keep canines as pets.
Keep in mind, this proposed law will count every intact female FOUR MONTHS OLD and up, regardless of whether she is being bred, as a “female used for breeding”. People who show and who breed for hobby purposes routinely keep young, intact females (you cannot show a spayed dog) until they’re old enough to be health screened for breeding suitability, plus old enough to have completed the requirements for an AKC championship or other title. If the dog does not pass all clearances, she is then spayed and will never enter the gene pool.