I am writing to you as one of the list owners of Tennessee Pet-Law.
We've been following the status of the Tennessee commercial breeder
bills, HB386 and SB 258, very closely. Those of us who are active on
Tennessee Pet-Law oppose these bills for the following reasons:
*Legislation promoted by the Humane Society of the United States has
invariably sought to lower the numbers of animals kept by breeders,
regardless of the number that is passed in any initial legislation.
This bill may begin with 20 intact bitches but in the future that
number will be lowered until it affects every hobby breeder. HSUS
has tried to pass legislation in other states this year that would
allow breeders to keep only 3 or 5 intact bitches.
*This bill had no stakeholder input from actual commercial breeders.
*The sponsors of the bill have stated repeatedly that the standards
of care required, and the kennel requirements, for this bill will be
USDA requirements. These will be impossible for hobby breeders to
meet. Dogs will not be allowed to whelp in the house and puppies
cannot be raised in the house under these requirements. These are
engineering standards that were defeated on the federal level in U.S.
Court of Appeals (DDAL vs. USDA) and in PAWS. HSUS is now trying to
have them implemented at the state level.
*The fiscal note for these commercial breeder bills is based on
inaccurate assumptions about the numbers of so-called "commercial"
breeders in the state. The data was collected by perusing newspaper
and Internet ads. We have this information from Senator Jackson's
office and from the HSUS state director. This is inaccurate
information and there is no indication of how many of these breeders
are a) one-time breeders who would not require a sales tax ID; or b)
breeders who already have a sales tax ID and are already paying taxes.
As you can see, there are many problems with these bills which have
not been relayed to the legislators.
We are currently asking which clubs within the TFDC are still
members. We are sending the information to the AKC and to our
legislators. We would also like to know your club's position on the
commercial breeder bills. As we understand it, several clubs have
reversed their support for TFDC's position on these bills.
These are important matters, as you know. We appreciate your help in
coming up with the most accurate information so we can share it with
the AKC and with our legislators.
You are, of course, welcome to join the Tennessee Pet-Law list if you would like more information on the bills or our efforts to defeat
them. <http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/TN-Pet-Law/>
Sincerely,
Carlotta Cooper
Tennessee Pet-Law
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