2010 May » Carol Bradley

Senator: Feds to beef up puppy mill inspections

May30

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to spend $5 million hiring more inspectors and retraining the ones it already has to beef up the oversight of commercial dog breeders, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Sunday.

Durbin said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack acknowledged the problems in a phone conversation with the senator following the release of a blistering inspector general’s report that takes the department to task for failing to crack down on recklessly run puppy mills.

“We’re going to change it,” Durbin said Vilsack told him. Durbin added: “That’s what I wanted to hear. I didn’t want to hear somebody pushing back and saying it’s not true.”

Vilsack is a former governor of Iowa, which is one of the worst puppy mill states in the country.

Durbin made his comments at a press conference in Chicago, surrounded by a group of men and women who were holding dogs. He said that on Tuesday he’ll introduce a bipartisan bill to close the loophole the currently exempts breeders from abiding by federal standards. Nearly half of all dogs sold in the United States are peddled on the Internet. The Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety (PUPS) Act would also require that breeding kennels offer appropriate space for dogs and give them a chance to exercise daily. The bill is aimed at breeders who sell more than 50 dogs a year.

Durbin said he was struck by the gruesome details contained in the inspector general’s report. “If you saw the photographs of these dogs in this report, you would not believe it,” he said. “Some have been mutilated by other animals, some are infested by ticks, and it’s just a horrible, horrible situation.”

Here’s a clip of Durbin’s press conference: http://durbin.senate.gov/watchClip.cfm?clipId=c78cff0e-dfea-488b-b309-be85041e2e54

Report slams feds over puppy mills

May25

A new government report blasts the U.S. Department of Agriculture for failing to crack down on reckless dog breeders.

Far too often, inspectors charged with carrying out the Animal Welfare Act fall short of documenting cruel treatment of dogs kept in breeding kennels, overlook chronic violators and even when they write them up, they stop short of fining them, the USDA’s inspector general found.

More than half of the kennels cited for violations between 2006 and 2008 continued to break the law. One especially egregious example was a breeder from Oklahoma with 219 adult dogs, who was cited for 29 violations during three inspections — and a year and half later was found with five dead dogs on his property and other dogs so starved they had begun eating one another. “Despite those conditions (the inspector) did not immediately confiscate the surviving dogs and, as a result, 22 additional dogs died before the breeder’s license was finally revoked,” the report said.

Sprinkled throughout the 69-page report are some of the worst photos I’ve seen, including one of a live dog’s leg stripped down to the bone; another of a deep pool of eye-stinging urine and feces festering below an occupied cage and a shot of an enormous cluster of ticks feeding on one small dog’s face.

The report found four major flaws with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s handling of commercial dog-breeding inspections:

– Spotty and ineffective enforcement; Some of the breeders violated the law as many as a dozen times.

– A lack of proper documentation by inspectors. Thirty percent of them failed to correctly report violations, and the failures caused nearly half of all administrative hearings involving problem breeders to be compromised due to lack of evidence.

–Inspectors reduced punishments arbitrarily, allowing breeders to continue reckless practices.

–A large loophole in the Animal Welfare Act exempts breeders who sell dogs over the Internet from the minimal guidelines required by law.

Here’s a link to the report: http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/33002-4-SF.pdf Its findings underscore the scandalous conditions I write about in Saving Gracie: How one dog escaped the shadowy world of American puppy mills. (Wiley, hardcover, $21.95)

Inspector general reports have chronicled abuses in commercial dog-breeding before, and still they persist. What will it take to turn the tide?

Two lawmakers, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator David Vitter (R-LA) today called for immediate changes at APHIS and promised to work with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reform the system.

“This report raises serious concerns about APHIS’s ability to enforce the law, ensure the welfare of animals, and crack down on the most negligent and irresponsible dog breeders,” Durbin said. “While USDA has already begun to make administrative changes, more needs to be done.”

Durbin introduced legislation today to close the internet loophole puppy mills are currently exploiting. The Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act would require all breeders selling more than 50 dogs a year to be licensed and to undergo inspections to ensure the dogs are receiving proper care. USDA played a role in developing the legislation, according to Durbin’s office. Senator Vitter is the bill’s lead cosponsor.

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Another Cavalier survives a puppy mill

May21

After a delightful few days in Tennessee, catching up with old friends and giving talks about Saving Gracie — thanks to McNeely, Pigott & Fox in Nashville and to Carpe Librum bookstore in Knoxville for hosting me — I returned home to read the most poignant letter yet about a puppy mill rescue. If anyone ever doubted the evils of puppy mills, they won’t after reading Donna Berggren’s story.

She writes:

“I too have a little Cavalier, Pracilla, a puppymill survivor from a hellhole in Iowa. I found her on Petfinders with an “urgent” note attached from the rescue. When I inquired about her, the rescue person told me I could have her, but that she was emaciated and probably would not survive. I could not drive from Louisville, Ky. to Iowa fast enough.

“I was not prepared for what I found. I had other dogs, all rescues, mostly throw aways, some abused, but none from a mill. She had been shaved all the way down to the skin (even the tail), spayed the day before, she weighed 7 lbs., all ribs and spine, eyes bulging out. She was missing a front toe, and had number 125 tattooed in her ear. She literally spent 6 months on the corner of my couch afraid to move, and rolled over on her back and urinated everytime I had to reach for her to take her to potty, she just went limp. The only way to reach her was with food, which I was feeding every 2-3 hours the first 6 weeks until she gained 8 more pounds. She was so excited about the prospect of being fed again, she would try to spin, but kept falling over she was so weak. HEARTBREAKING!!! She loved for me to hold her and whisper in her ear, but she would not make eye contact for the longest time.

“After 6 months, she finally ventured off the couch and used the doggy-door, but only late at night when it was pitch dark and there were no noises outside. I had never encountered such a fearful little soul. Gradually, she ventured outside in the daytime after a year, and then she found her voice. I cried the first time she barked.

“I write down every time we hit another milestone, such as when she didn’t run when someone comes to visit, the first time she came into a room to see who the new person was, the first time she played with another dog, the first time she snuck up to sniff someone, and finally this week she actually put her paws on a friend’s knees to pick her up!! AWESOME! I cannot tell you how my heart swelled.Every time we turn a new corner , it’s another victory.

“It’s been a 2 year journey so far and she has made tremendous strides. I see such love and excitement in her eyes where fear used to be, and the wonderful cavalier spin. Isn’t this what it’s all about? Was it worth it? Absolutely! Would I do it again? In a heartbeat! I have since adopted 2 move Cavaliers from Lucky Star Cavalier Rescue. Again, I want to thank you for writing this book.”

Thank you, Donna, for telling it like it is.

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