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www.pbgv.org

September2013

ISaberTails

Legislationcontinuedfrompage20pro-animalgroupswill
beimportantasthisruletakeseffect,becausetheseattacks
willnotstopwithdogs.Dogsareonlythebeginning.Ifwe
fall,andrabbitfancierscontinuetosuffer,andNYCcarriage
horsesarebannedfromthecity,theextremeanimalrights
groupswillbeunstoppable.

ThisAPHISruleisafactoflife.Wehavetolivewithit;

theopportunitytochangeitislonggone.First,wehaveto
understandit.Theruleiscomplex.TheNationalAnimal
InterestAlliance(NAIA)blogpostbySusiSzeremy(writer
andPulibreederfromtheDenverarea)describestherule
incommonlanguage.Susi’sarticleisreprintedhere:

S

inceMay2012,purebreddogandcatenthusiasts,rabbit
andothersmallanimalbreedersandanimalactivistshave
beenfocusedontheUSDA’sproposedruleupdatingthe

retailpetstoredefinitioninthefederalAnimalWelfareAct
(AWA).Thedefinitionisimportantbecauseentitiesdefined
asretailpetstoresareexemptfromUSDAlicensingasdealers,
adesignationthatrequiresfeesandfederalinspections.
Potentiallyaffectedpartieshavebeenwritingcomment
letters,signingpetitions,lobbyinganyonewho’dlistenand
waitinganxiouslyfortheresultformorethanayear.

ThenonSept.10,2013,USDAhostedanational

conferencecallforstakeholderstoannounceitsfinalrule.
Tosaythatstakeholdersweredisheartenedwhentheyleft
thatcallisagrossunderstatement.Mostparticipants
believedthatdespiteourincredibleeffortstoinformUSDA

abouttheunintendedconsequencesofitsproposal,thefinal
rulewasvirtuallyunchangedfromtheoriginalandwould
affectmanyresidentialbreeders.ThenotionthattheUSDA
woulddisregardliterallythousandsofintelligentpublic
commentsheightenedthealarm.

ALightattheEndoftheTunnel.Justasthedepression

startedsettingin,officialsatUSDApostedtheRetailPet
Storedocket,a91-pagedocumentcontainingasummaryof
therule,therationaleforitandUSDA’sresponsetomanyof
thepubliccomments.Thegoodnewsisthatacarefulreading
ofthisdocumentalleviatesmanyofourgreatestconcerns.It
tellsushowtheagencyinterpretsthenewrule.Giventhe
complexityoftheAWA,itslayersofregulations,unfamiliar
semanticsandthehistoryofagencyinterpretationand
enforcement,thisdocumentisthekeytounderstandinghow
theretailpet-storerulewillbeimplemented,anditshows
thattheagencydid,infact,payattentiontoourcomments.

AnOverviewoftheIssue.Thelawsregulating

commercialpetbreederswerewrittenmorethan40years
agoforcommercialbreederssellingdogsthroughpet
stores.Atthetime,virtuallyallcommercialbreederssold
someoralloftheirdogstopetstores,soit’sfairtosaythe
existingregulationswerewrittenforbreederswhowere
unambiguouslycommercial.Withtheadventofthe
Internet,manycommercialdogbreedersquitsellingtopet
storesandstartedsellingdirectlytoconsumers.Underthe
outdatedregulations,thischangeinsellingpracticesmeant

thatmanycommercialbreedersnolongerwererequiredto
belicensedbyUSDAaspetdealers,eveniftheywerelarge-
scalepetbreederssellingtheirpuppiestoconsumers
throughremotemethods.

USDAenteredintotherulemakingprocesstoupdatetheir

regulationstocomplywiththeAWA’soriginallegislativein-
tentbybringingthesepetbreedersunderregulationsoani-
malsnotbeingseenbythepublicinadvanceofasalecould
bemonitoredfortheirhealthandhumanetreatment.

NAIAappreciatestheneedforthisregulatorychange,

althoughtheapproachusedforachievingithasbeendifficult
tounderstand.Theintricacyofthisrulemakingexercisearises
fromthefactthattherevisionneedstobebootstrapped
ontoexistingregulations.Onitsface,thewordingseemsto
indicatethatwhetheryouhave50breedingfemalesorfive,
ifyousellevenonepuppysightunseen,USDAcouldrequire
youtogetalicense,solicensingcouldbeappliedtohobby
breeders.Thispossibilityhasbeenasourceoffrustrationand
concernbecausethedrivingforcethatledtothisrulemak-
ingwasareportfromtheOfficeoftheInspectorGeneral
(OIG),whichcitedproblemsinlarge-scalebreedingoperations.

UnderstandingtheNewRule.UndertheAnimal

WelfareAct(AWA),thedefinitionofadealerincludes
anyonewhogetsmoneyforbuying,sellingornegotiating
thesaleofananimalfor1)research,2)teaching,3)testing,
4)experimentation,5)exhibitionor6)foruseasapetatthe
retaillevel,oranydogsoldforhunting,securityorbreeding
atthewholesalelevel.

Aretailpetstore,asrevised,notonlyreferstoactualbrick

andmortarstoresthatsellpetstothepublic,butalsoto
breederswhoselldogsdirectlytothepublic,solongasthey
selltheminperson.Breedersdefinedasretailpetstoresare
exemptfromUSDAlicensingaspetdealersundertheAWA
unlesstheyselltoaresearchfacility,anexhibitor(suchasa
zooorcircus)oradealer(wholesale).Undertherevised
definitionofretailpetstore,youarestillexemptfrom
licensingaslongasyousellinpersonwithyou,thebuyer
andtheanimalpresent.Breederswhoselldogsforuseas
pets(dealer)sightunseenarenotclassifiedasretailpet
storesregardlessofhowthebuyerisconnectedtothemand
must,therefore,belicensediftheyhavemorethanfour
breedingfemales.Breederswhoselldogsforbreeding
purposestootherbreeders,forinstance,arenotselling
dogsforuseaspets,andarethereforenotdealers.

Notably,theinterpretationoftheregulationsislefttothe

USDA,theagencyresponsibleforenforcement.Thatmakes
thedepartment’sregulatoryintent,whichcanbefoundin
theUSDAdocketforthisrule,veryimportantinunscram-
blingareasofconcern.Manyofourquestionsandoneswe’ve
receivedfromothersareaddressedintheUSDAdocket.

Ourlegislativedirector,JulianPrager,JD,carefullyreviewed

thedocketanddistilledhisinterpretationsregardingwhois
consideredadealerandwhowillbeexemptfrombeinga
dealerunderthisregulatorychange.Insomecasesthe
languageistoovaguetobecertain,sowearegivingyouour

Ifyoukeepfivebreedingfemalesandselleven

onedog...remotely,foruseasapet,andarenot

engagedinoneoftheactivitiesthatareexempted

frombeingadealer,youmustbelicensed.

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