April 30th, 2009 Puppy Mill Bill Signing

First things first, we are sorry to everyone for not updating as much as we should, Or returning phone calls.  I fell off the porch a while back and did a number to myself, I had issues with my back before but now its ten times worse.  Its ok though, things will get better.

The good news though, THE PUPPY MILL BILL PASSED!  We got this bill pushed through and it did not take years to do it!

So a big congratulations to everyone for helping with this bill.  It has passed and we won against the Puppy Mill owners who were trying to destroy our bill.  I guess if you are a Puppy Miller you should starting looking for a new line of work now.

One of the arguments from a lady who testified against the bill was that legitimate breeders give a guarantee with their dogs.  I know this is true, but so do Puppy Mills.  Renee Roske gives a guarantee with her dogs and look at what she is being investigated for!  I have read COUNTLESS stories of people who “Wags n Wiggles” have taken advantage of and not honored the guarantee.  Besides that, dogs are not merchandise, they are living animals that should not be treated like property.

What decent person would take their sick pet back to the breeder and say “Gimme another one, this one ain’t no good”?  Most folks who we have talked to spend the big money if they have it and take their puppy to the vet so it can live.  I think you can see where I am going with this, “Health Guarantees” mean nothing other then they MIGHT replace your dog with another one if it gets sick.

I wanted to just do a quick recap of what happened for those people who just signed up for the mailing list.  On January 10th I stopped at my life long best friends house on my way home to NE Washington state (Kettle Falls, Paradise if you ask me) and I stumbled in to hell.  It was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen.  Far worse then anything I have seen on animal planet.

My wife nor I are animal activists, although recently I have been a bit of an activist trying to do my part in getting the Puppy Mill bill to pass.  I am more of your average Joe sportsmen who spends his free time hunting and fishing.  My beliefs are more about conservation and preservation, but just because we hunt and do shoot the occasional deer does not mean anyone in my family believes in being cruel to any animal.

On April 30th, 2009 the “Puppy Mill Bill” was signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire.  We had the opportunity to take our family and go to Olympia for the signing.  The Governor took a bit of time to talk to our boys and the two girls who got this bill started.  The law take effect on January 1st, 2010.  You can view/download the .pdf of the bill here.

In a nutshell it means that breeders that are not already USDA licensed as of now cannot keep more than 50 intact dogs over the age of 6 months.  Also, if they have more than 10 dogs, they will have to follow the minimum standards of care if animals are kept confined in cages for the majority of the day.  This is a HUGE step forward in helping to prevent animal cruelty in large scale breeding facilities.